Lahore, 27 December : “It’s now easier than ever to become a qualified football referee as compare to 70s, 80s. By getting on the refereeing ladder, individuals have the opportunity to progress through the various PFF Refereeing qualifications while constantly enhancing their skills and knowledge. To be successful as a referee you should always be open to new ideas. To strengthen refereeing cell of Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and it’s eight wings is in PFF President’s Faisal Saleh Hayat’s long-term planning and FIFA Members Association Elite Referees Course 2010 will play vital role in this regard, ‘ this is stated by PFF Secretary General Lt.Col ® Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi during Monday’s inauguration ceremony at Lahore’s FIFA Football House. .
Mohamed Muhiseen Ariff (Sri Lanka), Regional Development Officer, FIFA and member Organizing Committee for AFC President’s Cup/AFC Challenge Cup, and FIFA Refereeing Instructor Masoud Enayat, also Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation (IRIFF)’s Referee Coordinator and Muhammad Hani, Fitness Instructor from Maldives, were also present on this occasion and they praised the smooth sailing of PFF under brilliant leadership of Faisal Saleh Hayat. Salahddin Awan, Arif Siddiqui and Kamran Mehdi will act as PFF Instructors.
On the opening day, Masoud told the participants about Course Organization and presentation on FIFA, FIFA Laws of Game 4 to 6, Guidelines for Referees and Assistant Referees. During Practical Session from 3.30 PM to 6 PM at Punjab Stadium, Guidelines for Referees/Assistant Referees, Refeeres/Assistant Referees mechanics were the topics. Masoud, who acted as Match Commissioner during Pakistan-Qatar’s Beijing Olympics Qualifier at Islamabad three years ago, concluded that the course will provide thirty Pakistani referees with information and methodologies that will assist them to refresh their referee career. It is fine opportunity for Pakistani referees to learn as the program covers an introduction and overview of referee and the relationship that needs to be developed between a referee and his assistant Referee. Communication, Observation Skills required by Referee plus information on current refereeing and playing trends.
30 Participating referees: Zehra Abbas, Kausar, Shakila Rehman, Nazia Sultana, Shumaila Sattar, Ansar Javed, Arsalan Sharif (Karachi), Javed Bangash, Muhammad Yasin, Obaid Ullah, Sardar Hanif, Saeed Badal, Hidayat Ullah (Nushki), Rana Naseer, Shafaat Habib, Waheed Murad, Shahid Hussain, Rana Jahanzeb, Irshad Ul Haq, Afzal Ahmed, Adnan Anjum, Zubair Shahzad, Irfan Aslam, Arsalan Sharif (Islamabad), Toqeer Aslam, Rizwan Khan, Muhammad Amin, Muhammad Ali Jr, Khurram Shahzad and Alauddin.