The FIFA Member Association (MA) Young Talent Refereeing Programme has concluded at the Ghanaman Soccer Centre of Excellence in Prampram, completing an intensive course designed to prepare Ghana’s most promising young match officials for elite-level football.
Organised by the Ghana Football Association (GFA) with support from FIFA, the programme brought together emerging referees from across the country for several days of technical, practical and physical training.
The course focused on the range of skills required in modern match officiating. Participants took part in classroom sessions, practical work on the field, fitness training and formal assessments.
Together, those elements were intended to improve the referees’ technical, tactical and physical abilities, while giving them the foundations needed to progress in the profession.
The closing ceremony was led by GFA Referees Manager Alex Kotey and Christine Ziga, chairperson of the Referees Appointment Committee. Both officials praised the participants for the commitment, discipline and willingness to learn they had shown during the programme.
The initiative is part of FIFA’s wider capacity-building work, which seeks to identify promising young match officials and support their development towards elite-level officiating.
It also supports the Ghana Football Association’s Catch Them Young Refereeing Policy. That policy was introduced to establish a sustainable route for developing referees from grassroots football through to the highest levels of the game.
The programme was delivered by FIFA Technical Instructor Essameldin Abdelfattah Hassan Abdelhamid of Egypt and FIFA Physical Instructor Boubakar Hannachi of Tunisia.
The two instructors brought international experience and specialist knowledge to the course, guiding participants through the technical and physical demands of contemporary refereeing.
By combining classroom teaching with practical sessions, fitness work and assessment, the programme aimed to give the young officials a broad understanding of the standards expected in competitive football.
Its completion represents another step in the GFA’s efforts to improve refereeing standards in Ghana and create a stronger pathway for talented officials.
The association said the long-term objective is to develop a pipeline of match officials capable of operating in domestic, continental and international competitions.
The conclusion of the programme at Prampram therefore marks both the end of the current training course and a further stage in Ghana’s wider work to nurture refereeing talent.
The FIFA MA Young Talent Refereeing Programme and the Catch Them Young Refereeing Policy are intended to work together, linking early development at grassroots level with the progression required for the highest levels of officiating.
The course ended with recognition of the participants’ efforts and a renewed focus on developing the next generation of elite referees in Ghana.
