SPORTS

CIFA revamps referee training

D C Emerson Mathurin,
Consulting Referee Instructor
for CIFA’s Referee
Development Programme

Friday, April 23, 2004

The Cayman Islands Football Association (CIFA), with the help of renowned FIFA referee instructor D C Emerson Mathurin, is embarking on a new initiative that will educate and classify its match officials following the 2003-04 football season.

The programme, which is aimed at specifying referee standards and defining classification groups for referees within the Cayman Islands, is comprehensive and promises a tremendous return on investments.

“It’s a major first step where CIFA’s Referee Development Programme is concerned,” said CIFA President Jeffrey Webb.

Mr Webb also stressed that in order to make the process more transparent and less subjective, it was important to set defined standards and classifications groups for referees.

He also maintains that it will have a tremendous impact on the level and quality of the game.

Mr Mathurin, FIFA referee instructor and member of the CONCACAF Referee’s Commission has agreed to consult with the Association about this. Mr Mathurin is an economist by profession and comes with an impressive track record in referee education.

He has been a referee inspector with CONCACAF since 1987, and with FIFA since 1989, and has conducted more than 200 courses for referees and referee inspectors throughout North and South America, Germany, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific.

Mr Mathurin is also the author or co-author of 12 publications on referee performances and education. He recently completed plans for referee development for CONCACAF and the Caribbean Football Union.

“Already, CIFA has adapted my November 1999 A Proposal For A Referee Development Plan For The Caribbean Football Union to suit football conditions in Cayman,” said Mathurin.

“Now, working with CIFA and the Cayman Islands Referee’s Association, and using the goals and objectives that are in my April 2002 A CONCACAF Referee Development Plan To 2006 as a backdrop, I hope to assist CIFA in updating its existing referee development programme.”

Some modification of it could be used by CIFA to assist in achieving its referee development plan, and to design programmes implementing the objectives of that plan.

The programme is expected to be ready for the 2004-2005 season.

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