AIFF Media Team
NEW DELHI: FIFA Referees Maria Rebello and Santosh Kumar will be the two Indian Referees to officiate in the Final Phase of Chinese National Games from August 30 to September 11 at Dalian City in China.
The Chinese National Games is a quadrennial event in China. This one in the North Eastern province of Liaoning will be the 12th edition.
“This is the first time in Indian Refereeing when two of our match officials, one man n one woman referee, have been invited by a foreign country to officiate in their National Games Final Phase matches,” an elated Goutam Kar, All India Football Federation (AIFF) Head of Referees told www.the-aiff.com.
“This will encourage the current lot of referees to a great extent,” he added.
For Maria Rebello, it is a double treat. Few days back she was selected as the first Woman Referee to officiate in the upcoming 2013-14 Season.
“It was a pleasant surprise to me. I did not expect this invitation at all. This is huge,” says Rebello in one breath.
Her excitement is understandable. It is not everyday that an Indian Women’s Referee is invited to officiate for the National Games of another country.
“This is very motivating,” she adds.
“I will be officiating the I-League from this season and getting such exposure before the Season gets underway is priceless. It’s not everyday that you get to officiate National Games of a Country.
Rebello will be Refereeing in the Women’s Football Competition.
Talking about the development, Rebello said: “I got a call from Chinese FA’s Mr. Liu Tie Jun who was my assessor during the 2010 SAG Games in Dhaka and recently the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship in Philippines,” Rebello informed.
Santosh Kumar reasoned that the Indian Referees are reaping the rewards of their hard work and this call-up only highlights their performance which is scaling new heights.
“Indian Referees are doing really well. This call-up from China to officiate in their National Games is a testimony to that only,” said the FIFA Referee.
“I am very happy with the development. This will be a learning experience for me. I am so looking forward to it,” he added.
Santosh thanked the AIFF and Col Kar for their unrelenting support.
“The AIFF and its Refereeing Department under Goutam-Sir is doing a lot for Referees Development. Whatever success we are getting now is because their efforts. I need to thank the Federation for their support.”
Shop
