AIFF to offer professional contracts to top Referees

In a positive move the All India Football Federation has decided to kick-off a Professional Refereeing Project. The decision was taken in the recently held Referee's Committee meeting in Jamshedpur, which was presided over by the AIFF's Senior Vice-President Subrata Dutta.

The refereeing in the I-League has been often criticised by the clubs as being not up to par, now with top Indian referees set to get professional contracts hopefully their performance levels will also improve as they also get specialised training.

The AIFF has decided to employ professional referees under its payroll and offer a professional contract to three referees in the Referees department over the duration of the I-League. The AIFF believes the initiative will lay the foundation for professionalisation of refereeing as a career in India.

Meanwhile the AIFF has named Tamil Nadu's C.R. Srikrishna as the Best Referee of the 2011/12 season. The Committee came to this decision after analysing the performance of the referees in the last edition of the I-League and other tournaments. Pratap Singh, M.B. Santosh Kumar, Ajit Meetei and A. Rowan were also in contention besides the winner C.R. Srikrishna for the Best Referees Award.

Delhi's Mohammed Kamil was adjudged the Best Assistant Referee of the last season. Along with Kamil, A.R. Sasikumar, Khamba Singh, Shaji Kurian and Ratheesh Kumar were also in contention for the award.