Jeddah: Referees who will officiate in the AFC U-14 Regional Festival of Football for the West zone in Saudi Arabia are getting for ready for the first installment of the continent’s regional festivals this year.
Seventeen young referees from Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are currently taking part in a five-day course before the festival kicks off on February 24.
Head of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) Prof. Khalid Al Marzouqi said: “We all thank you for all your invaluable efforts to develop football in Asia. I hope the participants will enjoy staying in Saudi and as the LOC, we will do our best to provide all the services needed to keep supporting football development in Asia.”
AFC U-14 Festival Manager Dr. Shamil Kamil added, saying: “We’d like to thank Saudi FA for hosting the AFC U-14 festival and organising the referee course for the young referees in the West region. This course is set to give the participants a lot of knowledge and experience. You all have to work as a team sharing one goal which is to reach the objectives of the course during the festival.”
Sankar Komaleeswaran and Kadhum Auda Lazim Al Saedi are delivering the course.
Komaleeswaran said: “It is not easy to reach the top level and the referees need lots of hard work, thus the need for this course. I wish that all the referees will give their best performance on and off the field.”
After the festival in Saudi Arabia, similar events will be held in Tajikistan (for the South and Central regions), Brunei (ASEAN) and China (East).
Source: the-afc.com