Za'atari refereeing course

The UEFA Foundation for Children and its local partner, the Asian Football Development Project (AFDP), have staged a refereeing course at the Za’atari and Azraq refugee camps in Jordan.

The objective of this initiative was to brief coaches and referees who work with children as part of the camp's football activities not only about the Laws of the Game, but also on how to incorporate values such as respect and fair play within their daily lives.

This one-week refereeing course was delivered to 64 coaches, including 21 female coaches, who will take the skills they learned into their work with children at the two camps. The course included two football tournaments – one female and one male – which gave the newly-trained coaches and referees, under the supervision of the two instructors, the chance to deploy skills acquired with 1,100 children, including 380 girls.

Experienced instructors – former French international referee Michel Vautrot and Jordanian assistant referee Awni Hassouneh – conducted the course, with the assistance of former Jordanian national women's team goalkeepers Zeina al-Sadi and Maryana Haddad.