Jamaica has been dubbed “the mecca of refereeing in the Caribbean” by FIFA Referee Development Officer, Ramesh Ramdhan, during the launch of the Referees’ Assistance Programme (RAP) at the Jamaica Football Federation’s (JFF) New Kingston offices yesterday.

The launch also coincided with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the JFF and GC Foster College, who have partnered to offer the certification courses to referees.

“I have just heard how many FIFA officials you have in Jamaica and it is the most in the region. I have to tell you, that is no accident… Jamaica is the mecca of footballing refereeing in the Caribbean,” said Trinidadian Ramdham, to loud applause from the participants.

“That’s why coming to Jamaica is the highlight of my job. You are the flag bearers in our RAP and as the FIFA president (Sepp Blatter) said, ‘the future of football lies in the hands of the referees’,” he noted.

The JFF continues its programme of training match officials as part of its mandate as outlined by president Captain Horace Burrell. The JFF boss was absent from yesterday’s event as he is away with the Reggae Boyz in Martinique who are seeking to defend their Digicel Caribbean Cup title.

The course, which will be for national referees (December 3-7) and for referee assessors (December 8-9), will have six instructors in Dave Meikle, Victor Stewart, Peter Bowyer, Texchus Nembhard, Lloyd Harrison and Rohan Thobourne.

Oversight and assessment will be done by Ramdhan, FIFA Fitness Instructor Merere Gonzales of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica’s Peter Prendergast, FIFA Referee Instructor.

Thirty national referees, including 17 FIFA referees and assistant referees plus 13 Elite referees, will be the participants in the course which will be held at the offices of the JFF on St Lucia Crescent in New Kingston.

Three female referees, including FIFA-accredited referee Cardella Stewart (the first for Jamaica) and two FIFA assistant referees in Antonette Williams and Stacey-Ann Grey, will also be among the participants.

The topics for the course includes analysis of match situations, management of re-starts, delaying re-starts, careless and reckless challenges and serious foul play and violent conduct.

Deputy chairman of the JFF Technical and Development Committee, Raymond Grant, said refereeing in Jamaica is no longer seen as a sideshow.

“We have seen the hard work of the federation and we are able to attract persons from various professions to participate at the referee level,” said Grant.

Meanwhile, a new dawn in the football landscape of Jamaica was created yesterday when the renown sports institution, GC Foster College in partnership with the JFF, will be having a certified referees’ courses.

Principal of GC Foster, Edward Shakes — whose institution is celebrating 30 years of existence — is very proud to be partnering with the JFF.

“This is very important because football is truly a global sports. No other sport has the impact on the world as football,” he said.