(L-R) Ray Olivier, Mike Riley and Philip Dowd at the Referees’ Workshop.The Hero Indian Super League (ISL) hosted a two-day Referees’ Workshop in association with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). The workshop took place in Navi Mumbai with an influential mix of theory and practical sessions conducted by Mike Riley, Philip Dowd and Ray Olivier.Indian refereeing standards have been affected by the level at which the sport is played in the country. The higher the level of play on the field, the tougher to judge with fitness and instantaneous decision-making abilities coming into play. The aim of the workshop was to give the Indian referees a peek into the intensity of officiating at the highest level as well as inculcating the core values of refereeing into their judging faculties.Following the workshop, we had an exclusive chat with the three instructors who shared their views on the participants and the requirements for the development of referees in the country.“I’ve been very impressed by the dedication and professionalism of the referees and assistant referees we worked with. If you take the workshop sessions, we talked about a referee practising on the field of play. We’ve looked at video examples. They were thoroughly engaged in debates, very professional in commenting; the comments in turn show their experience and their will to learn more. If you look at the activities on the field yesterday – the practical sessions – we saw some great examples of top-quality refereeing and I think it shows their dedication and professionalism. If they continue developing this way, it will be good for Indian referees in the future”, said Riley about the participants.Mike Riley during a practical coaching session.Apart from being a former PGMOL Select Referee, Riley is also the General Manager at PGMOL. Having officiated games from the Premier League in England to the Euro Championship, his standards are as error-free as they can be. He gave us an insight into the idea of being termed a good referee by his standards. “A good referee is one with the ability to understand the game. It also has a lot to do with how you use your skills, and use it to make a spectacle for those people watching the game. So what you need is an understanding and empathy for the game. And if you can do that making sure that the rules of the game are applied, then people respect you and the game moves forward,” he explained.Ray Olivier, who is the Training and Development Manager at PGMOL, was also positively impressed by the Indian referees and assistant referees. “I was really impressed by the quality and excellence of the work that was put into the training sessions with the referees. They exhibited a lot of dedication and passion in what they want to learn and I was really impressed the way they contributed to sessions, both in the classroom and on the field of play.”“One of the key things we have been looking at over these two days is the body language of the referees. Looking at how they communicate with the players and use their body language to sell decisions and how effectively they can sell those decisions, being confident in that decision making process,” explained Olivier in regard to their concept of judging the referees.The AIFF referees and assistant referees won the instructors over with their dedication and willingness to learn; the trio leaving them with simple words of advice.Philip Dowd urged the participants to stick to their roots and seek help wherever they could get it from. “Don’t think you’re better than what you are, stay grounded and be willing to learn from what you have. Don’t criticise your colleagues; question them and ask them for help. Take as much help as you can from everyone to get to the top,” advocated the PGMOL, Select Referee.A member of the FIFA Referee Committee, Mike Riley also offered his counsel to the participants.“To the Indian referees I would say, do what you’ve been doing these past two days; that is bring your enthusiasm and passion for football into your refereeing values. Continue to learn and continue to work with the Colonel [Goutam Kar], developing your skills on the ground.”Ray Olivier during a practical coaching session.Olivier, who hosted the classroom sessions looking to drill down the importance of learning from one’s own mistakes alongside the technical aspects of refereeing, also offered his opinion.“Always be honest and self-evaluate your performance. You must look back at how they performed in the game and review their decisions and learn from their mistakes but also to learn from the successful decisions made on the field.”AIFF referee Balasubramanium explained the importance of such workshops as well as the teaching that was imparted to him and his fellow colleagues by the PGMOL instructors. “The standards that we referee at and the standards that they are refereeing at in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe are different. The level of the game there is higher and they want us to officiate at those levels, including the fitness. They want us to understand the players and act accordingly. They want us to understand the basics of what is good for a referee and what is good for a player which will help us avoid unnecessary decisions and cards.“We feel that if these workshops are conducted regularly, say on a three-month basis or even every six months, it’ll be very helpful. It should be a knowledge-sharing exercise, from us sharing with them and them teaching us,” he asserted. Click for photos from the Referees’ Workshop: Day 1 and Day 2
