The West African Football Union Zone B (Wafu B) is holding its first training workshop for Referees’ Instructors aimed at improving the standard of officiating in the region.
Twenty-eight highly experienced referees from across the sub-region are attending the workshop in Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou.
The three-day workshop opened on Monday with the facilitators aiming to promote uniformity in interpretation and application of the laws of the game.
Caf Head of Refereeing, Desire Noumandiez Doue and Yeo Songuifolo are the two facilitators of the course designed for the trainers of referees within the region.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Wafu B President Kurt Okraku, said they are lining up courses to help the instructors identify talented referees for further development.
“This is a very good opportunity for you to learn the modern trends of the game so that you can spot the top refereeing talents within the region for us to continue to develop them,” Okraku told the participants.
“Your role in this initiative is important for Wafu B. We have the vision of developing the best referees in Africa just like we have the best players and teams in Africa.”
The Executive Director of Wafu B, Boureima Balima, also gave his remarks and highlighted the importance of the course with several competitions looming.
“We have several competitions coming up and we want to rely solely on up-and-coming referees from our zone,” Balima said.
“So getting our instructors to be up to date is extremely important so they can train, groom and mentor our referees to be ready for the task ahead.”
The intensive course will be conducted over three days with the objective of updating the Referee Instructors’ knowledge of the Laws of the Game.
The instructors will also undergo training on how to conduct debriefing after matches and assess the performance of referees.
The senior match officials will have several sessions on the pitch focused on match analysis, referee movements, positioning, communication, observing and advising referees.
This is the latest of several workshops on officials in WAFU B following the seminars for General Secretaries and General Coordinators last month.
©Cafonline
