The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Referees Committee met at the AFC House in the Malaysian capital today to review some of the key aspects of referees’ performances in the recent AFC competitions and discussed future programmes to enhance the standard of refereeing on the continent.
Setting the tone for the meeting, Deputy Chairman Hany Taleb Ballan Safar (Qatar) welcomed members by reiterating the Committee’s commitment to establish Asian football as the benchmark in the world of refereeing as underlined by the AFC’s new Vision and Mission.
In a further step to elevate Asian refereeing standards, the Committee passed a proposal to conduct a Refereeing Experts Workshop 2016. The event will bring together some of Asia’s top administration, technical and physical experts, with the aim to provide the best training and educational programmes to better prepare Asian referees for world-class competitions.
The Committee also approved a recommendation to reinstate the title ‘elite’ to signify and describe the best AFC referees and assistant referees in order to realign the designations with other international practices. The establishment of a Referees Academy, which is currently still in the conceptualisation phase, was also briefly discussed and well-received by the Committee members.
The meeting concluded with a review of the AFC U23 Championship Qatar 2016 and the expansive range of assistance, support and state-of-art infrastructure provided by the AFC and the Local Organising Committee to ensure high-quality performances by the competition’s referees.
In his assessment of the referees’ performance in Doha, Deputy Chairman Hany Taleb Ballan Safar praised their conduct and professionalism and underlined the essential role that officials continue to play in upholding the value and integrity of Asian football, particularly as the AFC strives to strengthen its competitions across all age groups.
The recommendations will be presented to the AFC’s Executive Committee when it convenes at its next meeting in July.
Source: the-afc.com