Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuala Lumpur: The importance of sharing the knowledge and experience gained at the FUTURO III Regional Course for Referee Instructors (ASEAN) amongst their colleagues in their respective Member Associations was highlighted by AFC Referees Department Director Yoshimi Ogawa during his opening address to 39 participants taking part in the six-day event.
"Participants must have a professional attitude when carrying out their duties as instructors. Educating referees is a huge responsibility," Ogawa said at the opening of the August 13-18 event which sees Technical Instructor Courses and Fitness Instructor Courses running simultaneously.
"Knowledge from this course should be transferred and shared with others in their Member Association. All must work closely with their MAs in the ultimate task of producing good referees."
Thanking FIFA for their continuous support and cooperation in the development of Asian referees Ogawa continued: "Over the years, there has been a noticeable improvement of the quality of referees from Asia.
"Although we are happy, we should not be satisfied. We should aim to achieve higher targets. Instructors are key to the development of referees. This course will help develop the instructors from the MAs. Good teachers will in turn produce good referees."
Instructing the 27 participants over the six-day Technical Instructors Course are Fernando Tresaco Gracia, Senior Manager of Refereeing Development at FIFA, Subkhidin Mohd Salleh from Malaysia and Uzbekistan's Farkhad Abdullaev while the Fitness Instructors Course, which features 12 participants and runs for five days, is being handled by Toshio Utsumi from Japan and Malaysia's Ahmad Khalidi Supian.
The ASEAN edition of the FUTURO III Regional Course for Referee Instructors is taking place in Kuala Lumpur and joining Ogawa in the events opening address was Goh Ah Chai, the Chairman of the Referees Committee at the Football Association of Malaysia, who also stressed the importance of the participants absorbing and passing on as much information garnered from the course as they can.
"Modern football demands referees with good knowledge, fitness and thinking ability," he said.
"Instructors are vital link in producing excellent referees. The instructors need to have good knowledge and skills especially to handle modern day teaching materials that use IT technology.
"They also need to have a good command of English in order to deliver effectively."
Thanking FIFA for giving FAM the opportunity to host the FUTURO III Regional Course, Goh added: "Discipline and dedication are also qualities that are needed and they should never stop learning in order to produce top level referees."