The tournament will also be welcoming some official experience with a number of referees from around the region who have taken part in both OFC events and FIFA Futsal World Cups, as well as two Australian referees.
Amitesh Behari of Fiji and Rex Kamusu both officiated during the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup in Thailand and lead a strong pool of officials from New Caledonia, New Zealand, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tahiti and Vanuatu. The group is also being joined by Ryan Shepard and Darius Turner of Australia.
Behari, who was in charge the pool match between Panama and Morocco at his second World Cup event with Kamusu running one of the lines, says he is pleased with all of his achievements to date and the fact that he has been able to follow in the footsteps of his referee father.
“It is a very proud moment for me to be selected to officiate at the championship and I always listen to the advice which my father gives me in order to become a better referee,” Behari says.
“He always tells me to have patience and work hard in life.”
Behari is well aware of the difficulties of officiating at a high level and knows that in order to be at his best he must remember to keep his composure at all times.
“I need to be on my toes and be alert all the time and keep up with the pace of the game as losing concentration would mean you failed to officiate the match well and therefore anything could happen.”
He has participated at two FIFA tournaments in the past, but Behari already has an eye on earning selection for the FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2016.
“It is my aim to officiate at the FIFA Futsal World Cup in 2016 as it would be my third World Cup and a major achievement for me. Every referee wants to achieve the best and I also want to do that by becoming the first referee in Fiji to officiate three consecutive World Cups,” he says.
“Officiating in as many matches as possible will help me to gain more experience as every game is different.”
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