NEW DELHI: The All India Football Federation (AIFF) recently organised an online FIFA MA course for referees which was attended by 50 referees. Farkhad Abdullaev from Uzbekistan was appointed as the course instructor for the same.
New amendments in the laws of the game, handball interpretations, penalty area incidents and football understandings of the referees were stressed upon during the two-day course held on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"We had a good chance to discuss amendments in the laws of the game 2020-21 and clarify many important aspects like accidental handball situations followed by an immediate goal or offside offences. We had an in-depth discussion on penalty area incidents and offside decisions," Abdullaev stressed as per the-aiff.com.
The Uzbek instructor was a technical instructor in four FIFA World Cups including Russia 2018 as well as two editions of the AFC Asian Cup. Further, he suggested the importance of 'real-match experience' for the development of a referee.
"With the support of AFC and FIFA, they will get the opportunities to improve themselves, but a real-match experience is of utmost importance. Local, qualified instructors should be involved closely and all the match situations from leagues should be analysed deeply. Local instructors and assessors play a very important role in developing the referees. What people do at the local level, needs to be polished at a higher level (AFC and FIFA)."
Rahul Gupta, a FIFA panelled referee, informed how the course helped him "enhance refereeing skills".
"I personally have a lot of clarity regarding the match-changing situations. Penalty box Incidents, handball and so on, which will, in turn, enhance my refereeing skills," Gupta affirmed.
"Mr. Farkhad clarified the law amendments of 20/21 with video analysis, that helped us understand the motive of the amendment and implementation for my upcoming assignments," Venkatesh R, AIFF Referee of the Year, said.
Abdullaev shared that he expects more Indian referees in FIFA and AFC panels soon. IANS
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