The Ghana Football Association has launched an intensive 4-day integrity seminar for 331 referees ahead of the 2019/20 domestic season.
The program, staged at Kasoa in the Central region, will see the referees taking various programs ahead of the new era in Ghana football led by renowned retired Mauritius referee Lim Kee Chong, Vice Chairman of the Referees Committee of CAF.
Officials of the Ghana FA stormed the premises and called on the officials to paint a new picture for the average football fan and corporate world when the new season kicks off later in the month.
Vice President of Ghana Football Association, Mr. Mark Addo told the assembled officials, “we should ask ourselves, why are we here? We are here for several reasons but I can tell you this, if you watch the No. 12 that Anas did, 99.5% of the issues was the referees. That is the fact”.
He added, “I have a first Division team, sometimes I go to watch the game, my guys on the grounds, the operations tells me, the referees called them. I am the one coming to officiate your game. So asked yourself why do you have to call the teams that you are coming to officiate their game? Just asked yourself! You see there are two things I always believed in, Integrity and Character.
So I am telling you this, we have put in some measures in place for the new season, part of it has to do with monitoring, monitoring the live on going games and also get a third party monitoring as well. We are also working of videoing almost all the games. In addition to that, we increase the number of Premier referees about 40 from premier level to third division”.
The four days event is expected to upgrade the officials with modern trends and laws of the game ahead of the impending football experiment in the eyes of the football world.
By: Richard Achore