Football Kenya Federation Deputy President Doris Petra has on Thursday, August 8, 2019, presided over the closing ceremony of a five-day referees training in Machakos.
The exercise, spearheaded by FKF Southern Branch Chairman Anthony Makau, brought together 177 referees who had never gone through referee education.
Among the beneficiaries were rookie match officials from neighboring Kajiado, Embu, Isiolo and Makueni as well as Migori and Vihiga.
“This referees training exercise is part of our campaign promise before we came into office. I am happy to report that we have successfully empowered match officials as well as coaches at the grass-root level, which is a positive step in our football development,” said Chairman Makau.
“These newly trained referees will be given a chance to practice what they have learned when our Branch Leagues kick off next month, and it’s our hope that some will rise to become FIFA Referees,” he added.
Deputy President Doris Petra, meanwhile, reiterated Football Kenya Federation’s commitment to such programs, pointing out their importance in improving the level of officiating.
“As a Federation, we are committed to referee and coaching education and as such, we have dedicated Technical and Referees Departments that have for the past four years driven this agenda. We have so far trained over 500 match officials and over 2000 coaches at the grass-root level, which is a major milestone in our football development agenda,” she said.