No fewer than 88 participants are expected to be part of a 5-day FIFA Development Course organized for elite referees, technical instructors, referees assessors and physical fitness Instructors which kicks off today at the Abuja National Stadium and will last from today, April 8 to Saturday, April 12.
A breakdown of those taking part in the training programmeput together by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), shows that 30 referees, seven technical instructors, 37 referee instructors and 14 physical fitness instructors are invited to attend.
Disclosing this to Blueprint Sport yesterday at the NFF Headquarters in Abuja, head of NFF referees’ committee, Mr. Sunday Okai, said the programme was in line with the annual development initiative of the world’s football organizing body, FIFA.
Mr. Okai, who recalled that between November last year and now, a series of similar programmes had been organized by NFF, maintained that Nigeria was the first country to get FIFA approval to host this year’s training course which ordinarily would have taken place as from July.
According to the referees’ committee head, “What we are trying to do is to make sure that our referees are constantly taught on the latest rules in officiating. Already, our previous training programmes have started yielding positive results.
“This year alone, four of our male referees have taken part in officiating matches at the continent both in Confederation Cup and CAF Champions League. And our women are gearing up to be part of those who will officiate in African Women Championship (AWC) qualifiers.”
The FIFA course event will be handled by referee development officer from FIFA, Carlos Henrigues of Gabon, supported by An Yan Lee Kim Chong, a Referee Assistant Programme (RAP) instructor from Mauritius.
They will be joined by another RAP instructor, Boubowr Hannachi, from Tunisia together with Nigerian-born Sani Zubari who will be the course coordinator.
