By Shoubhik Mukhopadhyay,
AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI:  The two-day Match Commissioners Seminar concluded at the AIFF Headquarters, AIFF Football House in New Delhi on Wednesday (August 10).

The Seminar, which was conducted by AIFF, aimed at honing the knowledge of the participants on foolproof match operations. Apart from the sessions akin to Match Organisation & activities, Integrity, CMS and Media Matters were also conducted. The aspiring Match Commissioners would go on to officiate matches in the Premier football competitions of India like Hero I-League, Hero Indian Super League, Second Division League amongst others in the season.

The initiative from AIFF earned plaudits from the participants.

“It's a super initiative by AIFF and we're really thankful to them for giving us a chance to see the match from an Official's chair now,” quipped by Arunava Bhattacharya who has been an integral part of the Kingfisher East Bengal bandwagon for more than five years.

"We're really thankful to AIFF for keeping us in mind. We've a bucketful of hands-on experience till now and it's time to implement,” Imran Khan, the Mohun Bagan Media Officer sounded as energetic as he is always.

Micky Aigner, Assistant General Manager, Media & Marketing, DSK Shivajians vented his zeal upon getting this opportunity. “I can't recall when we got such an opportunity to interact with other Officials and share our knowledge. From our vantage point, its reality check and this will help us to better our skills in future,” he mentioned.

Though most of the participants in the Seminar are aspiring Match Commissioners, fourteen seasoned Match Commissioners were also part of the Seminar.

Walter Pereira, the reputed Match commissioner who has officiated copious high-octane matches in the likes of Kolkata Derby and AFC competitions, shared his thoughts with www.the-aiff.com.

“It has been the other side of the coin. Our new friends have seen the match from the other end while we have officiated the match from our end. A platform like this is a perfect stage to share our knowledge to build a good team of Match Commissioners."

J Ravishankar, an existing AFC Match Commissioner praised AIFF whole -heartedly for such an initiative, "It can't be any better than such a platform to build a strong Football Officials' body across the Country. It'll be our cumulative effort to garner our skills and churn out more proficient Match Commissioners."

Keen to break the hoodoo of the post being solely for their male counterparts, the Seminar also had two women participants jotting down points over a couple of days -- Janice Lynrah, Media Officer, Shillong Lajong Football Club and Sudeshna Mukherjee Nag, involved with Women’s Football for a long time.

Janice didn't hide her jubilation upon getting another opportunity to learn newer aspects of the game, “I feel short of words to express how much I'm thankful to AIFF for giving me the chance. Given the media assignments I have done till now, it'll be a fresh start and I'll try my level best to hone the skills.”

Complementing Janice, Sudheshna commented, “There's a huge difference between watching a match and officiating a match. I'll leave no stone unturned to scale a newer height in this periphery.”

Srinivas Murthy, Head of Operations, JSW Bengaluru FC sounded pretty optimistic about being a Match Commissioner in near future.

“AIFF deserve all due credits for giving us the opportunity and hope we'll reciprocate well by becoming successful Match Commissioners."

Sankar Dhar who has been associated with Indian Football Association in the past said he goes back “enriched.”

“Football operations is all about knowledge transfer. I go back home enriched. No words of praise will be enough to thank AIFF for initiating the initiative,” he concluded.