FUTSAL REFEREES BASIC COURSE 2010

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.