Football Kenya Federation (FKF) in partnership with FIFA have kicked off a five-day routine elite referees program at Kericho Green Stadium with an objective of developing the referees.16 out of the 31 referees in the training are elite FIFA referees, some of whom have officiated at the top level with Assistant Referee Mary Njoroge doing so at the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France and recently at the Tokyo Olympics.Felix Tangawarima, an Instructor with Referee Development and Training in Africa, said the exercise is routine but was affected by the COVID 19 pandemic last year but they have now resumed after the measures were relaxed.Kenyan referee Mary Njoroge will officiate the Match between Netherlands and China today at 2:30 PM, while Gilbert Cheruiyot will officiate the match between Saudi Arabia and Brazil tomorrow. From Kenya to the world.#Tokyo2020#SportsArenake pic.twitter.com/Jtzj3DBcZd— Carol Radull (@CarolRadull) July 27, 2021 The instructor also noted FIFA’s satisfaction with the performance of Kenyan referees, citing their assignments as backup.”We are here as a routine program. We have a partnership with the Kenya football federation and Fifa referee’s development where together we partner to develop the referees. 80 % of the training here will be practicals in the field of play because that is where we correct mistakes before they go to the main games. We have some referees who have been to the World Cup, who have been to the Olympics, who are doing champions league games. It shows that they are competent and good referees,” Tangawarima said.🇰🇪referee Mary Njoroge is one of the #Womeninthegame⚽making notable strides in ⚽Notable achievements👇✔️ Officiates @Officialfkfpl ✔️Officiated 2021 AFCONQ✔️Oversaw a @CAF_Online Confed 🏆 group stage match ✔️ Officiated 2019 @FIFAWWC ✔️Selected to officiate @Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/LRQQWpfk4v— Football Kenya Federation (@Football_Kenya) May 7, 2021 FKF Referees Committee Anthony Makau said the training is a milestone not only for the elite referees but also for the Federation at large as it shows FIFA’s confidence in FKF and the referees.”This is a milestone in our FA. The MA is a training program between FIFA and all member associations and every time you find FIFA sending their instructors to any association it means they have confidence in them. We have reached a stage in terms of developing our referees where FIFA is focused on our referees that’s why you can see we have our top referees officiating in the world cup, Olympics, and you recall the last AFCON final was officiated by our referees,” Makau noted.Referee of the Year- Peter Waweru Assistant referee of the year Mary Njoroge#FKFPLAWARDS— Ole Teya (@Kevin_teya) September 14, 2021 FKF Premier League Best Assistant Referee Mary Njoroge opined that the exercise will help the referees be on top of their game now that the league has already rolled out and is set to hit top gear soon.”We had a very important exercise which really helps us to officiate in our leagues. The league is on and that’s why the exercise was very important. It will enable us to do our task as we are supposed to do,” Mary said.
