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The two-day Women Match Officials’ Workshop, organised by the All India Football Federation and the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports (RFYS), concluded in Kolkata on Saturday, March 25, 2023.
A first of its kind, the RFYS-AIFF Women Match Official Workshop was attended by 32 female officials, who were given key on-field and classroom training during the workshop by the AIFF officials. The referees, who participated in the workshop, are registered under the AIFF from six different centres, namely Shillong, Kolkata, Jamshedpur, Aizawl, Hyderabad and Kharagpur.
The workshop was conducted by Trevor Kettle, AIFF’s Chief Refereeing Officer and Maria Rebello, Course Director and AIFF Referees Committee Member.
Mr. Kettle said: “RFYS, beyond players and coaches, fully recognises the positive contribution that referees bring to the game of football. RFYS’s forward-thinking attitude and inclusiveness have provided exciting opportunities for aspiring female referees across several competitions and for the country.
“AIFF’s Referee Department, on the other hand, is delighted to provide those dedicated female match officials an opportunity to upskill and receive training reserved for Professional Match Officials. The future for female referees in India is bright and the federation feels that women match officials with ambition, drive and dedication will operate at the professional level in the coming years,” he said.
Speaking about the workshop, the spokesperson of the Reliance Foundation Youth Sports Spokesperson said, “Reliance Foundation is committed to ensuring more participation of girl and women athletes in India. The RFYS-AIFF Women Match Officials Workshop is yet another step in that direction to ensure that the women officials in India undergo the requisite upskilling and training to enhance their participation in the football ecosystem. We are pleased to work jointly with the AIFF for this workshop and hope that we can grow the number of women officials in national and international football matches.”
