The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Refereeing Department commenced its annual FIFA Member Association Referees Course Monday at the National Training Centre in Providence, a release from the federation stated.
The forum which ends Friday, will be conducted by FIFA Referee Development Officer Javier Santos, FIFA Referee Instructor Peter Prendergast and FIFA Fitness Instructor Alan Brown, as well as local Instructors Ingram Johnson and Sherwin Moore.
“It is very important to have this in-person course after more than one year that football stopped because of the pandemic,” said Santos.
“We need to see the referees on the field of play and their fitness capacity. We came here to test the referees and to find new talent for the many future competitions we have in the region. In the past, we had many referees from Guyana participating, but now we need to see more, so this is a recruitment programme,” he added.
According to the release officials will be instructed on the recent alterations to the Laws of the Game, with emphasis on important areas such as the offside rule and fouls. The programme will also entail a fitness section as part of its holistic development.
GFF President Wayne Forde said, “Our referees have to be in tip-top shape to perform the critical duties of a match official. We have a very robust and aggressive competition calendar in place, once we are given the permission to get football back to the pitch, so it is important that we not only have our experienced officials being trained and getting back to work, but we are also doing a lot of work behind the scenes to bring new officials to the game.”
Dion Inniss, GFF Head of Refereeing and Executive Committee member said the course was important in many respects.
“This course is geared towards ensuring that our match officials have a common and uniform understanding of the interpretation of the Laws of the Game. Our hope is that they would leave here with one knowledge – that the Laws of the Game should be implemented in one common way.”
He added, “The GFF continues to ensure that, whenever the authorities say it’s a go for us to return to play, our coaches, our players, our administrators, our match commissioners and – certainly – our referees are geared up to be ready in the starting blocks. This programme is just one of many developmental programmes that we are having to ensure that when the time comes, we are raring to go.”
Presently, Guyana has three match officials on the FIFA International Refereeing List. They are Sherwin Johnson, Maurees Skeete and Kleon Lindey.
Skeete during brief remarks said, “As a referee, you have to be current and up-to-date with the Laws of the Game. We can see how football is improving rapidly, so we need to be on top at all times. This course is important because we have FIFA instructors to guide us and teach us with all the new materials, and to give us a fresh understanding of the Laws of the Game and how to apply them.
“I’m excited to have this course, and I am looking to grab and gain all the knowledge and experience that I could, so I could better myself and also the junior referees around me, and even the players and coaches too,” she said.
