The All India Football Federation (AIFF) organised an online course for referees followed by another one for assistant referees from Friday (August 7, 2020) to Monday (August 10, 2020). As many as 47 referees and 52 assistant referees, of categories one and two, attended the course.

Anthony John D’Costa, Rizwan Ul Haq, Dinesh Nair, Arjunan, Supriyo Bhattacharya, Pijush Biswas, Sunando Bose, Subrata Das, Mohanty and Adley Costa were appointed as the course instructors for the same. New amendments in the laws of the game, handball interpretations, challenges, advantage positions, penalty area incidents, tactical fouls and football understandings of the referees were stressed upon during the course.

“After the completion of the FIFA MA course in July 2020, we scheduled this course on the same lines to bring uniformity in the application of the laws of the game. The participants were very enthusiastic. We appreciate the instructors’ efforts behind the success of the course,” Ravishankar J, Director, Referees Dept., All India Football Federation stated.

Instructor Anthony D’Costa informed that discussions were mostly focused on ‘video clips’ and these sessions always help to get the match officials ready for the “upcoming season”.

“There were good interactive sessions where discussions were solely based on educative video clips referring to the new amendments in decision making. These virtual classes helped us engage with the referees and assistant referees to prepare them for the upcoming season, as and when it starts,” D’Costa stated.

Referee Raunak Gajbhiye informed that the session helped them gain a better understanding of the new amendments in the handball rule. He opined that the ‘video sessions’ helped them gain practical knowledge vividly.

“These sessions were all about getting clarity and understanding of important concepts in football. Corresponding video sessions related to each topic helped us gather practical knowledge. Although we are stuck at home during this pandemic situation, this was a great initiative by AIFF to duly update all the referees,” Gajbhiye informed.

“We got to clear doubts related to the new amendments and new concepts for football understanding. The handball amendments are pretty new and we required a deeper understanding of it. Getting more clarity helps us be more effective and confident on the field,” he further said.

(AIFF Media)