Of the 18 participants in the second Football Association of Singapore Basic Referee Course, five of them were women. 

 

SINGAPORE, 30 JUNE 2022 – The second Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Basic Referee Course of 2022 saw the largest number of women participants, with more than a quarter of the cohort comprising of aspiring female referees.

 

Among the five of them was Erin Wan, who signed-up to follow in her father’s footsteps. Erin’s father is Class 2 referee Wan Tung Han. She said: “Growing up, my father shared many memorable moments from his time officiating matches ranging from school games to the National Football League*. Having completed my ‘A’ Levels, I had some free time on hand and I was keen to join the course to have a better understanding on what my father does and to better appreciate his passion for refereeing.”

 

Erin Wan (left) participating in a drill during the Basic Referee Course.

 

Held from 10 June 2022 to 12 June 2022 at the Jalan Besar Stadium, the three-day course was conducted by former referees and current FAS referee instructors Abdul Malik Bashir, N Santhan, Tang Yew Mun and Sukhbir Singh. The course introduced the fundamentals of refereeing to participants and included a fitness, practical and theory test. Upon passing the tests, they will be eligible to register as FAS Class 3 referees and take charge of football matches at the amateur level.

 

When asked about her experience, Erin shared: “I enjoyed myself and benefited from the guidance of the instructors as they were able to share their wealth of knowledge in an effective and engaging way. While I have a better understanding of my father’s job as a referee now, the course also helped me to see football from a different perspective and I have a better appreciation of the Beautiful Game now.”

 

FAS Head of Referees Nazeer Hussain added: “The advancement in technology has helped to shed more light on the work and thought process of referees during matches and we are starting to see greater interest in refereeing. Through courses like the Basic Referee Course, we as a department aim to build on this by expanding the participants’ knowledge on Football and by giving them a first-hand taste of how the laws of the game are applied.

 

“Whether you do pursue refereeing in the future, you will still take something away from the course. The feedback we have received is encouraging and the challenge for us now is to ensure more participants remain passionate about refereeing once the course concludes and have avenues to hone their craft and challenge themselves. In the long run, this will increase the pool of quality referees for of our leagues.”

 

 

*The National Football League has since been renamed to the Singapore Football League

 

CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION OF SINGAPORE