The world’s football governing body – FIFA, has flown down three technical referee instructors to offer training on moral, ethical, match manipulation and integrity courses for 150 selected referees for the upcoming GFA Normalisation Committee special competition.
A Ghana FA statement confirmed the arrival:
The Ghana Football Association is organising a five-day integrity course for 150 referees at the West Africa Football Academy (WAFA) complex in Sogakope from today Tuesday January 22 to Saturday January 26.
The course forms part of the GFA Normalisation Committee’s continuing efforts to restore confidence in refereeing and avoid match manipulation at all levels in Ghana.
The course, which is being organized in collaboration with FIFA and CAF, will have FIFA Instructors, Onias Felix Tangawarima (Zimbabwe), Boubakar Hannachi (Tunisia) and An Yan Lim Kee Chong (Mauritius) as the resource persons.
The course commences with with a referees fitness test at the Legon park on Tuesday, before the referees are taken through a lecture on match manipulation (Integrity) and the Laws of the game.
Other aspects of the course will include presentations on challenges/ tactical fouls, positioning and reading.
There will also be lectures and discussions on Penalty Area / Handball / Positioning & Reading Offside /Management as well as integrated practical training sessions which would include players.
Some referees will be presented with FIFA badges at the end of the course on Saturday at 3pm.
Ghana is on course to restoring the integrity of football in the West African country following the appointment of the Normalisation Committee by FIFA after a stinking corruption scandal rocked the nation’s football.
Several Ghanaian referees were caught in a web of bribery scandal which saw FIFA slap various degree of bans on referees who got implicated in the scandal.
By El Akyereko
Follow the writer on Twitter: @Akwasiakyereko