Referees futsal course touches on rules
A THREE-DAY FIFA Online Course for Fiji FA Member Association Futsal Referees concluded on Sunday with 17 participants attending from around the country at the Fiji FA Headquarters in Vatuwaqa.
The course was instructed by FIFA futsal instructor Neil Poloso.
Fiji FA referees director Rakesh Varman said it was a great learning experience for the participants.
“They learned the rules of futsal, differences between futsal and football rules and regulations, fouls, co-ordination between both referees and communication with other match officials.
“The way of communicating and controlling a futsal match is different from a football match in many ways. In football, the referee is the primary decision-maker inside the field with assistance from his assistants. In futsal refereeing, group work is more profound.
“Two referees officiate a futsal match, although according to the laws and regulations, the final decision maker is the primary referee. But both of them have the same authority and they execute their decisions based on the FIFA rules. Due to the specific futsal rules, ‘other match officials’ like the time-keeper and the third referee are also important personnel in controlling the match,”added Varman
“The existence of collective fouls in futsal makes the refereeing more challenging. The referee cannot rule each contact as a foul according to his personal interpretation. Later, it may create an issue for him as well as the teams while ruling a collective foul. Consequently, it will impact the result of the match which is not desired at all,” he mentioned.
One of the participants, Priya Pritkhsa Kumar, said the course helped her gain good knowledge about laws of futsal.
“The sessions helped me gain good knowledge about the laws of futsal. Poloso’s lectures were more informative and primarily based on practical instances.”