GFF appoints 10 Referees Development Officers

Ten persons have been appointed Referees Development Officers (RDOs) following a training session last weekend in the Boardroom of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) Secretariat. The RDOs will be based in the nine Regional Member Associations (RMAs) and will be primarily responsible for recruiting, training and retaining referees across the country.

They include Heatcliff Peters (East Berbice); Ingram Johnson (West Berbice); Abdulla Hamid (Linden); Tyrone Tyrell (Georgetown); Joel Weeks (West Demerara); Vijai Simon (Lethem); Clifton Paul (Essequibo); Leon Stewart (Bartica); Winston Manjit (East Bank) and Natasha Lewis (East Coast).

Among the key areas covered in the session were report writing, the updated FIFA Laws of the Game, the relationship between the role of the Technical Development Officer (TDOs) and RDOs; respective Terms of Reference and the importance of fitness to the referees. 

Stanley Lancaster, Head of the Refereeing Department and Chief Facilitator underscored the importance of the programme to the increased pool of referees and continuous capacity building of same.  

“The appointed RDOs will play a critical role in actively identifying new referees – both males and females – in the various geographical areas; help in improving the quality of officiating and education within the fraternity; establish transparency within the fraternity and enable the promotion of talented officials,” he said.      

Among the other presenters at the session were GFF President Wayne Forde, Second Vice-Presdient Rawlston Adams and Executive Committee Member Dion Inniss, who outlined the importance of the role to the achievement of the broader technical objectives of the Executive Committee and also offered words of support to the appointed officials.   

This programme is in keeping with the new structure of the Technical Development programme and the RDOs will work in tandem with the Technical Development Officers (TDOs).