FIFA Elite Referee Course Kicks Off in Malawi, Featuring VAR Training
The course, running through Friday, aims to enhance referees' skills and keep them updated on the latest developments in football officiating.
BLANTYRE, Malawi— The Football Association of Malawi (FAM) launched a five-day FIFA Member Associations Elite Referees Course on Monday at Mpira village in Blantyre, writes Happy Valirani.
The course brings together 35 elite referees from across Malawi and 20 referees from the CAF Women's Champions League COSAFA qualifiers.
FIFA instructors Ali Muhammad from Somalia and Mark Mzengo from Malawi are facilitating the training, which covers match analysis, penalty area incidents, offside interpretation, and the 2024-2045 law changes.
Notably, the course includes Video Assistant Referee (VAR) training.
FAM President Fleetwood Haiya emphasized the importance of referee development during the opening ceremony at Victoria Hotel.
"We cannot talk football development or transforming the game if we leave referees behind," Haiya said.
"These are people who translate the laws of the game on the field and help us move to another level."
Haiya added that Malawi was the first country to request VAR training, calling the course "first of its kind in the Africa region."
Felix Tangawalima, a COSAFA and FIFA referees' instructor, highlighted the groundbreaking nature of the VAR training.
"We are taking the referees through VAR in class," Tangawalima said. "By the end of the five-day training, it will be very easy to take the referees onto the field of play."
Tangawalima noted that this initiative would be rolled out to other national associations across Africa.
The course, running through Friday, aims to enhance referees' skills and keep them updated on the latest developments in football officiating.