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The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s match officials moved closer to achieving their goal of officiating at the biggest stages in world football when the AFC Referee Academy’s Batch 2019 concluded their ninth and final Advanced Onsite Module on Friday.
The Onsite Module, held from February 26 to March 1, saw 38 men and women referees undergo hands-on training and attend technical sessions covering a range of topics to evaluate their mental abilities, physical fitness, and other qualities befitting those of world-class match officials.
The inaugural day of the programme commenced with theoretical sessions focusing on subjects such as Contextual Decision Making, Penalty Area Threshold, What the Speed of the Modern Game Means to Referees, and Role of the Technical Experts, and concluded with an insightful Sports Science lecture on Prolonging Your Referee Career.
The following days included a series of physical examinations such as speed and agility, and Yo-Yo Intermittent tests which gauged the fitness levels of the participants.
Additionally, the candidates took part in sessions that concentrated on key aspects of refereeing including match incident analysis.
A number of seminars were also organised on topics such as Officiating at AFC Elite-Level Football, Dealing with Player Familiarity, and Delivering a World-Class Performance.
Another major highlight of the programme was a close study of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ where the participants discussed learnings from the recently concluded continental showpiece.
The AFC is the first Confederation to launch a dedicated academy for referees. Since its launch in 2017, as many as 204 men and women referees from 40 AFC Member Associations have graduated or are in the midst of benefitting from the AFC Referee Academy’s all-inclusive curriculum.
The Academy’s role in nurturing Asia’s best refereeing talent has been tangible, with 32 current Academy referees registered on the FIFA international list, as well as 34 alumni already part of the Elite Panel.
