The Guyana Football Federation (GFF) match officials and referees have completed the requisite training and preparation for the three year-end tournaments following several training sessions staged by the Refereeing Department. According to a release, sessions were held at the GFF National Training Centre at Providence with 25 short-listed officials engaged in theoretical training on several topics inclusive of competition rules, and guidelines, alterations to the Laws of the Game and Covid-19 Protocols employed by the Government.
The release added that practical sessions and match based scenarios were also conducted. GFF Executive Committee Member and Head of the Refereeing Department Dion Inniss said, “It is customary for these major tournaments that, prior to the commencement of that tournament, we organise these sessions, so that our referees can become familiar with the competition regulations.”
He addded, “We issued a number of reminders on procedures that will be followed during the tournament, and we also ensured they were brought up to speed with the COVID-19 regulations that have been stipulated by the authorities. They assimilated quite well all that was instructed by our group of competent instructors, and we are very confident that they will officiate these tournaments very well.”
Meanwhile, former FIFA accredited official and current GFF official Shavin Greene said, “Returning to football has been great – I would have done a few youth games in the U13 tournament, which was a great initiative by the GFF to have youths playing some football at the grassroots, not just for players but the referees.
“Now that we are having the year-end tournament coming into play – it’s most welcome. Training and preparation so far has been great and we have tried to stay active and keep fit throughout the pandemic. We’re ready to go and let’s have a great tournament from both the referees and the players.
“The year-end football festival kicks off this weekend with the GFF Women’s Super-16 Festival 2021, which will start on December 11 and draw to a close on January 2. The GFF-K&S Super 16 Cup follows hot on the heels of the women’s tournament, being played between December 12 and January 1, while the GFF-K&S Futsal Championship will take place over the period December 14 to January 8”, the release stated.
