The standard of refereeing and OFC’s commitment to the improvement of refereeing standards across the confederation was the subject of debate at the OFC Strategic Workshop in Bora Bora, Tahiti today.
OFC Referee Technical Director, Ken Wallace, delivered a detailed presentation that emphasised the growing need for a Referee Recruitment Programme.
“One worrying trend is there are more referee instructors than referees at the highest level that drop out of the game following considerable investment in time and resources.”
OFC President Reynald Temarii said that one of the issues facing the development of referees was that people with the best technical knowledge were not always selected in technical development roles in their member associations.
“We need to make sure that the right people are in the right job. I understand this is a sensitive subject, but perhaps it is best to be direct about this. We need to find our objectivity.
This is a very important area for OFC. I use the example of Athens 2004, where we did not have a team from the OFC represent our region, but a referee. We have more chance of representation at the highest level through our officials.”
Temarii said OFC funding of Referee Development had increased each year since 2004 and reflected a significant percentage of OFC’s projected budget for 2007.
“Finding international exposure for our referees is essential. The new agreement with the FFA can perhaps give us the opportunity to send OFC referees to officiate in the Australian domestic competition”, Temarii said.
FIFA Head of Development Mary Harvey voiced concern at participant drop-off. “Each Futuro Course costs FIFA approximately $70-80,000US and to hear about participant drop-off is worrying.”
VFF President, Jacque Tronquet, understood those concerns but stated that social and economic factors in developing nations often made long-term commitment to refereeing a difficult choice for individuals to make.