Next week will be busy too with the launch of FIFA seminars and lectures for the match officials of World Cup Russia 2018 and Women’s World Cup France 2019. The seminars and courses will be held under the supervision of FIFA’s referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina and FIFA’s head of refereeing Massimo Busacca.
QFA referees committee chief and FIFA’s referees committee vice chairman Hani Balan will also take part in the seminar along with Naji Juwaini, QFA executive director of the referees committee. The two are licensed FIFA experts.
The second seminar will be for arena referees and video referees, who will take charge of World Cup 2018 matches, and will see the participation of 37 referees from February 5-9.
The third course will be for female referees, who are nominated to officiate the Women’s World Cup 2019. It will run from February 12-16. The fourth course will be for referees’ experts with the participation of 100 experts from February 19-22.
QFA secretary-general Mansour al-Ansari opened the first seminar yesterday by welcoming the participants.
Al-Ansari welcomed the participants to Doha on behalf of QFA, its president and executive director, expressing Qatar’s pride to host the course that brings together several experts from all over the world.
He added: “It brings me great pleasure to welcome you all to the opening ceremony of the FIFA Technical Experts’ Workshop, which witnesses football technical experts gathered from all over the world to discuss and share their knowledge and expertise. would like to thank FIFA and those involved in organising this function and for planning this event, which I am convinced will be extremely valuable for the football family’s continuous development.”
“We are pleased to host you here during the next few days, where you will be discussing future plans and activities of FIFA 2.0 and FIFA’s Forward Football Development Programme. Throughout the week, around 100 technical experts will benefit from both technical and theoretical activities, while having the opportunity to discuss new trends and programs in the football world.”
The QFA secretary general added that hosting the event reflects Qatar’s commitment in the region and the world to positively contribute to the development of technical capacities.
“Hosting the FIFA Technical Experts’ Workshop demonstrates QFA’s commitment to play an important role in the region and the world in contributing directly and positively to the development of football and its’ technical experts,” he said.
“This is further proven by the various upcoming FIFA workshops hosted here in Doha throughout the month of February that will be tailored for the referees who will be taking part at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 and Referee Assessors .”
Al-Ansari noted that Qatar has become a major sporting hub in football and has hosted many major events as the countdown for the World Cup 2022 continues. He expressed gratitude for FIFA’s efforts to develop the game and unleash its potential.
For his part, FIFA technical director Steven Martens said that the workshops include a lot of discussions about the development of FIFA regulations, which will benefit the administrative and technical cadres in Qatar, especially for young people.
He added that it is natural to have such an event in a country like Qatar preparing to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Martens pointed out his aspiration to find out more about the completed facilities after the end of the FIFA sessions.
The FIFA technical director praised Qatar’s great role and thanked them for hospitality. He said that Qatar hosted a lot of major sports events and a large number of officials, noting that this is not strange, especially given all the amenities and facilities.
He noted that FIFA appreciates the great work Qatar is doing and pointed out that there will be mutual missions to ensure that the World Cup in Qatar will be a unique event in the Middle East.
QFA Development Department Director Fahd Thani thanked FIFA for organising this event in Qatar. He noted that these courses will contribute significantly to the exchange of experiences at the highest level through the development of age groups coaches and players as well as the development of various sectors working in the field of football.
Thani said he is participating with elite experts and has been accepted as an international lecturer at FIFA.
This is the first time in the history of FIFA that such a number of referee courses takes place in one country in one calendar year, a major achievement for Qatar, QFA and Qatari refereeing. It is also not the first time that Qatar has hosted special sessions for FIFA referees. Qatar previously hosted sessions for the referees of World Cup Brazil 2014.