The Seminar for FIFA Referee Technical & Fitness Instructors brings together 100 instructors from all over the world to prepare for the FIFA refereeing activities in 2018. During the five days, instructors will take part in theoretical and practical sessions to improve their knowledge, share ideas and expertise, and study the latest trends in the refereeing world, to achieve a uniform interpretation and application of the Laws of the Game. The seminar aims to update the instructors with the latest teaching materials, fitness data and results, and enhance their knowledge on fitness and technical training and evaluation.
The opening ceremony was held at the InterContinental Hotel Doha and was attended by Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Hani Ballan, Vice-Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Chairman of AFC Referees Committee and Chairman of QFA Referees Committee, Massimo Busacca, Head of the FIFA Refereeing Department, and Neji Jouini, Executive Director of the QFA Referees Committee. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Collina said: “The best men and women referees in the world were here in Doha over the last few weeks, and the referees did an excellent job of under the leadership of Busacca. Today we have the referees who we can count on in important competitions, but we need to also focus on future referees.” Collina added: “We told the referees in the last few weeks that they have to set an example for the new generation of referees, and that we would be happy if each of them could help the younger referees by developing their skills. We have to pay attention to the future of the referees and this is why we are here. We have to help new referees to develop their skills and take part in advanced workshops, and the only way we can do that is through the instructors.” Collina expressed his confidence in the instructors’ role as they play a huge role in the future of the refereeing world and football because they possess the commitment and experience and have a great responsibility. He is confident that each instructor can be trusted and thanked them for their commitment. Ballan said: “Collina addressed your responsibilities towards the referees and what we must do to develop the referees. When it comes to instructors, I always remember Stephen Covey’s book titled “7 habits of highly effective people”. I was influenced by the first two habits, first one being to influence others around us and that is what we do as instructors. We do not just expect reactions but we train the referees to be ready for any situation, and this is important for us as fitness and technical instructors, we must allow the referees to learn through application. The second habit that influenced me to is to put in mind the goal we aspire to achieve, and the final product for us is the referees, who we appreciate and respect their efforts as they are a diamond that we must protect. In order for referees to excel, we do this by determining our priorities and our tasks and how we can do things differently and offer them different ways to develop”. Busacca said: “The reason we were here again is because we had wonderful training sessions to train men and women candidate referees for the Russia World Cup and for the Women’s World Cup in France. We will see positive results in the remainder of this year and must tell the referees that we have to work accordingly by setting clear goals and in order to achieve these goals we must hope to achieve positive results”.
Source: The Peninsula
