MALDIVES REFS

Management: Going into Extra Time or Penalty Shoot-out

2011-07-30T21:52:00.000-07:00

Carrying out a task is not merely carrying it out but to have it performed with quality. What is quality performance in the management of situation prior to the extra time period or penalty shoot-out? Quality is having done as professional as possible, as efficient as possible. Efficient = lowest time + least effort.

The moment the referee makes the final whistle and if extra time period or the penalty shoot-out need to be carried out, the match officials have to make sure that this is being managed with professional attitude and efficient management. AR1 will ensure that no players leaves the field of play and no substitutes enter on the right side of the field, while the Fourth Official will attend to the team on the left side while waiting for the AR2 to come after having a drink or rest. When the AR2 takes over from the Standby, he then goes to the AR1 to take over his task to enable him a rest or a drink. Team officials (not substitutes) are allowed to enter to give drinks or discuss with the captain during this short break. The length of this period is subjected to the referee's discretion.

Meantime, as soon as possible after the referee take a rest or drink, he will get both the captains for the toss. Briefing to the assistant referees should have been done in the dressing room prior to the match or during the interval. The referee will then have the restart of the extra time period or the penalty shoot-out taken as soon as possible.

Having a task done as required is effective management but having it done with the least time, effort and professionally is efficiency in management.

Right Qualities to be Recognised

2011-07-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

To be a FIFA match official is not about being able to pass the physical fitness test. Neither is it about having the capability to handle difficult situation or making critical decisions well. There are more to that. Having the right personality does not mean the meeting of the desired physical, pleasant in your approach or appearance or being like by people. So what is it?

There are the "X-factors" or the finer points that make one different from others or that give you the better edge over others. An excellent FIFA referees should be THOROUGH - very good understanding and interpretation on the knowledge of the Laws of the game, thorough with the procedures and guidelines for referees and assistant referees, thorough (knows everything) about the competition rules and regulation; METICULOUS - knows all the details that need to be attended to like: one official only for tactical instruction, players warming out, officials not in a responsible manner, warming up procedures, going into extra time or the penalty shoot-out and so on; ASSERTIVE - have a strong personality to push your power or weight to the players, make strong critical decisions or take strong action and still being accepted by players or team officials, showing the right sanctions (verbal, yellow or red card) at the right moment and right place; ATTENTIVE - always in the state of awareness of what is happening on and off the field all the time.

Are you ready or do you have what others do not? Then the EMPTY SPOT is for you!

STRETCHING - Dos and Don'ts

2011-06-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

Sure, you may walk or run regularly, hit the gym every other day or attend the occasional fitness class, but is your fitness program truly complete? Not without stretching it isn't! Stretching is a necessary component to any wellness routine regardless of your activity level. Without a good stretch before and after your workout you run the risk of serious injury.

Non-stretchers may also find themselves bulking up instead of trimming down and, as a result, losing valuable range of motion benefits. Lack of flexibility can affect your posture, causing tight hamstrings or hip flexors that will pull your pelvis out of its natural alignment. This can lead to long-term lower back strain and spine issues.

The good news is that stretching is easy and it can be a great way to relax. There are limitless ways to stretch: standing up, lying down and with or without the assistance of a wall, ball or exercise band. As with any exercise, there are also many ways to hurt yourself if you're not careful! Be sure to practice "safe stretch" and use some of these helpful tips to guide you on your way to becoming more flexible as you enhance your workout along the way.

DO: Be sure to stretch 8-10 minutes before AND after your workout, no matter what you're doing.

DON'T: Skimp on stretch time. You should hold each stretch for 15-20 seconds, starting with small range of motion and deepen it as you go. Quick stretches simply aren't worth your valuable workout time.

DO: Take it easy before your workout. You'll find that your muscles will naturally loosen with activity and you will have better flexibility after you've been moving for a while.

DON'T: Stretch past the point of discomfort. Flexibility does not happen overnight. Stretching should not be entirely comfortable, but it should not be painful either. The last thing you want to do is pull a muscle!

DO: Breathe during your stretches. Your muscles will slightly relax as you oxygenate them. Take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth as you slowly deepen the stretch with focus and control.

DON'T: Bounce into your stretches. Find your position and hold, then take it further with slow, even breaths.

http://www.essortment.com/fitness-injury-stretching-dos-donts-avoid-injury-62490.html

Amendments 2011/2012 - Interpretation Summary

2011-06-01T08:20:00.000-07:00

Amendments to the FIFA Laws of the Game will be effective as of 1 July 2011.

Law 1. Field of Play

a. Only lines indicated in Law 1 are to be marked on the field of play.

On artificial surfaces, other lines are permitted provided that they are of different and clearly distinguishable color. Some artificial surfaces field are used for other games beside football.

b. The shape of the goals must be square, rectangular, round or elliptical but the distance in between the goal posts must be 7.32 meter.

Law 2. The ball

Replacement of defective ball - If the ball burst or becomes defective during a penalty kick or during kicks from the penalty mark as it moves forward and before it touches any player or the crossbar or goalposts, the kick is retaken.

If the ball bursts or becomes defective during the course of a match, the match is stopped and is restarted with a dropped ball.

Law 3 - The Number of players - only structural changes in the text.

Guidelines to referees - Extra person on the field of the play.

Team Officials

The coach and other official indicated on the team list are deemed to be team officials.

Law 4 - The Players' Equipment

Basic equipment

shorts - if undershorts or tights are worn, they must be of the same main color as the shorts.

The current Law permits tights or different color to the shorts to be worn. This result to confusion. This change requires the tights, if worn to be of the same main color as the shorts.

Law 5 - The Referee

Structural changes to the text on The Referee - Powers and Duties

If an extra ball entering the field of play ......

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play

Structural amendment to the text.

Definition of dropped ball

A dropped ball is a method of restarting play when, while the ball is still in play, the referee is required to stop play temporarily for any reason not mentioned elsewhere in the Laws of the Game.

Other decisions of IFAB

1. Additional Assistant Referees (AARs) - experiment to continue. Use of AAR at UEFA EURO 2012.

2. Goal-line Technology (GLT) - this project to continue.

3. Law 4 -Players' Equipment

a. Usage of radio communication to be referred to FIFA Task Force Football (FTFF) 2014 for consideration.

b. Wearing of "snoods" (knitted head gear or scarf) and other similar clothing is not permitted.

4. Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct

Sending-Off offenses - will be referred to FTFF.

5. Vanishing Spray - approved the use of the vanishing spray by CONMEBOL on a trial basis.

Gaining the Respect of the Players

2011-05-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

To know you is to love you. Mutual respect will come when two people learn to understand each other role, character and emotion better. Knowing a person better will result in the feeling of liking him better. If we keep judging a person, there will not be any place in our heart to love him.

Man as a creature has many weaknesses but has many strengths too. We are always skeptical towards others and do not give our total trust to them. At times, we trust everyone or anyone until we get the medicine of them being mistrusted. Thus, the bitter medicine is hard to swallow and we end up not trusting others.

Refereeing is a thankless job. Not many want or even think of becoming a football referee. When a team wins they do not thank you for a job well done. No! Not even the press nor other media. But, when they lose the referee will the scapegoat for them to blame rather to blame themselves, their players, their tactics or strategies. When you made a big mistake it will definitely be highlighted. That is the media who lack the credibility and creativity to market their product better.

A Referee, as a normal human will always try their best to give their best performance as the ego in a person drives them to do so. Referees at the top level will definite take adequate measure to prepare themselves to prepare for a match so that they can come out from the field as winners too. To err is human. Thus, referees also have the tendency of making mistake. This may be due to tiredness, lose concentration of lack of concentration, fatigue, complacency or careless. This is the same as in the players, losing concentration and missing a goal or conceding a goal. Mistakes made normally can be absorbed or accepted by players or team officials but mistake made that changes the result is often intolerable.

How do we gain the respect of the players and team official?

Personal personality is the first impression and it will give your benefit when they respect your personality. You will never get a second chance to create the first impression. Your performance is the key point of gaining respect. Consistency in implementing the Laws of the Game, penalizing fairly and correctly, consistent in giving further sanction to fouls committed (yellow or red card), pleasant, calm and respectful in your approach to players, coach or team officials, be calm, courageous, strong and assertive in handling difficult situation or confrontation and giving the correct action or decision respected and accepted by all. The players body language or gesture when shown the card will indicate whether he accepts your card or not. The players and team officials should be given the picture that you just doing your job and you trying your very best to do a good job. Handling injury, time-wasting or even managing the defensive wall gives a picture of your capability and your refereeing caliber. Positive action and message viewed will gain your the respect from the players, coaches or team officials and even your fellow referees. Give respect to gain respect.

I dream to have a team of excellent referees who can understand the feelings, role and responsibilities of the players and team official thus, giving them the opportunity to understand you better. With that, we can work together towards the development of Dhivehi football to the highest respectable level.

Coaches & Referees Mutual Understanding

2011-05-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

Mutual understanding among the referees and coaches and officials in the Dhiraagu Dhivehi League is a vital scenario to create and make its existence stays. The patience and understanding of each others' role and state anxiety condition will give a better professional action to each others' reactions.
Development of referees is a long gradual process and varies from individuals with regards to talent and the commitment of the referees. This is similar with the development of players from normal potential talented players to excellent ones. More often it takes years to develop a referee into an excellent one with the ability to sprint and move gracefully with the flow of fast attacking football, understanding football strategies and the emotional aspect of players, coaches and also officials, take instant action on fouls and misconduct and gives appropriate sanction accordingly and overcoming difficult situation or confrontation with assertiveness, calmness and consistency. In the process of becoming in to their best performance, mistakes do occur and this needs the cooperation and patience of the team officials as much as the coaches are patience with the mistakes made by their up and coming players.
Grooming young talented or potential referees into excellent strong referees needs great patience, perseverance and commitment of the trainer and also the individual referee himself. Grooming includes exposing them to matches at different level, critical observation, proper guidance, appropriate sanctions, motivation, training, debriefing, video observation and many other relevant techniques in molding them into better ones. Even the more experienced ones do make mistakes but absorbing the mistakes made by the younger ones can be painful and breathtaking by the instructors, assessors, administrator and even the team officials. But with the main aim of producing the good ones from the small pool of referees available some sacrifice of tolerable nature needs to be given.
The end products, we hope to see are talented potential referees developing into strong, intelligent and excellent referees of high caliber. With excellent referees the level of DHIVEHI Football will also rise to a respectable level in the region or Asia.

Read this:

http://www.ihoops.com/training-room/coaches/How-to-Properly-Deal-With-Officials.htm?cmp=34-2

FIFA Beach Soccer Refereeing Course

2011-04-27T22:48:00.000-07:00

BEACH SOCCER - Ready to roll?

Football Association has just concluded the first FIFA Beach Soccer introductory course for 25 referees in Male from the 18 - 22 April 2011. FIFA Instructor Stephan Fassler from Switzerland conducted the course.

The participants were given workshop, group discussion and practical training pertaining to the identify the difference in the understanding and interpretation of the Laws of the Game and its implementation from the normal football and FUTSAL game. A Beach Soccer Festival was also held to gauge the understanding of the referees in the interpretation and implementation of the laws. This was a good experience for all the participants including the local FUTURO III Instructors, Ahmed Abeer Ismail and Mohamed Saeed.

All the participants realized and understood that from this short course, it is very difficult to grasp all that is needed to know of the game. More intensive theory sessions and quizzes including practical experiences in training and the match practices is needed. The knowledge achieved in this course is just "the tip of an iceberg". Much is needed to be done by the FA and also the participants themselves.

Where do we go from here? Referees Department of FA Maldives hope that the Beach Games Committee in the Ministry of Youth and Sports will hold a local competition prior to the International Invitation Beach Soccer Competition to held here in the Maldives in September. We can all dream that one day our Dhivehi football will soars to greater height and perhaps be a small giant from a tiny country respected in the Beach Soccer World Cup.

Psychological Effects in the Game

2011-04-12T23:17:00.000-07:00

"Butterfly in the stomach" or nervous is a normal effect manifested by the anxiety level in a referee prior to a match. Having a manageable anxiety level will instill in the mind of the referee to be prepared mentally and physically for the match. High anxiety level may be detrimental to the performance resulting in wrong decision, unable to give full concentration to have the game or difficult situations under his control. Low anxiety level leads to complacency and thus will be reflected in a uncommitted, careless, lethargic or incompetent performance.

High level match (top of the table derby or knock-out stage) will affect the referee in his preparedness for the game. Experience will differ a referee from from another. Having the ability to absorb the high pressure will be an advantage to the referee. Ability to psyche-up or motivate oneself to perform at his best is also a characteristic that an excellent referee possessed.

Knowing your strength and weakness and understanding unwanted thoughts (pondering over mistakes or thinking of protest from players) that affect your feeling will be helpful. Get rid of or control unwanted thoughts. If you realized that you made a mistake, admit and forget about it for the moment by giving your best attention in the rest of the duration. Manage your emotion. You do not need to be angry or scared of situation. Maintain your composure by staying calm (take a deep breath). Refocus or stay focus to your task (move your position if you need to do so).

When your decisions are always being contested, use your card to stamp your authority or be more assertive on situations (time-wasting, moving the wall, dissent). Maintain a positive attitude towards the game. Do not be prejudice to situations (simulation or time-wasting) or players (arguing, questioning or protesting) by not assuming situations or the behavior of the players. The moment you make a decision, run straight to your commanding position and not to the incident. This will avoid the players to gather and crowd round or confront you. Try to improve your consistency in your decision by moving nearer to see clearer (wider angle of vision) and decide better.

A thorough self evaluation after the match will not hurt anybody. Be sincere to yourself for the sake of your improvement and development. Elite referees who improve themselves match after match will instill on the peers to follow and to adapt incremental improvement.

Self-talking or self-analysis even during the game may be useful as there is no way others can communicate with you if you are not equip with the communication system.

Good luck.

Mental Preparation for a Game

2011-04-06T02:18:00.000-07:00

Excellent referees makes the difference from other peer by doing mental preparation besides the normal preparation of physical fitness, sound interpretation of the Laws of the Game, good man management, good management of critical situations or reading of the game.

How do we prepare for a game? There should not be any change in the physical preparation in training at your usual or normal level. No need to change your pattern of relaxation and training as both are equally important. Prepare yourself mentally for anything that might happen by doing visualization training. Do not try to change your refereeing technique. Be yourself. Perhaps you can look into the aspects highlighted by your peers or referee assessor for improvement. Work on the areas of development will make the difference.

Mental rehearsal (visualization) everyday by seeing yourself refereeing in an ideal stat without the 'pressure of the game'.

When you are feeling anxious or nervous, it is alright as you will need an adrenaline flow for the game to put yourself to state of alertness. A complacent state of mind may lead to careless mistakes.

You should have confident and anticipate a good game by enjoying the game, you will be performing well, be in control of situations and ever ready to handle any situations that may arises. Go into to the game with an opened mind, no prejudice, relaxed and tell yourself that you will do your your best to have a good game.

Adapted from:

http://www.sportsofficialsuk.com/resources/general/mentalpreparation.htm

Injuries in Refereeing

2011-02-16T22:38:00.000-08:00

Basically, there are two types of injuries: acute injuries and overuse injuries. acute injuries often occur as a result of an accident, a hard knock, a bad tackle, fractures, sprains, dislocations or muscle strain. Overuse injuries are more common among referees and are more subtle and usually occur over time. They are the result of micro trauma (small injuries)to the tendons, bones and joints. Common overuse injuries among referees are Achilles tendinitis, shin splints, plantar faciitis, tennis elbow, runner knee or jumper's knee.

How does overuse injuries occur?

Too much work in a short period will leads to tension. If you are trying to improve your fitness in a short time, it will result in overuse injuries. The human body normally will be able to adapt to most of the physical stresses. In fact, improvement in performance is due to this phenomenon where the bones, muscles, tendons and ligaments become stronger through exercises and activity. This is termed as the remodeling process of the body where there is the breakdown and the build up of tissues. If the the build up occurs efficiently than the breakdown then the enhancement of physical level occurs but if the break down occurs more rapidly than the build up, injury occurs.

What causes overuse injuries?

Methods of training is important and training errors are the most common cause of overuse injuries. In training, sudden increase or rapid increase in workload or intensity (speed, distance, repetition) of the activity will result in injury. Over-training or over-loading without proper rest. Too many matches in a day or a week will create fatigue in the muscles and thus result in the micro trauma of the tissues. Overuse injury also happen in people who return after injury and try to do to much in a short span of time. Other factors resulting in overuse injuries may be training surface, shoes, equipments or individual biological factors.

Ways to avoid overuse injuries.

Gradual running in or build up into physical activities is very important. Have consistent training schedule, gradual acceleration in intensity or work outs, wear proper shoes for suitable surface or activities and "listen to your body" do not over-work your body.

Treatment.

Treatment depends on individual and also the injury. Reducing the intensity (work load), duration or frequency of the activities may reduce the pressure or brings relief to the affected part. Adopt a hard/easy schedule (alternating hard workout with easier ones) to maintain overall fitness while the injured part recovering. Work with a trainer. Special attention to proper warm up before the activity and using ice after activity may relief the affected part. Aspirin to be taken only on doctor's advice.

You can prevent overuse injuries with proper training method and schedule. Use your common sense too. Listen to your body. "No pain, no gain" does not apply here. Gradual increase in intensity. Have enough time for your training schedule (do not do too much in too little a time). Take a break when you body gives you message that you need a rest.

Adopted from "Get back in the Game" http://www.elite-sports-med.com/overuse.htm

Registration of Referee 2011

2011-01-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

FAM has open its registration for football and FUTSAL referees for the year 2011.
The forms can taken from the Referees Department and return on or before 10 February 2011.

Regulation need to be followed:
1. Referees will only be registered after they had fulfilled the requirement:
- passed medical test, FIFA physical test, theory est and attend Seminar.

2. Only registered referees will be given equipments as approved by the Referees Committee for the year.

3. All FIFA Referees and Assistant Referees may not be registered as FUTSAL Referees and shall not referee any FUTSAL matches.

4. Island referees can request for registration via e-mail (amir@famaldives.com) or download the forms from Madivessoccer.com.

5. Testing in islands will be carried after April and the island concern will be informed.

6. Course for Football and FUTSAL referees will held in Male every year to increase the number of referees. Islands who are interested to have course can apply to the Football Association of Maldives.

7. No other association or individual body has the authority to run any course or certified the course other than FAM.

8. FAM as the sole controlling body for football and FUTSAL activities has the sole authority to sanction any competitions or appoint the referees. No other association or body has the right to do so.

9. Island who uses referees that are not appointed by FAM will not be given any attention or assistance.

10. All matters concerning refereeing, courses, competitions or related matted on football should be referred to the Football Association of Maldives.

11. Seminar for FUTSAL Referees - 27 February - 4 March 2011

12. Seminar for Football Referees - 20 - 25 March 2011.-

FAM Football Seminar

2011-01-17T16:47:00.000-08:00

January 17, 2011 - Football Association of Maldives had its Seminar on Football at the Youth Centre in Male'. Members from clubs, media, referees, coaches and sports personnel were invited to give their their view towards enhancing the Dhiraagu Dhivehi League 2011.

In the development of football in Maldives, there are the basic elements that influence its performance, the players, match officials, team officials, Club's owners, organizers (FAM), supporters, sponsors, media and Ministry of Youth and Sports.

All these elements have their own strengths and weaknesses, which will affect or have effects on the other elements. Performance of the players and their professional attitude towards each match is their responsibility to ensure that their fans or supporters are always being entertained and contented. This will then enhance the gate collection which is the additional financial source. Professional approach in handling the team by team officials ensure team work and joint performance and results. Reaction of team officials to decisions of match officials may calm or incite the players and also the supporters. When players lose their concentration, it will result in mistake, aggression, injury, card or sent off and receiving goal. Excellent strategy and flow of the attack and defense by players will enhance the movement of the referees and thus improve his refereeing standards. High quality play with full commitment to produce good entertainment will bring the crowd to the stadium. Incited supporters will bring about aggression and unruly reactions. Sponsors will get their extra mileage through crowd and also good media coverage. Good quality media coverage will also raise the standards of the matches to receive AFC of FIFA recognition to put the video clips into their weekly show (e.g. Football Asia).

More often, we tend to see negative reaction from the elements. If every elements involved keep finding the fault and error the others or trying to shift their own weaknesses to others, there will not be a solution to improve the quality of football in the playing, organizing, selling, sponsoring and producing quality players for the country. All these elements should compliment or supplement each other in order to create a bonding towards bringing Dhivehi football to the eyes of the world. The organizer (FAM) with the assistance and support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports can make wonders in Maldives if they work closely, with each enhancing each other. There may be differences in the color of the flag but there are a lot of similarities. We pray to the same God (Allah), the same direction (Kiblat), speak the same language (Dhivehi) and eat the same food (roshi, garudhia). Football is a public entity and thus needs to be given a special attention and support. This will definitely bring the level of Dhivehi football to the highest standard so that one day, Maldives will stand the same height as other football giant in the world.

Ali Azim - AFC Executive Committee Member

2011-01-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

Ali Azim, President of Football Association of Maldives has been elected as one of the Executive Committee Member (2011 -2015) in the 24th AFC Congress held in Doha, Qatar on the 6th of January 2011.
Commenting to reporters, Ali Azim admitted that the post is not a privilege but a huge responsibility.

More details
http://www.the-afc.com/en/afc-congress-news/32056-afc-president-welcomes-new-look-exco

Regulations on the Organisation of Refereeing

2010-12-29T19:38:00.000-08:00

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

2010-12-29T17:54:00.000-08:00

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.

Performing Hajj

2010-10-13T17:19:00.000-07:00

My wife and me will be going to the holy land of Makkah and Madina to perform our hajj on the 24 October 2010 till 12 December 2010. May Allah, the Almighty and Merciful bless us with strength, good health, patience and resilience to overcome all the challenges and blessing in performing our hajj. InshaAllah, I will pray for the well-being and success of all my brothers and their family in Maldives.

Advice to Referees in Malaysia

2010-10-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

9 October 2010, 1500 hour - I was very much honoured when a team from a television broadcaster in Malaysia came to my home to interview me. They asked of my first experience and last match of my refereeing career, worst experience and sweet one, effort put in to be excellent. My designation in Malaysia and my present designation. I was also asked on how to encounter with decisions making, problems in the game and indiscipline players. Lastly was my advice to referees to be able to the best or at least perform the best on each outing.

To gain the RESPECT of players and team officials, a referee need to ensure that every match that he officiate is the best or at least maintain his consistency in his performance. To be able to do so, he has to maintain his fitness level, maintain match practice, have enough rest before each match, BE FAIR, FIRM and IMPARTIAL all the time. Have courage to take strong action or decision. When a player commits a serious foul and deserve to be cautioned or sent off but was not given the correct sanction by the referee, the player will not respect the referee although a bad decision was in his favour. So referee should not think that by not having the COURAGE to give the correct sanction, he has actually lost his SELF RESPECT to the players.

Players play the game THE WAY the referee make them to play. If the referee allow bad fouls left unpenalized, robust tackles, dissent and questioning of his decisions, that will be the way the player will play it and the bad fouls will be more serious and in the end the referee will LOSE HIS CONTROL and in the end the game will be OUT OF CONTROL.

"The grasses will not sway if the wind is not blowing". Normally player will not complain or question the referee's decisions. So the referee, while maintaining his assertiveness and decisiveness in his control of the match, he has to conduct SELF-ANALYSIS and QUESTION himself when there is complaint from players or officials. Maybe he did missed an incident or foul or made a wrong decision. So if he is TRUTHFUL and SINCERE to himself, he will gain the respect of the players and team officials.

For a referee to be able to achieve the highest level in refereeing, he must be in constant training on his fitness level, updating his knowledge on the Laws of the Game and also its interpretation and implementation, have proper nutrition and rest before and after the match, develop his own mental preparation before each match and self motivation to improve further, sincere in accepting comments and advice from referee assessors or even his peer, respect others to gain respect from others, have courage to make strong decision against culprit with bad discipline or attitude, be pleasant and yet assertive in his appoach, develop self motivation to push your performance and achievement to the limits and thus will achieve the highest level of performance in his career.

Nomination of FIFA Match Officials 2011

2010-09-29T18:47:00.000-07:00

FA of Maldives has once again nominated the following for FIFA 2011 Match Officials:
1. Ali Saleem - Referee
2. Ali Adil - Referee
1. Ahmed Ameez - Assistant Referee
2. Ahmed Aslam - Assistant Referee
3. Mohamed Aneel - Assistant Referee
4. Mohamed Fareed - Assistant Referee
5. Ibrahim Thaufeeq - Assistant Referee
All match officials have been ranked based on their overall performance in the Dhivehi League. There are also young referee who have better performance than the existing match officials. The Referees Committee (RefCom) felt that the potential referee should be given more exposure before he is nominated. Existing FIFA match official must maintain a ranking above 50% of the referees to be nominated again. Next year, the Referees Committee (based on FIFA guidelines) have decided that other eligible referees with better performance will be registered instead if the existing match official fall below the 50% level.
Other rules on the eligibility or referees being nominated are: must officiate at the highest level matches in the country, passed the appropriate FIFA's physical fitness test, medical test, not holding any official function as FA Exco, General secretary or member of RefCom or any football club, not indiscipline or for any other justifiable reason. Member Associations may request the FIFA Referees Committee in writing to suspend or remove a referee from the list for any justifiable reason. FIFA Referees Committee's decision is final and is not subjected to appeal.
Any match officials not registered for the year may be re-registered if his performance is still considered by the FA RefCom as excellent and is not above 45 years of age. Referees who choose to be indiscipline may face the possibility of not being registered or removed. The FA has the right to nominate an existing AR to the referee's list but he has to be removed from the list for one year. Good luck to all referees of Maldives in the remaining matches of the Dhivehi League (as from 1 September 2010).

Changes to Improve on Commitment and Performance

2010-09-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

Some of the changes that will be implemented by the Referees Department in 2011 to check on the commitment and performance of the referees. This is based on the procedures of re-registration and recording of performance by AFC and FIFA. Thus, this will also facilitate the department to have a continuous check on the referee's performance.

Referees performances in the Dhivehi League will be tabulated their marks from 1 September 2010 till 31 August 2011. This will be carried out every year in line with AFC and FIFA. So the performance of the referees in the remaining months (September, October, November and December) of 2010 will be taken into consideration in the re-registration and registration of FIFA Match Officials for 2011.

This year all nomination by the Referees Committee for the FIFA Match Officials has to be approved by the FAM Executive Committee (as in FIFA Statute). So match official who continuously infringes the rules and regulation of FAM will taken disciplinary action including taking off from the FIFA list. The character, discipline, action, attitude and performance is often in the eyes of the public. So the referee has to always maintain a good personality and character. Although FAM has approved the re-registration of all the FIFA Match Officials their performance and discipline will also be monitored throughout the seasons. Referees turning down matches at the last minutes, not turning up for matches or other unaccepted reasons will be put on hold their appointment by AFC or FIFA.

FIFA referees and Assistant Referees (AR) must maintain their ranking in term of performance and must not be below 50% of the total number of referees being put as referees or assistant referees in the Dhivehi league. For example, if there are 10 referees doing the Dhivehi League, the FIFA referees and AR must maintain his ranking above raking 5 to be considered for nomination. So if there are other referees whose performance are better, then they should also be nominated together with the existing referees or assistant referees. Performance should be the main factor over age in term of excellence in refereeing.

Appointments will be made at least for a period of two weeks and be emailed to all referees. Thus will ensure that all referees have email and open their email too. Calling by telephone will be reduced or only for other competitions. Weekly training to improve on physical fitness, refereeing skills and to deliberate on refereeing problems faced. Senior referees beside the instructors will be used to handled these matter. This will of course guide and assist them to be future instructors or at least to know their own performance better.

FAM Best Service Referee Award will still be given to three referees who had devoted most of their time to FAM in accepting appointment for matches. The total number of matches, number of matches as referees and marks of their performances and also their discipline will be considered in picking the right recipients.

Attendance in weekly training or meetings and also the Annual Preparatory Seminar will be made compulsory. If effort is made to tailor for the improvement of referee is not seen as important by any referee then FAM do not need to consider the referee (if any) for any appointment at all.

These actions will be a booster to younger referees to be more disciplined, to put in effort to improve themselves in their refereeing skills and also attitude so that they will be Maldives' future international referees or excellent referees in the Dhivehi Leagues.

Eid Mubarak

2010-09-09T02:55:00.000-07:00

Eid Mubarak to you all who are close follower of Maldivesref blog. Back in Malaysia with family. InshaAllah will be performing by Hajj this year with my wife. Will be praying for the goodness of all my friends in Maldives. Since I will be away for a while, all decisions pertaining to refereeing matters will be decided by the Referees Committee and Ahmed Abeer Ismail will resume all my task in the Referees Department. He may choose to make references to me if neccessary. I hope that all the referees will observe the procedures set in the FAM Referees Manual. I sincerely hope that no referee will be ambitious enough to deviate away from the main stream to get into trouble. Good luck and once again, Eid Mubarak to you and family.

Referees Instructor - To be or Not to be

2010-09-01T17:22:00.000-07:00

Referees Instructor or FIFA termed it as Technical Instructor is a thankless job in the development of referees. If one feel that it is a way to make money then he/she has got the wrong concept. The income from giving courses will not be able to get back the investment that he/she has to put in like buying a laptop, maybe a multimedia projector, magnetic board, laser pointer and many other gadgets 9if you want to be different or special one from others).
Before one feel that he/she wants to be one, he/she has to evaluate the qualities that an instructor needs to possess in order to want to be one. Even when he/she is still an active, there should be an urge to wanting to teach, to guide, to assist or to show others how to be better in the skill of refereeing. Always wanting to read and understand the laws of the Game better, going over and over again to understand it better, to explain and convince others or testing himself with quizzes on the laws of the Game. Keeping himself/herself updated with the latest amendments to the laws even before getting it through the mail by browsing FIFA or other relevant sites for it. When refereeing, always critical of one's performance, self-evaluation and self-analysis is his/her normal practice after every match. Always wanting to do better in each and every performance. Opened to criticism or opinion by others and accepting good points from others to improve further (If he/she cannot accept other's criticism, will he/she be able to give it to others or feel that others will accept his/hers).
Possessed the passion of browsing or looking other aspects related to the development of one's refereeing skills and performance, like fitness training, weight training, psychological practices, nutrition and pre-game nutrition, sports injuries and remedy or recovery methodology, training equipments and facilities, football coaching principles and strategy in play and many other related aspects of football to enrich one's knowledge and experiences.
Training the trainers is a normal practice to recruit new instructor. Some can be trained or moulded into good instructors but some can and will not be a good one as the urge or the eagerness to improve is not possessed. This is due to the individual objectives or aims to be an instructor.
Personal characters and appearance is one aspect that will bring out the flare of a "different" , "special" or "an excellent" instructor. Individual talking skill, persuading or marketing skills, instructional delivery skill, technical skill with multimedia facilities, ability in making or producing his/her own teaching or instructional material are among the personal aspect that one needs to possess to be an excellent, if not a better instructor. Natural traits of the ability or the wanting the see the best in others, the positive aspects or traits of others, the strength and potentials of others will make one an acceptable instructor rather that the one who always sees the negative points of others, always critical or finding the faults of others or even having a negative concept of everything which makes a bad one.
Looking at all the aspect highlighted above, one can now evaluate if one can be one of the future instructor to be. If interested he/she can starts to put in effort to change his/hers perspective to everythings besides trying to gain all the skills, knowledge and approaches in instructional skills to perform better as a referee and later on as an instructor.

Fourth Official - New Amendment 2010/2011

2010-09-01T12:34:00.001-07:00

THE FOURTH OFFICIAL
He assist the referee to control the match in accordance with the laws of the Game. The referee, however, retains the authority to decide on all points connected with play.

In the first incident, both the Referee and the Assistant Referee did not see not see the defender handling the ball. The fourth official was in a better position to see and advised the referee. A penalty was given for the offence.

In the second offence, the Referee viewed it from his position as a normal foul but from the vision of the fourth official it is a reckless foul that merits a yellow card. So the player was given a yellow card.

The Referee reserves the right to make the final decision.

Clarification and Guidelines from FUTURO III Nepal

2010-08-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

I had the great opportunity of meeting Neale Barry (neale.barry@TheFA.com) FA Head of Refereeing and Member of IFAB at the FUTURO III Refereeing Course in Nepal. All participants were given the clarification on the ammendment to the Laws of the Game 2010 and its implementation. I took the opportunity to enhance some understanding on the Laws of the Game and its Guidelines. I hope the following will be of use to all referees in Maldives and elsewhere:

1. Field of Play - The goals MUST be of the shape mentioned as certain manufacturer wants to make their own interpretation of this laws when the laws cited as "the goals may..." thus other shape is allowed. In this ammenment, only the specificallu mentioned shape is allowed.

2. Penalty Kicks - Feinting is in the run-up to take a penalty kick to confuse opponents is permitted as part of football. However, feinting to kick the ball once he has completed his run-up si considered an infringement and is an act of unsporting behavior and shall be cautioned. Guidelines on decision and restart are as in the book.

3. Players of same team collided - play shall be stopped for treatment on the field as it will be unfair if they are taken off the field of play. This is the same if the goalkeeper or the goalkeeper with an opponent is down for injury.

4. Stretcher bearers will only enter with the permission of the referee on the request of the doctor. One in, the players must leave on the stretcher. He will be cautioned if he does not get on to the stretcher. Otherwise, he will leave with the doctor when no stretcher is bought in.

5. Fourth Official assist the referee to control the match but the referee retains the authority to decide on all points connected of the play.

Other Clarification:

6. Drop ball as a restart when play is stopped for an injury. No whistle is needed when the referee is dropping the ball. No whistle is needed also for throw in, free kicks, corner kicks or substitution unless it has been held temporary to attend to an injury, caution, sent off or substitution.

7. Undershorts, if worn must be of same main color of the shorts. Tights, if worn may not be of the same color of the shorts. Law 4 does mention on the use of tights. (Please refer side-bar of this blog for clarification).

FUTSAL Referees Course in Hithadhoo

2010-08-07T23:48:00.001-07:00

Feinting in Penalty Kicks

2010-08-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

Feinting in the run-up to take a penalty kick to confuse an opponent is permitted as part of football. However, feinting to kick the ball once he has completed his run-up is considered an infringement in Law 14 and an act of unsporting behavior for which the player must be cautioned.

Tiny Hearts of Maldives Charity Match

2010-07-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

Check out Pictures from Mauroof Khaleel's Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4304129&id=773834588&ref=notif#!/album.php?aid=22680&id=100000484401351&ref=mf

FUTSAL REFEREES BASIC COURSE 2010

2010-06-29T03:37:00.000-07:00

Football Association of Maldives is having another basic course for Futsal Referees to increase the number of qualified referees in Male. The course started on the 28th June and ends on the 3rd July 2010.

Venue for the course are:

0600 - 0715 - Henviru Mini Park

CUP of NATION Futsal Pitch

1600 - 1730 - FAM House

2030 - 2130 - FAM House

Accountability and Sanctions

2010-06-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

To erred is human. This includes a referee making split-seconds decisions based on what he viewed and the instant interpretation of the mind and the quick reaction of the hand and whistle. Making mistakes in a match is acceptable in the view of refereeing, mistakes made by referees in the match often make the match more interesting and dramatic. But making mistake that changed the result of the match is unacceptable and thus action taken by rating the performance as poor should be well accepted by the referee concerned.
Often a referee may have a very good performance throughout the match but due to fatigue, carelessness or complacency in the dying minutes, a mistakes that overturned the result erased the good performance prior to it. As professional or acting as a professional, a referee should owned up to his mistake and apologise for his error in his report although it will not change the result of the match. This is the sporting spirit or the character of a gentleman that he possessed. Being egoistic (as some maybe), arrogant is quite often seen among some of the referees. Not accepting or wanting to accept one's error or advise given are the outcome. More often, by not accepting or admitting a minor error or mistake may lead to having to facing a tremendous terror in a match with confrontation, bad yelling, filthy swearing and even aggression from players, officials or even the spectators.
On the role of administrator, assessing the referee's performance is part of development and taking necessary action to check on the continual improvement of the referees and to enhance the overall referees' performance or others. Referees with good performance will definitely be given more matches to handle, the less confident or competent ones be given the less pressured matches and those making unacceptable be put to rest for awhile, placed in the lower division or easier matches to regain his confidence and then later after proper guidance and counseling to be put back into the mainstream.
Accepting one's mistake is accountability and should be opened to sanctions taken by the authority. It takes years to make a good referee but it may take only a second to be a bad one. Of course the authority concern will not kill or take away a referee because of a mistake although it jeopardise the performance of the team and also the bread of the players and coaches. Through the sanction process mentioned above and with the cooperation of the referees, the development process will grow and God's willing the standards of refereeing and Dhivehi football will rise.
Read this:
http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/source-u-s-slovenia-ref-gets-poor-rating--fbintl_ro-referee061910.html

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/refs-must-face-the-music-for-bad-calls--fbintl_ro-referees062010.html

http://g.sports.yahoo.com/soccer/world-cup/news/fifa-drops-referee-after-dropped-call--fbintl_ro-fifaref062110.html

Untested, Tested and Certified Okay.

2010-06-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

Some of the referees were not tested or given the chance to referee and to show their true potential in the past. Base on feedback, they were not given the chance thus their potential stays undisclosed. Everyone should be given a break. There is always the first break or appearance. Jittery and inconsistency in decisions is due to the lack of experience. Through matches after matches, they will definitely be groomed into better referees and eventually meet the satisfactions of the customers (the players, coaches, team officials and FAM).

This the Referees Department took the brave and drastic step in trying out the youngsters or junior referees in the First and Second Division matches. The time came when some of the senior referees were on leave, injury and other reasons. This left the department in despair and with the help of these junior referees, they met the expectation and proved the criticism wrong. There may be some hiccups but eventually they lived up to the expectation and satisfaction of the department and also assessors. This, we also need to thank all the coaches and team officials for standing behind FAM's effort by absorbing some of the pressure. At least for the moment these juniors have done a good job for the moment as there were no big mistake that changes the result of the matches and we hope that they will be able to handle the pressure of higher level matches. These junior referees mentioned are Ahmed Aslam, Ahmed Afsah, Ismail Izhaan, Shifan Abdul Raheem and Afeef Abdul Samad. They will be instrumental when some of the senior referees are away for international appontment or other matches. A few more have been put as Assistant Referees and will eventually be tested in the Third Division matches. They are Mohamed Mushil, Ibrahim Abdul Wahid, Zaeem Ali, Jaufar Abdul Rasheed, Ihusan Abdul Raheem, Mohamd Ali, Mohamed Fawwaz, Adam Faxeel and others.

A Football Physical Fitness will be held on the 2nd July 2010 at 0600 hours at the Athletic Track to ensure the referees continue to be in good physical condition to handle the matches that will definitely be higher and higher in tension and expectation. So their tip top performance is very much needed.

Creating the First Impression

2010-05-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

The first impression plays a vital role in refereeing like other profession. You will never get a second chance to create the first impression. It is vital for everyone to ensure that they are always at their best because each encounter will create the first impression to others who in contact with us the first time.

Creating the first impression is not an easy task in refereeing. Young referees will face a strong challenge to create the first impression. Players and officials as human being are always sceptical with new things. They normally will look at the negative aspect of things. It will be a easy task, if everyone always look at the strength and positive aspects of the referee. At times the first encounter may be easy but most of the time the first encounter is challenging, a uphill task, filled with anxiety and tension. The ability to be calm, assertive and patience will see the referee making correct and rational decisions. These decisions will be well respected and accepted by the players and officials.

Being human, making mistakes is natural but knowing your mistake and vowing to correct it and to be more cautious not to make the same mistake again will see the making of a sincere referee. More often, some referees after making a mistake deliberately make another mistake to balance up the mistake. This is very wrong and should be avoided. In refereeing, two wrongs cannot make one right. Realising a mistake during the course of the game is important and the referee should continue to stay calm, forget about the mistake and try not to repeat mistake. The clause, "a referee can reverse his decision as long as play has not been restarted" gives he referee opportunity to mend the mistake and make immediate correction in the game. The willingness to admit one's mistake is much appreciated by others and will then gain respect from others too.

Personality when arriving at the venue before the match will create a strong impression to officials. This is the correct time to create a good impression. The referee's dressing, early arrival, approach, body language, conversation and other body cues during the the inspection of the field and also to the team's dressing room will give a clear impression of the referee. It can be positive or negative depending on the impact that the referee creates. The referee's movement, positioning and first decision on foul, dissent, appeal or tackling indiscipline action by player(s) will enhance the impression further. The courage to take strong action and decision will also be a plus point to the referee - giving a penalty, canceling a goal due to offsides or prior infringement by the attacker, sent off of player(s) or removing an official from the technical area. The overall performance of the match will definitely makes a conclusion of the performance and personality of the referee. This will result in the referee having more or lesser objection, dissent or confrontation in his future matches.

So as an advice, the referee must take each and every match seriously, have good physical and mental preparation before a match, match practice, good rest and nutrition, review of game pattern with the DVD, post game discussions and other appropriate steps in preparing for a match will influence the referee's performance in any match.

Refereeing Tips: Managing Dissent

2010-05-20T17:32:00.000-07:00

Law 5: One of the duties of a referee is to take disciplinary action against players guilty of cautionable and sending-off offences. He is not obliged to take this action immediately but must do so when the ball next goes out of play

Law 12: A player is cautioned and shown the yellow card if he shows dissent by word or action

This two statements in the Laws of the Game require the referee to take action against players who refuse to abide to the decisions of a referee. Such action includes questioning the referee's decision each time a decision is made. Persistent in such action will leads to the referee losing his authority and respect by other players, officials and also spectators.

A referee has to use his discretion in overcoming such undesired situations. Players who persistently questioning showing his refusal to accept the referee's decision if not checked early either by verbal warning (either a soft word or stern action) or shown a yellow card to caution him will leads to many other players objecting to his decisions. Getting it right at the right time is very important. A timely action will prevent or overcome all other possible problems later on in the game.

"The grasses will not sway if the wind is not blowing". Self-evaluation in the game itself will help the referee in having a composed feeling and firm control of the game. Perhaps there is/are foul(s) or error that you may have overlooked that resulted in the players appealing, objecting, showing dissent or retaliation. Self ego, arrogant or stubbornness will result in the referee getting more serious problems later on. How can a referee prevent or overcome such situation? Be in control from the start till the end, be well positioned, near to play or on the spot of action/incident, well-versed with the Laws of the Game. expect the unexpected, good reading of the game and judging the emotion of the players following any incident, not to be complacent (feeling satisfy with one's performance), alertness, taking correct action at the right time and taking appropriate strong action when it is necessary are among the ways or guide a referee can use to prevent objection or dissent from players. If the referee is confident with his decisions, fair and seen to be fair and accepted or respected from the start any difficult situation even like taming the tiger can be overcome.

Refereeing Tips: The Referee

2010-05-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

Laws 5: The Referee
Power and Duties

The Referee:
• enforces the Laws of the Game
• controls the match in cooperation with the assistant referees and, where applicable, with the fourth offi cial
• ensures that any ball used meets the requirements of Law 2
• ensures that the players’ equipment meets the requirements of Law 4
• acts as timekeeper and keeps a record of the match
• stops, suspends or abandons the match, at his discretion, for any infringements of the Laws
• stops, suspends or abandons the match because of outside interference of any kind
• stops the match if, in his opinion, a player is seriously injured and ensures that he is removed from the fi eld of play. An injured player may only return to the field of play after the match has restarted
• allows play to continue until the ball is out of play if a player is, in his opinion, only slightly injured
• ensures that any player bleeding from a wound leaves the fi eld of play. The player may only return on receiving a signal from the referee, who must be satisfi ed that the bleeding has stopped
• allows play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage and penalises the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time
• punishes the more serious offence when a player commits more than one offence at the same time
• takes disciplinary action against players guilty of cautionable and sending-off offences. He is not obliged to take this action immediately but must do so when the ball next goes out of play
• takes action against team offi cials who fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and may, at his discretion, expel them from the field of play and its immediate surrounds
• acts on the advice of the assistant referees regarding incidents that he has not seen
• ensures that no unauthorised persons enter the fi eld of play
• indicates the restart of the match after it has been stopped
• provides the appropriate authorities with a match report, which includes information on any disciplinary action taken against players and/or team officials and any other incidents that occurred before, during or after the match

Failing to implement or applying the Laws of the Game above thus, the referee failed in carrying his duty as a referee. This the basic knowledge that a referee must know in order to qualify as a referee.

Reference: page 21 & 22 FIFA LoG 2009/2010

FIFA BEACH SOCCER REFEREE COURSE

2010-05-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

Maldives, a country full of many beautiful beaches and International standard resorts should be a synonym to beach soccer. This peculiar game is played in the international level and many countries capture their tourism market through hosting this as an international event. Ministry of Tourism and even International Hotel take the initiative to have this event hosted in their premise or country in order to attract football stars and other tourists into the country. Sport tourism is a field that Maldives should be engaged in to generate more revenue into the country.

A beach soccer pitch is considerably smaller than a regular football pitch. In international competition, the pitch is composed entirely of sand and is cleared of pebbles and seashells, along with any other objects which could injure a player.
The pitch is rectangular in shape, and the touch line is longer than the goal line. The pitch dimensions are 35-37m in length and 26-28m in width. It is slightly smaller that a normal FUTSAL pitch (40 by 20 m). The penalty area is within 9 m of the goals, and is marked by a yellow flag situated in touch. Two red flags opposite each other are at the centre of the pitch to represent the half-way line.

Football Association of Maldives will be having a FIFA Beach Soccer Introductory Course for referees and coaches on the 11 - 15 July 2010. FAM has discussed the matter with the Ministry of Tourism to assist in hosting in one of the resort. 30 coaches and 30 referees from the whole of Maldives will be selected as participants for these courses. Existing referees aged below 35 will be selected from the active referees list to participate in this course. Two senior referees will also be selected to attend so that they will be instructors to expand this course to other referees or interested people.

FAM will later make roadshow to all resorts by getting the instructors to introduce the coaching and refereeing aspects of the game to them so that this game will be more popular. Resorts who wish to host this event are very much welcome to discuss with FAM. In future, resorts who wish to organise tournament can get the assistant of the FAM. FAM the governing body in the country is the sole body responsible to sanction any football tournament and also to appoint the referees to officiate in any tournament held. No other body is empowered to sanction or appoint match officials for football, FUTSAL or beach soccer other than the Football Association of the country.

Refereeing Tips: Additional TIme

2010-05-06T18:47:00.000-07:00

Law 5 in the Laws of the Game (LoG), states that it is the duty of the Referee to act as timekeeper and keeps a record of the match. The referee is the sole judge of the time. A match is played in two halves of 45 minutes with allowance for time lost added at the end of each half. Allowance is made in either period for all time lost through substitutions, assessment of injury to players, removal of injured players from the field of play for treatment, wasting time and any other cause like management of the wall, action of cautioning or sent off, temporary suspension for repair of goal posts or cross bar. The allowance for the time lost is at the discretion of the referee (pg. 26 LoG). The guidelines to referees and assistant referees stressed again that the referee must allow for the full amount of time lost through injury to be played at the end of each period of play (pg. 68 LoG).
In addition, the Guidelines states that many stoppages in play are entirely natural (e.g. throw-ins, goal kicks). An allowance is to be made only when these delays are excessive.
The fourth official indicates the minimum additional time decided by the referee at the end of the final minute of each period of play. The announcement of the additional time does not indicate the exact amount of time left in the match. The time may increased if the referee considers it appropriate but never reduced. The referee must not compensate for a timekeeping error during the first half by increasing or reducing the length of the second half (pg. 96 LoG - Guidelines).
Playing additional time accordingly is an act of fairness and by doing so the referee should not feel that he is being biased to one team as he will be depriving them of the actual playing time, if he does not. There is no maximum or minimum added time i each half as incident and wasted time differs from each half or each game. At times a well handled and fair game ends up with one team unhappy just because of the insufficient time added in the match. The referee should try to posses a good watch that has a count-down timer and chronometer (stopwatch) features to enable him to sanction the playing time accordingly. The stopwatch should be stopped when there is a stoppage that needs the referee to act on the incidents for temporary suspension of the game and then add the appropriate accordingly.

Developing the Young Ones

2010-05-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

A football team, normally comprises of experienced players and also the younger or new players who are full of enthusiasm, energy, basic skill required but lack the exposure and experience. All training will definitely emphasize on skill development, confidence building and strategy enhancing in order to enable the younger ones to be absorb into the system. Coaches who have the mind for development will not hesitate to put in the junior into the matches when the time is right (when is the right time?). Putting one junior player will allow ten other senior players to carry him and to build themselves too. Coaches need to be patience too to accept their mistakes or else these junior players will lose their confidence and thus will hinder in their development. At times the coach has to gamble and put in the junior player even in crucial matches. Many juniors, given the chance will perform beyond the coaches' expectation as they want to gain their place in the regular line-up. If coaches of team at the bottom of the league wait for matches when they are leading then the juniors will never get a chance to make their break at all. Putting the junior or even warming them up in the sidelines will push the senior int he field of play to buckled up and perform better.
In refereeing, there is similarity in the development process. Referees Committee will decide the right time to appoint junior referees into the main stream. This of course is done after giving them the appropriate training, building their confidence in the lower level leagues matches, guidance from referees assessor besides some tips from the senior referees and when their performance are good, putting them into the higher league is a wise move. Their performance will of course be under the scrutiny of the referee's assessor (RA) whose duty is to give advice and to guide them in their development. Making mistakes is humane and the approach adopted by RA in accepting minor mistakes or error will help in enhancing their self-confidence in the development process. Mistakes should not be made at the expense of the teams or players. Matches in the earlier stage (early round) should be the right time to give the junior referees a break as matches in the final round are usually more challenging and crucial. With the kind cooperation of team officials the synergy process will definitely benefit the country football on the whole and the referees, specifically.

Essential Things a New Referee Needs to do

2010-05-04T09:27:00.000-07:00

You have just qualified as a new referee after successfully attending the referee's basic course, passed the theory and also the physical fitness test. This is just the beginning. You are now categorized as a trainee referee. What are the essential things that you need to do to improve or develop into a good or excellent referee?
1. You need to learn and understand the Laws of the Game better. The more you know it the better and more comfortable you become. Making mistakes because you do not know the laws are the worse feeling that you can get.
2. Getting your equipments is also important. You will need to buy at a set of referee's jersey, black shorts, black long stockings and a black colored boot. For carrying out your duties, you need 2 whistles, a digital watch with countdown or chronometer, 2 pens/pencils, 2 sets of yellow/red cards, a wallet with scorecards and a set of flags. An enthusiastic referee will purchase these equipments instead of waiting for others to provide it.
3. Get to know your senior referees or the referee assessors who will be responsible in guiding you to a higher level by giving appropriate guidance and training tips.
4. Accept your appointment promptly and arrive early for your duty. Get acquainted to the other match officials in the pregame discussions. If given any chances, grab any available match experiences through friendly or school level matches. This will enrich your refereeing experiences.
5. As the usual culture, you will have to get a lot experiences as an assistant referee while waiting for the opportunity to be in the centre. Giving correct offside decisions, pulling fouls in your vicinity and giving correct clear flag signals when the ball leaves the field of play.
6. Positioning in play as a referee is vital. Being in good or proper position will enable you to see and judge correctly. This definitely need your ability to use your fitness capacity to your advantages.
7. Seeing, identifying fouls, giving correct decisions and proper sanctions will take time though some may learn faster. Applying the advantage rule in play need you to be at a proper position during fouls and a wider scope of vision. Ability to anticipate the next phase of play will require more experience and match reading.
8. Man management and preventative refereeing need you to have an assertive but pleasant approach and the ability to take precautionary measures during set play or in play.
9. Proper writing of match report is important as all misconduct and the show of cards need to be reported. All match records like the score, match officials, teams, field and weather condition and other relevant information need to be reported.
10. Post-game briefing either by senior referee in the team or referee's assessor on duty or in the vicinity will erase or reduce mistakes, weaknesses and to improve or enhance the strength in refereeing. Self-evaluation also plays a vital part in improving and motivation of one-self.
The above mentioned are only the basic requirement to fulfill the role of a referee. Further enhancement will require more effort, training, readings and exposure to match experiences.

New Amendments in WC 2010 - 1 June

2010-04-15T22:19:00.000-07:00

Laws 1:
The goalposts and crossbar be made of wood, metal or other approved material. They must be square, rectangular, round or elliptical in shape and must not be dangerous to players.
Reason:
Goalpost and crossbar of other shape are not permitted.

Guidelines for Referees:
Injured Player:
Exceptions to this ruling are to be made only when:
- a goalkeeper is injured
- a goalkeeper and an outfield player have collided and need immediate attention
- players from the same team have collided and need immediate attention
- a severe injury occurred, e.g. • swallowed tongue, concussion, broken leg
Reason:
It is considered unfair that players of the same team who collide are currently required to leave the field of play to receive treatment leaving the team concerned at a numerical disadvantage.

The stretcher bearers should only enter the field of play with a stretcher following a signal from the referee.
Reason:
Stretcher-bearers’ mandatory entry onto the field of play for all injuries where a doctor is requested frequently causes unnecessary disruption to the game.

Amendments will be enforced on 1 June 2010 in the World Cup 2010.

FITNESS TEST FOR ISLANDS' REFEREES

2010-04-11T07:55:00.000-07:00

Football Association of Maldives extended the registration of referees to all islands' referees who have attended referees courses by FAM. The FIFA Physical Fitness Test was carried in Bandidhoo (19 March 2010), Vilingili (8 April 2010) and Thinadhoo (9 April 2010). FAM's instructor Ahmed Abeer Ismail and Amir Sharifuddin Wong (Referees Director) conducted the test. Referees who passed the fitness test will be given the opportunities in advance courses, assessment of performance, promotion and other facilities.
The successful referees from Gaafu Alifu Vilingili are Mohamed Khaleel, Shifaz Zahir, Agleem Rashaad, Muslim Abdul Hakeem, Ibrahim Zahid and Mazeed Abdullah (6)
Gaafu Dhaalu Thinadhoo: Ahmed Visham, Hussain Abdul Haleem, Arif Rasheed, Ahmed Abdullah, Ibrahim Azhar, Hussain Ahmed, Ahmed Abdulla and Ahmed Jaleel (8).
No referee passed in Bandidhoo. The referees in Nilandhoo will be tested in June. This test will also be conducted in Haa Alifu Did-dhoo.

Saleem for AFC Champions League - Australia

2010-04-07T17:51:00.000-07:00

Maldives' top referee, ALI SALEEM have been chosen to officiate in the AFC Champions League between Australia and China in Melbourne, Australia on the 14th April 2010. He has been selected by AFC as the Fourth Official for this match.

Saleem is also in the AFC Elite Referees panel, a group of Member Association's top referees selected to handle all the top matches in the Asian region. This achievement, FAM hopes that will inspire many younger referees to aspire to be FIFA Referee and to achieve the highest level of performance and to be be better that Saleem, if not be like him. Good luck to Saleem and all the referees in this season of a new brand of Dhiraagu Dhivehi League.

Dropped Ball - Procedure

2010-03-28T23:07:00.000-07:00

Dropped ball is a method of restarting play if play was stopped by the referees for reasons other than infringing of the Laws of the Game. Instances are like serious or bleeding injuries, disturbances by outside elements (spectator, coach, etc.) or accidents (cross bar or goal post broke, unfavorable weather conditions).

The referee drops the ball at the place where it was when play was stopped. The ball may not be played until it touches the ground and if it leaves the field directly, without touching any player, the ball shall be dropped again. Any player may challenge for the ball and no minimum or maximum number of player required to take part in a dropped ball. The referee may drop the ball even if only a player is there. The referee cannot decide who may or may not take part in a dropped ball. Is the whistle needed in a dropped ball?

Often referee misunderstand with guidelines given by FIFA: Whistle is needed to restart play after it have been stopped due to the issue of cards, injury or substitution. The whistle here is not to stop the game but to hold the game for the reasons mentioned. You don't stop play for substitution, do you? It is because you stopped or hold the game you have to get every one's attention again by using the whistle. So if you stopped play for a serious injury or bleeding injury, you need to dropped the ball but no whistling is needed. The ball is in play the moment it touches the ground. Reminder: Referees should not stop play for minor injury. Cramp is not a serous injury so game need not be stopped.

Vying for FIFA MAtch Official?

2010-03-21T23:18:00.000-07:00

Vying for FIFA Match Official? Yes! Why not? Every referee should have a dream or aspiration to be at the top in his refereeing career. The highest level of refereeing in the country is the FIFA status. Maldives is allotted THREE FIFA Referees and FIVE Assistant Referees. Referees should be doing matches in the country's highest league to be considered.
The Referees Committee shall nominate referees to fill the list. The proposed referees shall be at least 25 years old (23 years old in the case of assistant referees) and shall not reached the age of 45 on 1 January of the year for which they are nominated. The candidates shall have passed the appropriate FIFA Fitness test related to the list they belong to within four months prior to the deadline for nomination for the lists of international referees and assistant referees. They shall also have passed a medical examination.
FA shall supply FIFA with the rankings of the proposed referees based on the marks obtained at national level. These ranking shall apply only to first division matches at which they have officiated. With these ruling, other referees who obtain good performance higher than the current officials may stand a chance to be nominated and chosen by FIFA. Good luck to all!.

Trio at their Best to set Benchmark

2010-03-13T17:50:00.000-08:00

Dhivehi Football League commenced with the MILO Charity Shield 2010 on the 11 March 2010. VB Sports Club and Victory Sports Club gave their best performance and won the heart of the football fans. Quick exchange of attacks and five goals scored were the ingredients of an entertaining match. Trio AFC Elite Match Officials, Ali Saleem, Ahmed Ameez and Ibrahim Thaufeeq shown a superb performance. Ali Saleem was always on top of the game with his fast movement and good anticipation. His decisions were mostly accepted with two penalty awarded with no protest. Both his assistants were also always up with play and showed full concentration and assistance to the referee. FAM hopes that this performance from the trio will be a good benchmark to all other referees in their duties in this season. AFC Elite Fourth Official, Ali Adil also made his presence felt in the match. Many junior referees will given their break in this league to perform and to improve further in their career. The cooperation from the players, team officials and football fans in absorbing mistakes (if any) in the aim to assist in development of referees in this country. Thus, the vision to see a Maldivian referee in the World Cup will a reality.

Beach Soccer to Maldives

2010-03-07T00:47:00.000-08:00

FIFA will be holding a coaching and refereeing course in Male in July 2010. The aim is to promote and develop this game in Maldives, a country of many islands with beautiful sand beaches. 15 coaches and 15 young referees will be selected to participate in this course. With this initiative, FAM hopes to put Maldivian soccer in the world beach soccer map in the future.

Beach soccer is played on surface of sand, levelled, free of rocks, shells, and any other object that may offer risk of injury to the players. The field is 115 x 90 feet in dimension. Each team consists of four players and a goalkeeper with no off-sides. Unlimited substitutions allow for fresh legs at all times and keeps the game moving fluidly throughout all three 12-minute periods. A beach soccer game always has a winning team. In the event of a tie an overtime period is played, followed by penalty kicks if the tie remains. Beach soccer is indeed quite different in play and strategy than traditional soccer and offers the opportunity to develop unique skills away from the grass game. It is no wonder that top-flight professional teams the world over have begun to utilize sand pitches at their facilities for this very reason: playing beach soccer makes a better soccer player.
Read: http://www.beachsoccer.us/index.php/benifits-of-beach-soccer.html
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIFA_Beach_Soccer_World_Cup for more information.

FAM Preparatory Seminar for Referees

2010-03-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

Football Association of Maldives had just completed the 4 days seminar (1 - 4 March 2010) to prepare all the football referees for the new seasons. 48 referees applied to be registered but only 28 attended this seminar. The practical sessions were held in the Henveiru Ground while the theory sessions, in FAM Seminar Room. The practical sessions were handled by FIFA Futuro Instructors, Ahmed Abeer Ismail and Mohamed Saeed. They were assisted by FIFA Referee Ali Saleem and FIFA Assistant Referee Ahmed Ameez.
Practical sessions include refereeing and assistant referees skills, fitness training, offsides problems, positioning, handling of misconducts and difficult situations in games. Theory sessions include review of problems faced in the last season and ways to overcome, offsides problems, rules and procedures, briefing by competition and referees department.
24 football referees passed the fitness test and will be ready for the new seasons. 26 FUTSAL referees passed the FUTSAL fitness test. A special fitness test will be held for referees who are injured or away for courses.
With senior and new referees in the current referees list, the Referees Department hope and expect a positive path of development toward creating more quality referees in Maldives. Courses will held every year in Male for football (September) and FUTSAL (May) to increase the pool of referees in Male. Referees in other island will also be given fitness test to have them registered so that development will be total and equality of opportunity for development. Island who need to have their own referees can apply to FAM for courses to be held in their island.

Future of Maldivian Referees

2010-02-23T21:36:00.001-08:00

The success and product of the future is the results of policies, decisions, procedures, program and actions made today. Putting aside self interest, emotion and personal gains for the goodness of the whole group is a great sacrifice that each and every individual in an organisation should do for the sake of our future generation. The quality and quantity of the future referees in our country will be the effects of sacrifice, efforts and love that we put into the making of the future generation of referees. The thankless and sincere effort will be blessed by Allah, the Almighty.

Man Management

2010-02-22T22:45:00.000-08:00

Man management by the referee in a game is often terms as gamesmanship. Allowing the game to be played in accordance to the letter and the spirit of the law and at the same time maintaining the pleasure of entertainment of the game.

Though referees do not admit it but at times bad behaviored coaches or players are often being marked by the referee. This is prejudice and should not be adopted by referee. A referee should enter the field of play with a clear mind of every individuals but at the same time be ready to expect the expected and also the unexpected.

If coaches and players value safety and gamesmanship above winning, then they are on the same wave length as the referees but if winning is everything or winning at all cost is placed above the laws, the referee will have to stamp his authority to bring the game into his control for the safety and pleasure of the game.

Team officials may convey tactical instruction but stay confine in the technical area and also be responsible in behavior. Going overboard may see them being sent off the area to the grandstand by the referee. This, of course will not be a merit to their reputation.

Referee 'shrugging off' appeals or complaints from players or officials may not be a good approach or practice in refereeing. Gaining respect is through giving respect. The grass will not sway if the wind does not blow. At times, genuine appeal need to be tackled with tenderness and attention. The laws of the game mention 'safety' 6 times and 'dangerous' 7 times. Thus, ensuring the safety of excellent skilled players and allowing them to execute their skill without being dangerously or unfairly tackled is the key role of the referee to maintain entertainment and the pleasure of the game. Mutual respect will make this task of the referee easier once it is established. It is not easy for new young referee to create a good impression and remember, you will never get a second chance to create the first impression.

Hadith for today

2010-02-20T19:41:00.000-08:00

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: Messenger of Allah [S.A.W.W](P. B.U.H) said, "A Muslim is a brother to a Muslim. He should neither deceive him nor lie to him, nor leave him without assistance. Everything belonging to a Muslim is inviolable for a Muslim; his honour, his blood and property. Piety is here (and he pointed out to his chest thrice). It is enough for a Muslim to commit evil by despising his Muslim brother.''
[At-Tirmidhi] .

FAM Football Referee 2010

2010-02-19T20:52:00.000-08:00

The following have register and passed the fitness test:
Ali Saleem, Ali Adil, Ahmed Ameez, Ibrahim Thaufeeq, Mohamed Fareed, Mohamed Aneel, Ahmed Aslam, Ahmed Afsah, Ismail Izhan, Ahmed Shifan, Afeef Abdul Samad, Jaufar Rasheed, Adam Fazeel, Ahmed Anfal, Mohamed Faisal (MNDF), Zaeem Ali, Mohamed Nadheem, Ahmed Riza Dhawood (MNDF), Mohamed Mushil, Ibrahim Abdul Wahid, Adam Shareef, Mohamed Waheed, Ihusan Abdul Raheem (24)
The following have not passed the fitness test: (will also be registered - pending)
Hassan Nashid, Ahmed Riza (Police), Ibrahim Iqbal, Abdul Rasheed, Mohamed Shuaib, Mohamed Hashim, Hassan Habeeb, Mohamed Shinan, Mohamed Jazeel, Mohamed Ali, Fathulla Mohamed, Mohamed Naseem, Hathim Mohamed, Ahmed Mohamed, Hussain Habeeb, Mohamed Ahmed, Adam Zalif, Ahmed Naeem, Mohamed Mumthaz Ibrahim, Mohamed Fawwaz, Ibrahim Mohamed, Hussain Ahmed, Hassan Manik, Hussain Hameed, Ahmed Shafeeq (24)

FAM FUTSAL Referees 2010

2010-02-19T20:43:00.000-08:00

The following have register and passed the fitness test:
Ali Saleem, Ahmed Ameez, Mohamed Saeed. Mohamed Anil, Ibrahim Thaufeeq, Ismail Izhaan, Ahmed Afsah, Afeef Abdul Samad, Jaufar Abdul Rasheed, Mohamed Waheed, Ihusan Abdul Raheem, Ali Maarof, Ahmed Rameez, Hussain Thasleem, Athif Mohamed, Ahmed Nasheed, Abdul Haleem, Shafraz Abdul Razzaq, Mohamed Zubair, Moosa Rizwee, Adam Shahid, Mohamed Mushil, Mohamed Faisal (Police), Ibrahim Rasheed, Mohamed Afrah, Mohamed Fareed and HASSAN NASHID (27)

Referees who have not passed the fitness test: (will be registered - pending)
Mohamed Naseem, Hussain Hameed, Hassan Manik, Nasrullaq Jaleel, Abdul Majeed, Shuaib Ismail, Mohamed Shuaib, Ahmed Shafeeq, Ali Waheed (8)

FIFA FUTSAL Referee for Maldives

2010-02-16T21:55:00.000-08:00

FUTSAL has been played for many years in the Maldives and is now at its height with numerous competitions being held nearly every weekend by clubs or associations. Certain organisers maintained very good standards in their organising of their tournaments like the Club Maldives, Times Sprint, or MAKEEN to name a few. This year the Football Association of Maldives intend to have its own competition too. This is to enable the formation of the National FUTSAL Team.
Most of the football referees were also involved in the development of this game by offering their services in officiating the matches. Overall, 80% of the Laws of the Game is being carried out by most organisers. Modification is often made to the duration of the match, running time instead of stoppage time, no time out in each half, number of players in a full team and the surface of pitch (sandy) being played on. Only a few organisers have their tournament on the turf ground of FAM. This is the nearest to the official FUTSAL pitch as there is no official FUTSAL pitch available in Male'.
The number of FUTSAL Referees have also increased with a course being held last year in FAM. The increased number is to enable the football referee to concentrate more on the big game as certain application of the laws can jeopardize their performance in the normal game. In FUTSAL no body charges or sliding tackles are allowed. Hand signals for direct free kick also differs.
This year the Referees Department will be putting Referees Assessors for most of the FUTSAL matches. This is to enable FAM to identify potential excellent referees to be nominated as FIFA FUTSAL Referees for 2011. Due to the lack of available RA, senior referees may be appointed as the Timekeeper and at the same time be requested to assess the referees. This is how the senior referees can assist FAM in the development of this game and also to develop their brother referees to the highest level.

Our Deepest Fear

2010-02-15T03:55:00.000-08:00

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." Speech by Nelson Mandela (original script by Marianne Williamson)

http://www.marianne.com/index.php

BEST SERVICE REFEREE - FAM Award 2009

2010-02-15T01:26:00.000-08:00

The Football Association of Maldives have postponed its 2009 Award Night to April 2010. This is because of the involvement of VB Sports Club and Victory Sports Club in the 2010 AFC Cup. For the Best Service Referee Award, five referees have been shortlisted and three best service referees will be picked for the award by the Referees Committee. They are Mohamed Anil, Ali Saleem, Mohamed Fareed, Hassan Nashid and Ahmed Ameez. The criteria in choosing is based on the most number of FAM matches officiated, most matches as referee, personal performances and also discipline. This award is to appreciate the services given by the referees to FAM.

AHMED AMEEZ - Best Selected Referee 2009

2010-02-13T17:00:00.001-08:00

Ahmed Ameez has been announced as the Best selected Referee of 2009 last night in the Haveeru Award Night Ceremony. He overcame two more candidates, Ali Saleem and Ali Adil. Ahmed Ameez is a FIFA referees since 2001 and also a AFC Elite Assistant Referee. His rival is Maldivian top referee Ali Saleem, a FIFA Referee since 1995 and also AFC Elite Referee. His top achievement last year was the Semi-Final clash between Vietnam and Malaysia in the South East Asian Games in Vientienne. Another candidate is Ali Adil, a new FIFA Referee since 2009. His best achievement last year was the handling of the India Nehru Cup final.

Update your Laws of the Game

2009-12-21T18:48:00.000-08:00

Referees should update their understanding and interpretation on the Laws of the Game regularly as much as we regularly refer back to the Al Quran to ensure our reading is still correct not disrupted by virus.
Click on FIFA Laws of the Game Trivia in the link list and find itu out by testing your current knowledge.
Happy trying!

Japanese Referee's Penalty Error

2009-12-18T07:35:00.000-08:00

By William Gray Published: 12:01AM BST 07 Sep 2005
Fifa officials have set a precedent for over-ruling refereeing decisions after ordering Uzbekistan's World Cup qualifier against Bahrain to be replayed.
Uzbekistan won the opening leg of the Asian zone play-off 1-0 at the weekend, but they were incensed when Japanese referee Toshimitsu Yoshida disallowed an Uzbekistan penalty for an attacking player encroaching.
Rather than ordering the penalty to be re-taken, a free-kick was awarded to Bahrain, who kept within sight of a two-leg play-off in November against the fourth team from the Concacaf region.
Uzbekistan called for an investigation into the penalty incident, but they are angry the match is to be replayed in its entirety, accusing Fifa of "stealing" their slender lead.
The second leg was due to be played today, but both legs will now be played in October.

Read Article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2364919/Fifa-redress-referee-error.html

This referee was also remove from the AFC Elite FIFA Referee List and suspended from refereeing any further matches.
Read also: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-09/13/content_477504.htm

2009-12-18T01:44:00.001-08:00

Alhamdulillah, we are blessed by Allah, the Almighty to extend our lives to meet this new year. As His humble servants, we are never silent from making mistakes, sins and bad deeds. Allah, the Almighty is always very patience with all our misdemeanors where He can punish us instantly but gave us the choice to repent and to regret from our sins and prayed to Him for forgiveness, guidance and blessing in order to lead a better life and to put in more effort to make our daily life more meaningful, away from hatred, jealousy, back-biting and all 'mujmumah' characteristics as these practices will eat away all our good deeds and prayers.
I pray to Allah, the Almighty to give us the strength and guidance in order to bring the level of refereeing in Maldives to a higher level and to reduce the mistakes and error in refereeing not to the expense of the teams. Support from all, the referees, players, team officials and administrators is utmost important to bring the dignity of refereeing to a higher level in the eyes of the public or the football community.

Kiss and Say Goodbye

2009-12-04T08:22:00.000-08:00

Impression - you will not get a second chance to create the first impression. Respect is gained not demanded. The higher is your level of performance, the more humble you should be, not to fill your head with air or be 'taqabur' (proud) over it. Opportunity strikes once. Life is not about getting what you want but keeping what you have. Those are among phrases that I have highlighted through out this whole year. Its not about the writing nor the reading but the understanding and feeling what that had been read and getting the mind set to undergo a paradigm shift towards attaining success. Success do not come easily but I believe that these are the ingredient of success .
Achieving the height of success in refereeing is not only about getting fitter, understanding the laws of the game better, its interpretation and implementation, positioning well in play, using the cards wisely and timely nor penalising all the fouls seen.
Being a total or full person in refereeing is the strength of them all. Being respected even before we get into action or blowing the first whistle or through the word of mouth (WOM) from a player to another of our existence, our performance, our strengths and our weaknesses plays a vital role in refereeing. Hasty action and impatience often leads to wrong displacement or outcome. Being respected by our personality or presence is better that forcing others to respect us by using the cards. Identifying and penalising correctly and fairly is clear as crystal if done sincerely, fairly and trustworthy. Actions often say louder that words. What has been done cannot be undone. Willing to admit the mistake and wanting to make changes in oneself is the rational and wise decision to take.
When a referee walks out in the middle of a game due to what ever reasons (difficult players or unruly spectators), he will give the spectators a clear picture of his personality - afraid or not courageous to face problems or running from it, not sincere and lack team spirit by walking out on the team-mate and leaving them stranded when they really need to rely on his assistance, lack of responsibility in carrying duty to the fullest and cannot be depended upon in times of trouble. Can this be the potential future FIFA Match official? I guess the opportunity is being kissed and said goodbye!
Courage is a strong word and courage is the most important among the other elements in refereeing. Without courage, the ability to make strong critical decisions, the guts to take strong disciplinary action on serious misconduct among players or officials or making the right decisions at the right time will fail. It is a matter of believing on what God has created and lay out for us and accepting without questioning what ever outcome God has planned for us. Being afraid of Allah is the ultimate fear that to be afraid of other people. Thus all decisions and actions taken in refereeing should be done without fear or favour. This will then reflect the true virtue and excellence in a person.

Modified Intermittent Test for Island

2009-11-17T01:13:00.000-08:00

There are two tests in the FIFA Physical Test.
The first test is 6 x 40 meter sprint in 6.4 seconds for National referees. FIFA Referees (6.2) and FIFA Assistant Referees (6.0). Resting time in between each repetition is 90 seconds.
If the runner fail in ONE run, he shall repeat it after the sixth run. If he failed in two or more he has failed and shall not participate in the intermittent run.

Resting time before the Intermittent Test is 7 minutes.
The Intermittent test consists of 20 runs of 150 meters in 30 seconds and walking 50 meters in 40 seconds (35 seconds for FIFA Referees). If a runner failed in two runs, he is considered to have failed in the test and must stop running.
For Island, it is difficult to carry out the test on an athletic track but the surface (sandy) of the streets is suitable to carry out the test. The area must be free from hazards or disturbances during the test.
Two cones are placed at 147 meter from each other. Another cone is placed 25 meter at each ends (as in the diagram above).
The runners (maximum 6) shall run from the blue cone to the blue cone in 30 seconds. One leg must cross the blue cone at or before whistle. He shall then walk and turn around the red cone placed 25 meters away in 40 seconds and get ready for the next repetition.
On the sound of the whistle, the runner shall run to the next blue cone.
If there are more than six runners, two groups can run at the same time at each end.
Requirement:
One timekeeper with a stopwatch and a whistle.
Two testers at each cone to see that the runners cross the blue cone.
Blue Cone (2) Red Cone (2)

Enquiry:
Amir Sharifuddin Wong,
Referees Director FAM.
amir@famaldives.com
+960 7597027

Opportunity Knocks ONCE!

2009-11-10T23:42:00.000-08:00

FIFA PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST

2009-11-09T20:38:00.001-08:00

FIFA PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST

2009-11-09T20:32:00.001-08:00

FIFA Intermittent Test

2009-11-09T20:23:00.000-08:00

Test begins 7 minutes after Test 1.

Runners in group (maximum 6) run from B, C, D or A.

- Runners run 150 meters run in 30 seconds

- Walk 50 meters in 40 seconds (FIFA Referees 35 seconds)

- Continue for 20 laps or 10 sets.

- If runner failed in two, did not enter the cone at least one foot, he must leave the track.

FIFA FUTSAL REFEREE FITNESS TEST

2009-11-09T20:14:00.001-08:00

FUTSAL 4 x 10 m Shuttle Run

2009-11-09T20:07:00.001-08:00

Runner stands at cone for standing start and runs/sprints to cone placed 10 meters away.
Maximum time is 11.0 seconds for Maldives FUTSAL Referees.

FUTSAL AGILITY TEST

2009-11-09T20:02:00.001-08:00

Runner stands behind cone and does a flying starts - the time starts as he passed the second cone. He runs (sprints) 30 meter and side run back (10 meters), side run forwards (10 meters), backwards run (10 meters) and sprint back 20 meters.
Maximum time is 21.0 seconds for Maldives FUTSAL Referees.

Modified FIFA Intermittent Test for Island

2009-11-09T19:30:00.000-08:00

The FIFA Physical Fitness Test consists of Test 1 - 6 x 40 m sprint and Test 2 - 20 laps Intermittent Test. This above intermittent test is modified to suit the infrastructure shortcoming in Maldives where most islands do not have a 400 meter running track.

Test 1: 6 x 40 meter sprint in 6.4 seconds with 90 seconds rest in between repetitions.

Resting time after this test is 7 minutes before the intermittent Run.

A........1.5m.......B.......................................40 m..............................................C

Procedure:

- Runner stands behind A (1.5 m from B). As they run past B the flag is flicked down and the stopwatch starts. When they reached B, the stopwatch stops.

- If runner fail in ONE test, he is given another run after the sixth run.

- If he fail TWO runs, he is disqualified or failed.

- He shall not be allowed to run the Intermitten Run.

Test 2: 20 x 150 meters run in 30 seconds and walk 50 meters in 40 seconds

Procedure:

- The Intermittent Run must begin 7 minutes after Test 1.

- Runner (max 6 runners) stands at B.

- When the whistle or DVD starts and they run to C within 30 seconds.

- At least ONE foot must cross C (Cone placed 147 meters from B)

- Runner then walk to D and around D back to C in 40 seconds

- As the whistle sound, runners will run back to B in 30 seconds.

- Then walk to A, around A and back to B.

- This is repeated for 20 repetitions/laps or 10 sets.

- If runner did not enter/reach the cone twice, he is disqualified or failed and must leave the track.

This modified version of the test is suitable to be carried out in Island where no athletic track is available.

Requirement:

a. One/Two timekeeper

b. 6 cones (test 1) and 8 cones (test 2)

c. DVD Player or an official using stopwatcha and whistle

d. Two officials/Recorder for Test 2

FA Maldives will sent an official to run the tests in the island.

All referees who wishes to register with FA Maldives must passed this FIFA Physical Test (modified). Referees can contact FAM for assistances.

Basic Referee Course in Ban' Didhoo

2009-11-08T07:36:00.000-08:00

The FAM Referees Director personally went to a small island in the Dhaal Atoll in Central Maldives to conduct a basic referee course for the people of Bandidhoo. 10 participants successfully went through all the theory and practical sessions, including the fitness test and theory test. Although 17 signed up, 14 attended but 4 weeded themselves out as they could not follow the practical sessions. Hopefully these new referees will be instrumental to fill the lack of referees for this zone and they will of great use not only to this island but also the nearby islands and atolls. Infact, four of them expressed the desire to go Male' to register as FA Maldives referees.
All those referees in Maldives who seek to be registered for 2010 will need to fill up the form for registration, passed the FIFA Physical Fitness Test and attend the Yearly Preparatory Seminar before they are considered to be registered as FAM's referees. Only those accepted to be registered will then be accorded their referees equipments.

2010 Registration of Referees

2009-10-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

Registration for year 2010 will be opened after 15 November 2009.
Forms will be prepared and can be taken from the front desk.

Registration will be for:
1. Football Referee
2. Futsal Referee

Requirement to be fulfilled for the registration to be accepted:
1. Passed the Physical Fitness Test
FIFA Physical Fitness Test or FIFA FUTSAL Physical Fitness Test
2. Attend Preparatory Seminar (will be invited only when passed fitness test)
3. Passed a Theory Test

Physical Fitness Test for Football Referees
a. 6 x 40 meter run (6.4 secs. National Referees, 6.2 FIFA Referees & 6.0 FIFA AR)
b. 20 x 150 meters Intermittent Run

Physical Fitness Test for FUTSAL Referees
a. 1000 meter in 4:10 secs.
b. 2 x Shuttle Run 4 x 10 meters (11.0 secs)
c. 2 x Agility Run 30 meters (21.0 secs)

Fitness Test:
a. FIFA Physical Fitness Test - 4 Dec, 11, Dec or 18 Dec 2009
b. FIFA Futsal Physical Fitness Test - 5 Dec, 12 Dec or 19 Dec 2009
All test will be held at 0615 hours at athletic track.

If you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail.

New Refs on the Block

2009-10-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

26 locals from Male attended the football referee basic course organised by the Football Association of Maldives from the 19 Oct. - 25 Oct. 2009 at FAM House and the turf. This is an effort to increase the pool of referees in the development process. Referees Director, Amir Sharifuddin Wong managed the whole course with the assistance of former FIFA Match Official, Ahmed Abeer Ismail and current FIFA Assistant Referee, Ahmed Ameez.
All the participants were exposed to theoretical and practical sessions. The latest FIFA teaching materials were used to ensure that the knowledge, skills and experiences gathered are in line with the FUTURO objectives in creating consistency in the understanding, interpretation and implementation of the Laws of the Game through out the World. The participants were tested with theory and video test. They also had to pass the Cooper test to be considered for the certificate of qualification. All successful candidates will be expose to matches to build their skills, experiences and confidence. They will be considered for upgrading within two years by undergoing practical match performance tests. Good potential referees will be selected for the FIFA/FAM Potential Referees Course scheduled next year in July.
The Referees Director is very happy with the spirit and participation and was glad because some of the participants show great potential to be Maldives future top referees. With a larger pool of excellent referees in place, this will ensure the performance of our referees in the international level will prevails continuously.
All successful participants were presented the certificates of participation by Mr. Ahmed Naseem, FAM Executive Committee (Exco) Members.

The Future Three

2009-09-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

November 2009 will see the opportunity of these three potential referees from Maldivesto be selected and promoted to be be Maldives FIFA MAtch Officials. Ahmed Afsah and Ismail Izhaan will attending the final stage of the assessment of AFC Project Future on the 24 - 29 November 2009 in Kuala Lumpur. Based on their their practical performances and also physical fitness, besides other factors, these two will be recommended by AFC to the Member Association for future nomination into the FIFA Match Officials list.

Another potential referee is Basil Nafees who is currently in Bangalore, India pursuing his degree is selected to attend the AFC Project Future Referee Selection Course on the 4 - 11 November 2009. This was based on his performance in the AFC U13 Festivals games in Iran early this year. If selected he will be in the latest group of AFC PF to be trained and groomed into future FIFA Match Officials. The FAM Referees Department is hoping that these youngsters will make the Republic of Maldives proud and the Dhivehi League and football will be further enhanced to greater height in the FIFA Coca-Cola Ranking.

AFC says not ready?

2009-09-28T17:41:00.000-07:00

"AFC says not ready" - as mentioned in Maldivesoccer. Ali Adil is not ready to an AFC Elite Referee yet. This was based on his performance in the second Semi Final match - Victory versus New Radiant. For every incident that happen in our lives, there is always a blessing in disguise. When Allah closes a window He will open up many other windows. It is our duty and effort to see the signs and cues and develop ourself towards taking the right opportunity at the right time.

Failure is when we don't get up after falling. We have to accept our weaknesses, look into our strengths and see how to use our strengths to overcome the weaknesses. The Dhivehi league season has just concluded. From the matches analysis, many of the incidents, mistakes, careless mistakes and wrong decisions occurred during the last ten minutes of the game. Some of these decisions or mistakes change the results of the matches with goal allowed or disallowed. Some even resulted in the coach being sacked due to failure of the team caused by the referee's decisions and some players were also terminated their contracts.

Preparation of referees for the match is a vital factor in ensuring excellent performance in refereeing. Proper rest, mental preparation, fitness training, pregame discussion and mental strength are some of the important factors to be considered by the referee. Every match need to be treated as important. It cannot be treated as another football match as many teams have undergone strenuous training in the hot sun and it is unfair that the referee's decision jeopardized their results by making careless mistakes.

Self-evaluation is more important than the evaluation given by the referee's assessors (RA). Comment and advice from the RA if being absorbed and accepted should be put into practice to generate new skills, experiences and performance. If one's mind is closed to accepting advice and comment, the mind will nor flourish and expand towards achiving success. If one is strong with his personal ego then whatever advices will not penetrate into his mind. Thus the assessment practices by FAM on referee will be a failure. Careless mistakes in the last quarter of the match as mentioned before are due to self carelessness, complacency, poor positioning due to fitness level, fatigue and also lack of full commitment towards each game.

The Referees department feels that some senior referees are already in their 'comfort zone' and thus, are not ready to undergo paradigm shift to better themselves. Getting the younger referees to be motivated and groom into better referees is one way to create a challenge to the senior referee. Everyone should not feel that they are indispensable - cannot be replaced. It is better to have a group of young referees who are willing to change and work towards excellence rather a group of senior referee who refuses to accept any comment or advices to change. For things to change, we must first change ourself.

If a referee feel that he is too good to change than it is better for him to stay at home so that his arrogant or ego will not be threat to others that is the players, team, team officials, fellow referees and also the supporters.

Refereeing - To Gain Respect

2009-09-12T17:52:00.001-07:00

Alhamdulillah the Wataniya Dhivehi league has ended and the top team VB Sports Club as expected regain their title. What can you expect from a team with all the top players in the country. This title comes with a heavy burden to carry our country flags in the AFC Cup next year.
To the Referees Department this has been a year of success and failure. Success because many new and young referees were tapped their potentials, and they did show their true potential by performing in their best to gain the respect of the players and supporters or at least the heart of the Referees Director. Young referees like, Basil Nafees, Ismail Izhaan, Ahmed Afsah and Ahmed Shifan have done a good job to gain the respect of the team. Perhaps with further exposure and experience, they will be developed to be better excellent referees.
Failure because some referees, even top referee did not perform to the expectation and failure also because some downsides and errors in the decisions of the referees have left the players and team management in amaze. Its a sad tragedy to be accepted for some coaches and players lost their jobs due to that. Self-evaluation and self-realization need to be done to realise one's performance and at least be considerate enough to have sympathy to others by taking effort to improve oneself in order to have a better seasons. "If one does not pity others, Allah will not have pity over him."
Respect is gained not demanded. Gaining the respect of others in the field of refereeing involve being respected by the players, coaches, team officials, FA administrators and the football fans. To achieve the highest status in refereeing is not by being a FIFA Referee and in fact the title as a "FIFA Referee" does give you the automatic recognition in the eyes of the above mentioned "customers". To be recognised as a quality referee, the referee has to first satisfy the satisfaction of the customers. The 'customers' will be satisfied if they are pleased with the decisions of the referees. They feel that fairness prevails throughout the game. To a referee - justice done must be seen to be done. Making a mistake is part and partial of the refereeing but making a mistake at the expense of the player (giving or not giving a card, giving a wrong card or making a wrong judgement) or the team (losing a match for an illegal goal or for a goal disallowed). making mistake in a game does not require a referee to balance it up by making a wrong decision the other way. A wrong penalty kick to replace a wrong penalty given earlier, a card to this side because he gave one the other side and many 'funny' decisions that are questionable.
This season sees the referees making mistake or wrong at the dying minutes of the the match or the last 10 minutes of the match. This is due to lack of concentration, carelessness and also complacency by the referees. Wrong judgement were often arises due to wrong positioning of the referees and the irony of that is that being in a wrong position is not because the referees were not taught or told where or why to stand in all situations. Fitness level, carelessness, tiredness, fatigue and lack of commitment by the referees are the few factors identified to influence the judgements and decisions of the referees. Allegation by teams officials that the referee are scared or are in favour of certain team is difficult to be accepted unless there is evidence to proof it. If it is such then it will be a tragedy to the refereeing community in this country. We do not want to believe that it is true neither do we want to see that the scenario is such. We do not want to follow like what certain countries are doing by getting foreign referees to officiate in the local league just because they don not trust their own referee any more. The local referees will then act as assistant referees only. They will be no more FIFA referees in the country.
All is not lost if we are committed and strive to do something about it. A loser will only say, "something has to be done" while a winner will say, "I must do something".
Hopefully we will begin the new season with a new image, giving yourself a chance so that the team will give yourself a chance too. The determination to do the best in each handling of the match should be the commitment of all referees. Thus, respect will be gained.

Fiesta Ramazan in Male'

2009-09-09T19:19:00.000-07:00

22 Aug - 5 Sept - Customs Futsal Competition
(4 - 6 pm - Futsal Mini Ground)

5 Sep - 19 Sep - FAM Veteran Competition
(4.45 pm - FAM Turf)

5 Sep - 19 Sep - Time Sprint Futsal Competition
(9.00 - 11.00 pm - Futsal Mini Ground)

22 - 24 Aug, 3 - 5 Sep, 10 - 12 Sep - Wataniya Dhivehi League
10.30 pm - National Stadium

18 & 19 Sep - Coca-Cola FA Cup Semi Final
10.30 pm - National Stadium

25 & 26 Sep - 3rd & 4th Placing and Final Coca-Cola FA Cup
10.30 pm - National Stadium

AFC Referee Year in Maldives

2009-09-04T23:48:00.000-07:00

31 August 2009 - Football Association of Maldives celebrated the AFC Referee Year with a friendly match between FAM Technical Staff versus FAM Referees.

The match was a well fought one with exchange of attacks from both teams. The match looks like that it will be a scoreless when Shah Ismail, FAM General Secretary scored the only goal five minutes from full time to put the Technical Staff winning the match 1 - 0 over the referees.

Ex FIFA match officials, Amir Sharifuddin Wong (the referee Director). Mohamed Saeed (World Cup AR) and Ahmed Abeer Ismail (FIFA AR) officiated in the match. Refreshment was given to all presents. 24 new FUTSAL Referees were also presented their certificate for having completed their basic level FUTSAL Referee course in August 2009 by former FIFA Referee - Ahmed Asim, also the member of the FAM Refereess Committee.

SHIFAN to be developed

2009-09-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

AHMED SHIFAN ABDUL RAHEEM - another name that the Dhivehi League can look forward to. Last night (4 Sept 2009), Shifan (sippe) was given his first step into the highest Dhivehi League although in a match of no bearing to Kalhaidhoo but was important to Club Valencia who is getting ready for the play-off and also the FA Cup semi-final against VB Sports Club (19 September 2009).

The score line 5 - 1 shows that the match was not a one-sided match. His first half performance lack the show of his true potential but he was better in the second half with the fast change of attacks by both sides. Two yellow cards was shown to Kalhaidhoo's players. His good built and his personality is his strength to fall upon but he needs to use his good fitness level to carry him in order to give an impact on his existence. With further exposure and guidance, he will definitely be among one of the name to look forward to in the near future.

Another talent unfolded

2009-08-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

"Nothing venture, nothing gain". The Referees Director decision of trying out new breed of referees was successful. Ahmed Afsah, another AFC Project Future participants was tried out for the first time in his first debut in the Wataniya Dhivehi League Division I match with AYL playing Kalhaidhoo last night (27 August 2009). Although the match ended with AYL leading 4 -0, it was not a one sided match as Kalhaidhoo, a financially troubled side gave a strong fight before going down.

Afsah, has a strong character, calm in his personality, decisive and firm in his decision with loud and clear whistling. He was mobile in his movement but need to improve in his sprints. His decisions were well accepted and this includes his cards shown. With the cooperation of players and team officials football fans can look forward to having more new young referees to take charge of the games in future with young referees like Basil Nafees, Ismail Izhaan, Ahmed Afsah and Ahmed Shifan budding into good future referees.

Football Association of Maldives will be running a new referee basic course in October (19 - 26) 2009 in Male'. The aim of this course is to recruit more young referees to act as back-up squad for the senior referees who will retiring in the future. Participation forms can be obtained at the FAM House. Only 30 participants will be registered for the course.

Izhaan first debut in Dhivehi League Division I

2009-08-25T23:25:00.000-07:00

"Butterfly should be allowed to grow out its cocoon". The moment it spreads its wings and away it will fly and live a live of it own. AFC Project Future participant - Ismail Izhaan was given his first break in the Wataniya Dhivehi League Division One match when Victory Sports Club played Club Valencia at the National Stadium on 21st August 2009. This will a day to be remembered in his refereeing career.
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step". Every one should be given the first step in handling the first task. God's willing he lived up to the Referees Director's expectation. He handled the match well with some room for improvement in minor areas. Both teams accepted his decisions and in fact most of the teams in this league are looking forward to some new breed of referees to take charge in the middle. Making and grooming of good excellent referees is not the task of the referees family alone (referee department, assessors, instructors, senior referees) but it also needs the support and cooperation of all clubs involved. Without their patience and support, by absorbing some minor errors of the referees in the learning and grooming process, the vision of getting our match officials in the international level will not succeed.

FUTURO III Referee Instructor Course

2009-08-22T01:11:00.000-07:00

FIFA FUTURO III Referee Instructor course was held in Male', Maldives from the 14th - 19th August 2009. FIFA Referee Development Senior Manager, Fernando Tresaco Gracia personally came and supersee the course. FIFA Instructors were Masoud Enayat from Iran and Viktor Kolpakov (Kyrgstan). AFC 2007 Women Referee of the year, Tammy Ogston was also present on behalf of AFC. 17 participants from Nepal, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Iran, Sri Lanka and Maldives attended the course. FIFA latest teaching materials, DVDs, course-ware, practical sessions were imparted to the participants who also had to play their part as instructor in theory and practical lessons. They were assessed in this two elements besides the theory and video tests. FIFA aim in having uniformity in the interpretation and implementation of the Laws through out the World will be enhanced by these instructors when they play their role effectively in their countries after the course.
Amir Sharifuddin Wong,
(Local Coordinator)

Tell Me Why

2009-08-21T02:36:00.000-07:00

Presentation by Fernando Tresaco Gracia

2009-08-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

FIFA Refereeing Development Senior Manager, Fernando Tresaco Gracia presented this clipping in memory of a very dear friend during the FUTURO III Referee Instructors Course held in Male', Maldives. He imparted many invaluable knowledge and skills in this course to instructors in the SAFF region. His presence was a great honor and a blessing to us as we gather a lot of updated knowledge and skills from him.

FUTSAL REFEREE BASIC COURSE

2009-08-03T23:01:00.000-07:00

Football Association of Maldives have just completed the FUTSAL Referee Basic Course held on the 28 July till 2 August 2009. 23 participants successfully completed the course. They underwent theory and practical sessions, tested on their fitness and also on identifying fouls and misconduct through video tests. The successful participants will be put to test by exposing them to refereeing in order to gain their confidence in the YDP Festival competition. They will gain their refereeing experiences when officiating the matches. Hopefully this group of new FUTSAL referees will be able to officiate in all other tournaments in Male.

Other existing referees will be given a refresher course, theory test, fitness test and also be registered as FAM FUTSAL referees if they qualified. So in future, FAM will have a different sets of referees in the normal game and the FUTSAL games. FAM is also intending to raise the standards of organising of these competitions and thus the standards of the game will also be raised. Hopefully by 2011 or 2012, referees can be nominated to be registered as FIFA FUTSAL Referees.

Ref Kids

2009-07-30T02:19:00.000-07:00

Schoolboys Referees in the Making

2009-07-23T21:08:00.001-07:00

20 schoolboys age, ranging from 12 to 14 years old have been roped in to attend the schoolboy's basic referee's course at FAM House starting 20 - 23 July and 28 - 30 July 2009.

The course includes theory sessions where the boys are introduced to the Laws of the Game through video clippings and practical sessions at the turf.

The course is handled by the Referees Director, Amir Sharifuddin and assisted by Ahmed Abeer Ismail and Ahmed Ameez.

The aim of this course is to produce the future referees of Maldives like the current up and coming referee, Basil Nafees, who is a product of courses of the same nature done years ago. The emphasis for this group of school boys will be to be able to acquire the assistant referee's skill so that they can keep lines during the YDP Festival in August 2009. A few may eventually be motivated to continue and pursue their career in refereeing.

A basic FUTSAL referee course is also scheduled in the evening (4.00 - 6.00 pm) for adults from the 28 July to 2 August 2009 at the FAM House and the Turf Ground. 32 participants have registered to attend this course.

Seeking Mutual Respect

2009-07-13T02:18:00.000-07:00

Situations like this (picture) should exist in the local scenario of football. Coaches or team officials and the match officials should not have any grudge or prejudice over each other's roles and responsibilities. Referee should not think that the players and team officials are always sceptical over their decisions, unsporting or are always questioning whatever decisions made. The team officials also should not be thinking that the referees are always bias, one-sided, picking on him or his players or always too harsh on the players.
Respecting and understanding each other duties, roles and responsibilities will establish the correct frame of mind to accept each other strengths and weaknesses. Understanding that the coach has a heavy burden to bear if the team do not win or produce a good performance (as they area answerable for their results), the stress the coach is undergoing when his team is trailing, the position the coach is when he viewed the incident and the anxiety they are undergoing will put the referee in a better position to judge and decide better. Coach should know that if their player can make mistakes, the referee also has the potential to make mistake. Making mistakes is part and partial of the game but making mistakes at the expense of the team or changing the results of the match is considered as unacceptable and the match official concern shall be dealt with accordingly. Minor error or mistake in making decisions are influenced by many factors like, positioning, angle of view, recognition and interpretation of the incident, anxiety, stress and many other factor do affect the referees decisions. The fact that coaches think that the referee is on bribe or bias should not be present in the mind at all. Otherwise, any decisions made by the referee will be seen as wrong. Good decisions, actions or advantage played by the referee should be commended and received warmly. The assistant referees are in a better to judge offside or goal line decisions than the coaches who are standing in the technical area. Thus what ever decisions made should be accepted sportingly. The picture above,Coach: do you want a drink ref? Referee (smiling): No! thank you but I need you to sit down.
Referee should feel free to be able to be engaged in small conversation or exchange of word with the players or team officials but not in a sarcastic manner. Respecting each other's duties and roles and respecting each other actions will put the game at a higher level towards professionalism.

FAM Staf vs Maldives Veteran Friendly

2009-07-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

New Radiant vs Kalhaidhoo (9 July 2009)

2009-07-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Referee: Basil Nafes AR 1 : Ali Saleem AR 2 : Ahmed Aslam SB : Afeef Abdul Samad

FAM Referee Refresher Course

2009-07-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

FAM Referee Department started the referee refresher course and it will be held from the 5th till 20th July 2009. This is timely in the midst of the football season to ensure that the referees are equipped with the latest development and to remedy on weaknesses and other aspects that need to be attended to.

This will ensure that the referees' performance will be improved if not enhanced. FAM instructors, Ahmed Abeer, Mohamed Saeed, Ahmed Ummeed and the director himself will be handling the theory and practical sessions. Senior referees, our FIFA referees Ali Saleem and Assistant Referee Ahmed Ameez also will be imparting their experience and knowledge. This will help the younger referee and also senior referee to revive their motivation to give a better committed performance in the league season to come.

FUTSAL REFEREE BASIC COURSE

2009-07-07T01:36:00.000-07:00

INTERESTED?

28 July 2009 to 2 August 2009
1600 - 1800 hrs at FAM and Turf ground

Forms are available at FAM Front Office Counter:

Kick Off - Meeru Island Resort League

2009-07-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

4 July 2009 - Meeru Island Resort

The Inter-department football league kicked off marking the start of the 10th season of this league cater for all the employees in this resort. It also marked the birthday of the owner of this beautiful resort, Mr. Afeef.

The resort is equiped with nearly 300 rooms of various class. The sports facilities are also of a class of its own - a full size artificial turf football pitch, tennis courts, golf driving range, 9-hole pitch and putt golf range, gym, indoor games and many other entertainment. Tourists and hotel guests are assured of a memorable and exciting stay in this resort. Pic: Mohameed Fareed (referee) assisted by Ismail Izhaan (right) and Jaufar Rasheed (left).

MNDF Maldives vs MNDF Sri Langka Friendly Match

2009-07-03T20:31:00.000-07:00

Red Card - Foul language or Gestures

2009-07-03T01:47:00.000-07:00

The laws state that a player shall be sent off if he uses foul, insulting and abusive language or gestures. Using XXXX in certain places may be the normal culture or life style and the use of words or gesture may be acceptable to certain countries but the manner it is being spelt or shown may be interpreted in the opinion of the referee, as insulting or abusive. This, the laws demand the referee to take strong action of sending out the player concerned. Officials may also be removed from the bench if they show behaviors of irresponsibility during the match.

Can player be shown the red card during the half time interval or immediately after the match? Yes, the discretionary power of the referee permits him to show the card (yellow or red) during this period. While walking out to the changing room during half time interval or immediately after the whistle, if a player shows by word or action in a manner foul, insulting or abusing towards the opponents, match officials or any other people, he may be sent off or the misconduct be reported if the security of the referee is at stake.

History in Dhivehi League's History

2009-07-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

2 July, 2009 - National stadium, Male'

Referee, Hasan Nashid made in his own refereeing career history in the history of Dhivehi League. He was appointed to officiate in his first Division One Wataniya Dhivehi League match between VB sports Club against Khalaidhoo which ended in a huge score line 20 - 0 with Ali Ashfaq scoring 12 goals.

This is the biggest score line in the history of Dhivehi league and the highest goal scored by a player in a single match.

Nashid was given his first debut in the highest level league because the FAM Referee Director was pleased with his performance when handled the FA Cup match between Galolhu Sports Club - Third Degree match. Although last night match did not give him the challenges to show his true potential but the director was pleased with his commitment in the whole match. The director is also happy with the development and progress of the younger junior referees and they will be given the opportunity when the time is right.

Maldives Women in FIFA Ranking

2009-06-28T08:23:00.000-07:00

Maldivesoccer.com report:

Male’, MALDIVES – Maldives has been included in the FIFA women’s ranking after being excluded temporarily. Maldives lies at the 94th position of 98 team ranking. Maldives got the chance mostly because FIFA has excluded 16 nations from the rankings after being inactive for more than 18 months. India is one country that has been dropped for being inactive for more than 18 months. India, who were ranked as high as 50 in the last list released in March, dropped 49 places and are now out of the list that ranks teams up to 98 places.Some other countries that have been dropped for being inactive for more than 18 months include, Columbia, Peru, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay and Egypt. Cuba, Jordan, Maldives, Uzbekistan and Venezuela return to the world rankings after having been temporarily excluded from the list due to their inactivity.Currently the USA leads the rankings followed by Brazil and Germany.

Women soccer in Maldives can soars to greater height with the cooperation of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Ministry of Education and of course Football Association of Maldives. The present training program by FAM can be better enhanced through organising of competitions to enable the coaching panel to scout for more young potential talents in order to have a larger pool of girls, to train and groom into better players. Inter-schools or inter-department Futsal tournament can be organised for a start. These competitions will not only be useful to the coaches in selection but will also be a additional exposure to the present group of players to have more competitive experiences. If we dare to dream then there is the opportunity that the dream may come true!

"Spare the rod, spoil the child"

2009-06-25T17:38:00.000-07:00

Lately, the Dhivehi league was smeared by incidents by errors of the match officials and misconduct by team officials and also the players. Although the saying goes, ‘to err is human’ but to err at the expense of others is unfair. Making mistakes as referee or assistant referee is part and partial of the game but mistakes that chages the result of the match is untolerableIt happened even in the World Cup. Misinterpretation of the Laws reflects that the referee needs to read and understand his law book again and seek the clarification of the experts. Missing a foul or incident maybe is due to wrong positioning and lack or lapse of concentration of the referee. This can be corrected by having a positive approach and be more committed to the game by always moving earlier, to be nearer to see clearer and to decide better. Missing an incident by not wanting to see the incident is untolerable. This shows the referee is not courageous to make strong critical decision – to award or disallow a goal, to give a penalty or sent off a player. These referee should stay home and hand up his whistle (retire). “If you seek to make a house near the sea-side, do not be scared of the storms and waves”. On the part of the FA, action needs to be taken and have been taken. The officials concern are either given advice on ways to have a better performance next time, sidelined to regain his confidence, rested to give him a break or punished by taking off from his duties. In Maldives, the limited number of registered active referees inhibits stronger action of suspending the match officials. Actions taken must be aimed to punish and also to teach and guide them to better one for the sake of the country’s football. This will a reality when the grassroots of younger referees are better developed and gain the experiences needed, then only the older and uncommitted ones can be weeded out or asked to retire.
What ever the consequences or bad the decisions are, it does not give the team officials or players the rights to be irresponsible in their conducts. If their conduct merits a sent off, the match official must take the strong action of sending off the person concern. The players or team officials should be 'sporting' or professional enough to accept the consequences too. Otherwise the whole system of developing the game to a more civilized, excellent and entertaining game will fail. If the match officials do not report incidents in the match, they will be suspended. Thus, players and team officials who chose to be misconduct should also be ready to face the music! Making and raising the dignity and the name of Dhivehi league and football is not an easy task, if we seek only to play but put aside the rules and regulation. Cooperation and working hand in hand of all party will ensure that 'fair play' prevails.

Sympathy at the Wrong Time - Managing Injury

2009-06-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Law 5 (The Referee) states that it is the duty of the referee to stop the match, if in his opinion, a player is seriously injured and ensures that he is removed from the field of play and to ensure that any player bleeding from a wound leaves the field of play. The player may only return on receiving a signal from the referee, who must be satisfied that the bleeding has stopped. This point is also emphasized in the latest FIFA amendment to the Laws of the game – to stop play for serious injury.
Many referee being sympathetic stopped play unnecessary and frustrating to team by stopping play when one team is at the verge of attacking the opponent’s goal. What actually is serious injury? Although the referee may escape by saying that it is “in his opinion” but common sense tells that a cramp is not a serious injury. Neither is a slight knocked to the legs, head or body, or lying down to relax for a while after being tackled or simply tired. Stopping play at the wrong time can give the coaches and players ideas to be indulged in delaying or time-wasting tactics or to disturb an attacking move. In fact some of the coaches and players are practically practicing it with the help of the referee. A player after falling down and seeing that the opponent are still attacking his own goal, stays down hoping that a foolish (sorry!) referee would help by stopping play and then restarting it with a dropped ball.
“Ball sense” and common sense has to be taken into account when judging or deciding whether the injury is serious or not. The impact when two players collided or how bad was the tackle, head collision, ‘cracking sound’ when the foul was executed, player bleeding or two players lying down half incapacitated, are some common incidents that can be classified as serious injury. If a player is slightly injured even when he is holding his ankle or knee, he should be encouraged to move out of the field of play by himself during play or after a stoppage. Team who sincerely wants the referee to encourage ‘fair play’ should support the referee’s action to have play to continue when the player is slightly injured even though he is still on the ground and not to call out angrily, especially when his team is being attacked. That is the true FAIR PLAY!

Correcting Errors in the Game

2009-06-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

The decisiveness of the referee’s decisions depend on his visibility of the incident when it occurred, his understanding and interpretation of the laws and the incident, his nearness and his present felt, his whistling and his assertiveness and courage in his approach towards the incident. As such, often the incident seen and interpreted by the officials may differ from that of the team officials. Position of the viewer – nearness to play, in line with play (especially for offside call or ball in and out of play) and the angle of view as perceived by the match officials and team officials; are factors that differs the opinion.
At times, the referee do erred in his decisions and the communication procedures and the cooperation of the assistant referees and the fourth official permits the referee to correct his error. The laws state that the referee can reverse his decision as long as play has not been restarted. The major responsibility here is to prevent serious error from occurring. A decision once reached, announced and perhaps partially implemented will see the match officials encountering with resistance if something different eventually needs to be done.
Among the potential serious errors which the match officials should prevent are: the failure to give a red card following the issuance of a second yellow card; the display of a card to the wrong player; the display of a wrong card to a player; the failure to punish instigating behavior in addition to any retaliation; an action which is contrary to the Laws of the Game or the local rules of the competition; an incorrect determination that a goal was scored or not or violent conduct has occurred which carries the threat of further serious misconduct. Decisions on whether a foul occur or not, a goal or not cannot be reversed once the play has restarted but disciplinary actions to players can still be corrected at the nearest realizing of the error. For instant, a wrong player being cautioned, a wrong card to the player, player receiving a second caution has not been expel form the field of play, any misconduct offences occur behind the referee or has not been punished. For these errors, the attention of the referee at the earliest possible opportunity as the information may be used by the referee to recover some measure of authority through the player management strategies. It is better than never for it would a serious error to allow a player who is supposed to be expelled to continue playing. Two wrongs cannot make one right!

Modified from USSF article - team communications

Misconduct on the Bench

2009-06-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Misconduct in the technical area is not a matter that will only affect the image of the team official or player concern. It will directly or indirectly jeopardize the image of football in the country. Anyone officially allowed in the technical area who is not a named player or substitute (substituted player) is a team official. Thus to raise the standard and image of football in our country, all person involved directly or indirectly with football have to play their role with commitment and honesty.
Behavior that might be considered as misconduct if committed by a substitute or substituted player would include dissent, offensive, insulting or abusive language, entering the field without the permission of the referee, violent conduct, unsporting behavior or receiving a second yellow card in the same match.
Team officials must conduct themselves in a responsible manner in the technical area. If they do not, they may be expelled from the field of play and its immediate surroundings. Behavior that might be considered as irresponsible are: throwing object in protest, speaking insulting words or making offensive gestures, kicking chair, making unwanted contact with opponents, striking advertising boards, persistently and flagrantly protesting decisions by an official, interfering with the performance of assistant referee or fourth official duties, refusing to return to the technical area, entering the field without the permission of the referee.The assistant referees and fourth officials shall assist the referee in monitoring the behavior of persons in the technical area and in alerting the referee when such behavior exceeds reasonable bounds. To err is human; the FA in its capacity is trying their level best to raise the standard of refereeing to a higher level. This needs the cooperation of all concerned. It will be a tragedy to see the referee having to get the team official off the bench to the grand stand. We pray that this day will not be a reality.

Compiled base on an article from USSF.

Playing the Ball or the Legs

2009-06-19T21:48:00.000-07:00

This familiar incident occurs regularly in all competitive matches. Referees, coaches, team officials and the spectators see it differently from various perspectives. Coaches, team officials and spectators would want the decisions made to their advantage or favour. Referees do not see it in any team favour and it is their duty to ensure that the laws are enforce fairly and correctly.

What makes the decisions correct?

The referee's judgment is influenced by these few factors: his positioning and visibility of the incident, the anticipation and expectation that the tackle would take place, his ability to visualise, to see in between the two players and the courage to decide. If the player plays the ball first and subsequently the opponent clashes or collides into his legs, the tackle will be interpreted as legitimate, clean and correct. If the player plays the opponent's legs first then the ball or the opponent's leg with the ball, the correct decision will be to penalise the tackle. This incident can be judged as kicking or tripping an opponent and is penalise by a direct free kick to the opponent or a penalty kick, if it occurs in the defending team's penalty area.

Not all fouls of this nature is sanction with a card (yellow or red). If the tackle is deem as careless (trying to play the ball, miss it and plays the opponent legs instead), no card will be shown. If the player who tackle, attempts it in a dangerous or reckless manner without taking into consideration the safety of his opponent, a yellow card is rightly shown for unsporting behavior. If the tackle denies a good attacking move, a yellow card is also shown for the same reason. Red or expulsion will be sanctioned, if the player uses excessive force and plays in a violent or aggressive manner. He is sent off for serious foul play or violent conduct.

As a guide to referee, move in to the correct position (able to see in between the players) quicker and if possible, earlier, be nearer to the incident (not too near as to blind your visibility), read the intent of the player running with the ball and the defending closing in (the defender may have a good or bad tackle and the attacker may be tackled or jumped to avoid or to deceive). The place of incident should not influence your decision but when play gets nearer to the penalty area, the greater is your attentiveness to play needed. When making the decision, have a clear mind, read the intent, interprets the seriousness and decide immediately the correct sanction (verbal, yellow or red) the moment the whistle gets into your mouth. This will not allow any other factors to interfere with your sanctions. Do it right, do it fair and do it in the best you can - this will gain you the respect of all.

Developing Future FAM FIFA Referees

2009-06-17T21:54:00.000-07:00

Developing our future excellent FIFA referees needs the cooperation and commitment of all, all Maldivians. The referees department can only scouts and identify the talents, analyses their strength and weakness, give them the proper guidance and training of fitness and refereeing techniques beside giving them the correct frame of mind in refereeing. Develop them through exposure to matches in the lower level till the highest level in the local league. All these efforts will not reap the expected harvest without the roles of others. This definitely will need the cooperation not only from the FA, referees assessors, the senior referees, players but also the team officials and spectators.

Team officials will be part of the making of our future FIFA referees if they can be patient with the errors that may occur during their first match experience. Willing to accept if one of these youngster is appointed to officiate in their match. Accept with opened-mind without prejudice. Give their compliment openly when a good job is well-done. Refrain from criticism when minor error do occured. One such daring effort was taken when Baasil Nafees (20) took charge ot the VB Sports Club - Victory Sports Club match. Overall, he had a good game and control of the match for a first-timer except for some minor points in his refereeing techniques. All his decisions were correct when his performance was viewed. Many have had a negative opinion on this appointment but all senior referees must remember and cherish the past when they were given their first 'break' in their refereeing career! "A journey of a thousand miles begin with the first step". We hope everyone would give their cooperation, advice, guidance and morale support in the creation of our future FIFA referees, who may one day will make our Dhivehi land proud, inshaAllah.

Understanding the Offside Rule (2)

2009-06-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

The Offside Rule is among the shortest rule in the Laws of the game. Short does not imply that it is simple. The problems faced by referees, assistant referees, players and team officials are due to its understanding, interpretation and implementation. Assistant referees interprete it as they see it and team officials interprete it the way they want to see it (normally to their advantage). If their player has a goal scoring chance or attacking move they would prefer the decision to be not offside but if it is the opponent who gets the advantage, they would want it to be ruled offside. Offside is judged at the moment the ball is played by the team-mate NOT when he recieved the ball.

Assistant referees will make mistake in the judgement if he is caught not in position or unattentive. They will also tend to make error in their judgement call when the ball was passed from a distance or a long pass. Strikers moving forward and defender moving up makes the task of judging and alertness difficult. Usually, team official sees the incident after the ball has been passed not at the moment it was passed. The position of the team officials does not give them the right to say that the assistant referee was wrong either as they are not in line to see. Only the video tape can proof what is right or wrong. Assistant referee making a wrong offside judgement in the World Cup will be asked to pack and leave the next day.

It is not an offence for a player who is in an offside position. Thus he is not immediately penalised for it. He is only penalised when he is involved in active play by playing or interfering with play, interfering with an opponent or gains and advantage from being in that offside position.

In the diagram above, the player was in an offside position when the kicked was taken. If the ball goes straight into the goal, the goal would be awarded. Here the ball was deflected from the defender to him. He gains an advantage by being in that position, thus he is rightly penalised for offside. He will also be penalised if the ball was deflected from the goal post, cross bar or even from the goalkeeper to him. He gains the advantage and should be pull for offside.