Regulations on the Organisation of Refereeing

FIFA has sent to all Member Associations (MA) a book on regulation in the organizing of refereeing. For the knowledge of all the following will be of interest to you:

Referees Committee - MA must have a Referee Committee (Ref Com.) and the Chairman and Deputy Chairman must be a member of the Association Executive Committee. Its duties includes to classify and appoint the referee for matches, nominate candidate for International list, comply with FIFA standards in the implementation of Laws, utilize uniform criteria in assessment, and to appoint instructors and assessors.

Referees Department should be composed of at least one expert with broad experience in the field of refereeing, administration and development of referees. Duties include assist the Ref. Com., implement decisions, logistics and administrative duties, implement development programs, organize courses, prepare teaching materials and to send report.

Registration of referees should be carried out annually and the minimum requirement includes passing the relevant FIFA physical fitness test, medical examination and theory test.

Appointment of Referees by the Referees Committee with the Referees Department. Referees appointed correspond to their level of skill and experience. They must be chosen from those who have passed the physical fitness, medical and technical knowledge test. They shall be appointed in good time before the match.

Promotion and demotion of referees must be approved by the Referees Committee.

Evaluation of Referees Performances by the Referees Assessor panel.

FIFA International Match Officials shall be nominated by MA. Proposed referees shall be at least 25 years old and below 45 on 1 January. Candidates may not be older than 38 in the year of nomination unless previously appeared in the list. Proposed referees shall have officiated in the highest level league, passed the FIFA physical fitness and medical test. The referees may not exercise any official function as a member of an executive committee, general secretary, or member of the referees committee of any football club, MA, confederation of FIFA.

Member Association may request to FIFA Referees Committee in writing to suspend or remove a referee from lists for any justifiable reason.

2011 Season for Refereeing

2010 is a year filled with ups and downs in refereeing. Great improvement can be seen among the junior referees who can now shift to be categorized as senior referee. New strength can seen among some who were given the opportunity and motivation as referees and now can be given the responsibility to shoulder strong matches in the 2011 Dhiraagu Dhivehi Division I League. Among them are Ahmed Aslam, Mohamed Aneel, Ahmed Afsah, Basil Nafeez and Afeef Abdul Samad. The senior referees, Ali Saleem, Ahmed Ameez and Mohamed Fareed are still consistent in their performance. Others who have not been giving their best need to pull up their socks.

FIFA MA Referee Course held in December 2010 has seen some positive development among the younger referees. Some new referees from islands also show positive results when given the opportunity to be exposed to the latest development in refereeing. This FAM hope will encourage more youth to get themselves rope into refereeing. Courses for football and FUTSAL will be held in Male' and also other Atolls and islands. A FIFA MA Course for potential referees, FUTSAL Referees is planned for 2011.

Some changes will be expected to be implemented to ensure the development and the scrutinizing of incremental improvement is achieved. FIFA Football Referees will not be allowed to officiate in FUTSAL matches. Their experience may be used as Referee Assessors or Match Commissioners to guide the junior referees in that field. Those who are very good in the lines will be guided and developed into better Assistant Referees. Officials who are competent in both will maintain their good service.

FIFA Physical Fitness program will be implemented. Mohamed Hanim has returned as FAM Referee Physical Fitness Instructor and will be responsible to see that the FIFA program is implemented to improve and maintain the referees fitness.

Disciplinary problems will be seriously look into by the Referees Committee and serious cases has been referred to the Disciplinary Committee. Referees concerned will either be given warning, suspended, removed or rejected their application for future registration.

As instructed by FIFA in the Regulation on Organisation of Refereeing in FIFA MA, all referees seeking to be registered must passed the relevant physical fitness test, medical examination and a test on their knowledge of the Laws of the Game. Referees must also attend in full the preparatory seminar organised before the new season in February or March 2011.

All these effort is aimed to create a better image among the referees responsible in handling the FAM Leagues and also other competition in the country. These effort will only be fruitful with the cooperation and dedication of the referees, instructors, referees committee and department. We hope to have a better, fruitful, pleasant and flawless season. Good luck to all and a Happy New Year.