Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Prendergast

Jamaican referees will be expected to stand up to more rigorous standards in the coming year as chairman of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) referees committee and former FIFA referee, Peter Prendergast, looks to local officiating with world standards.

A newly-implemented $1,500 licensing fee, which is to be paid at the JFF headquarters this Saturday, will see the official certified from January to December.

More importantly, however, referees will, as of this year, also be required to attend a mandatory two-day assessment course in July.

The course will culminate with an exam, the results of which are expected to determine the official's status for the rest of the year. In addition to mid-year assessment, four symposiums, which will be geared toward the further academic development of the officials, are to be held. While that requirement is already in place, it has not been enforced in recent times.

The struggle of the local men in black is a phenomenon which has been well documented in recent times.

Verbal and physical abuse

The officials, in many instances constantly verbally and even physically abused, have seen a sharp decline in their numbers and there is currently only an estimated 350 officials islandwide.

"Like any other job it will have its hazards," Prendergast said. "The fact is that you will have persons with stronger characters who are better at crowd and player control than others.

"Some of it comes down to better man management technique, persons who are able to exercise that stand less of a chance of being attacked," he noted.

Plans are, however, now under way to bolster the number of local officials and one such initiative, a sponsored three-month national programme which will target high schools, colleges and universities, could see a welcome swell in the ranks of the local profession, with some 400 new recruits expected to be certified by the end of this year.

"This plan is outside of the regular recruitment drive and it will be done through the institutions like Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)," Prendergast said.

"We would like to target students probably as young as 15 years old and get them interested in this aspect of the sport," Prendergast, who officiated at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, said.

Referee development

Under the new development plan, parish associations have been advised to take a bigger role in the development of their referees and each will now be required to form separate referee committees that are expected to help with the development of officials in their area.

"In years gone by they haven't been an active part of the process, they need to know exactly what is happening with these specific referee groups," Prendergast said. "We have decided to set up committees in this manner as it mirrors international standards."