The two-day Referees’ Workshop organised by the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) in association with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) concluded on Thursday in Navi Mumbai.

PGMOL officials Mike Riley, Phil Dowd and Ray Olivier conducted the workshop by working closely with 12 referees, 13 assistant referees and 10 referee assessors from the All India Football Federation (AIFF). Both theory and practical sessions were conducted to aid the participants in developing and honing essential skills.

In a nutshell, here’s how the two days shaped up at the workshop:

Day 1 began with theory sessions that were organised in a classroom. A new topic was focused on in every session. The first topic in focus was ‘Player Management i.e. managing star players, techniques in managing conflict situations and aggressive behaviour by players’. The second was ‘Positioning & Movement’ followed by a ‘Reflections & Reinforcement session’. A couple of post-lunch sessions were focused on ‘Recognition of Foul Challenges and taking appropriate disciplinary action’ and ‘Recognition of Tactical Fouls’.

A practical coaching session was held in the evening with a focus on warm-up, corner kick, free kick and penalty kick management and positioning. The day then ended with a review of the footage from the practical sessions on monitors and feedback from the three instructors.

The second day kicked off with a practical coaching session on ‘Speed & Agility Exercises, Player Management, Mass Confrontation, Taking Disciplinary Action, Use of Red & Yellow Cards’. The theory sessions came next after a break with reflections of the previous day and a ‘Laws of the Game Quiz’. An interesting session on ‘Teamwork between Referee and Assistant Referee’ was also conducted. After lunch, two sessions covering ‘Body Language’ and ‘Game Management – Controlling the Match & Difficult Situations’ were held.

On both days, the workshops included a discussion on referee training structure, assessment method and use of Prozone. In the end, a summary and closing ceremony wrapped up the learning experience.

All three instructors were impressed with the response received during the course of the workshop. Mike Riley, General Manager, PGMOL and FIFA Referee Committee member (Former PGMOL Select Referee) stated, “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 and very professional in commenting. Their comments in turn showed their experience and their will to learn more.

“If you look at the activities on the field yesterday [29^th April] - 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,” he said.

Philip Dowd, PGMOL, Select Referee, said, “Over the last couple of days, we have spent time with the Indian referees from the Hero Indian Super League. My first thoughts are that they are willing to learn. They are enthusiastic and are nice people to teach.

"They’re always asking questions. Both the days, we’ve spent from 8am to 8pm; (it) was not enough for them, they want more. The staff too has been very nice and receptive to us and want to learn about how we do it in the United Kingdom in the Premier League.”

Ray Olivier, Training and Development Manager, PGMOL and an instructor on AFC courses, also gave a glowing account of the experience he had with the participants. He said, “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.”

Goutam Kar, Head of Referees Department, AIFF, praised the ISL’s initiative and said the workshop will be highly beneficial for the Indian officials. He said, “To get a mature referee, it takes about 10 years. In India, the referees have about 8-10 years of experience on an average, but with this training they will develop further. They can be much more confident with their decision-making.”