BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AN instructors training course to refresh and impart new knowledge to football match officials in the English-speaking Caribbean was held yesterday (Mar. 25) in the Federation.
The annual course, Futuro III Referees Instructors Course, was held at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and conducted by Peter Prendergast, FIFA’s Development Officer for the English-speaking Caribbean.
Prendergast told the media that in light of the growing changes of the sports discipline, the course is designed to improve the level of officiating in the region.
Asked his views on the level of officiating in the Caribbean region, he explained that there is currently a model and “the level of officiating works for the region but it has to be improved for international competitions".
“The pace of the game for example, the teams, the pace of the game and the whole organization of the football structure are important, because with the elevate of the teams the demand for referees to get better is greater”.
During the course, officials were given updates on the laws of the game and the methodologies that are being employed across the world.
General Secretary of the SKNFA, Stanley Jacobs said that the association is happy to be the host of over 20 local and regional match officials in the Federation.
“This is all part of the FIFA Referee Development programme,” he added.
Against that backdrop, Jacobs pointed out that the region is making strides in the area of referee development, noting that just recently local match officials were selected to officiate at a World Cup Qualifying game in the CONCACAF region.
For some time local referees have come in for heavy criticisms for the way they officiate matches in the Premier League.
At the beginning of the 2015/2016 National Bank-sponsored Premier League, officials were slammed for a large number of glaring errors in the league.
However, football pundits have noted that they had seen significant improvements as the season progressed.
