July 23 – The AFC’s Referees Committee has raised the entry age of its Referee Academy and lengthened the ‘retention’ period of graduates to two years to ensure ongoing monitoring and mentoring of its top officials.
The committee, meeting virtually, said it was encouraged by the ‘consistent rise of Asian refereeing in the global context”, with AFC officials increasingly being appointed to the world’s biggest competitions.
The AFC Referee Academy – which runs a three-year curriculum – has been crucial to the growth in elite officials within the confederation and it is now tutoring its fifth class of referees since its launch in 2017.
Entry to the academy has been raised from 23 to 25 years to align with the entry age requirements of FIFA’s International Referee nominations, while the maximum age limit for will be raised from 28 to 33 years.
The committee also “noted the importance of leaving no official behind in their learning journey and agreed to extend the retention period of graduates from one to two years, ensuring that no potential promising referee is overlooked for inclusion in the AFC Elite Panel.”
While the elite academy programme is a focus of the top level referee activity within the AFC, the referees committee also highlighted an increase in its other educational initiaitves including the AFC Elite Futsal Referees Seminar, the AFC Elite Futsal Referees Instructors Seminar, the AFC Video Assistant Referees Course, and the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Referees Seminar.
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