India has become the only country from Asia to be invited for a UEFA training programme for referees in Geneva with three officials from here chosen for the key course which can pave the way for them to become FIFA referees.
The All India Football Federation (AIFF) has selected city-based referee R Venkatesh and assistant referees R Manojkumar and P Vairamuthu for the programme being organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) from April 25 to May 4.
The trio will be representing India which was the only country from Asia to be given a chance to participate in the programme, Venkatesh said.
If they do well at the programme, they could get selected for the final development course, in Geneva again, in October, a big step forward in becoming officials of the sport's world body FIFA.
The three are upbeat about the course and said they hoped to learn by interacting with referees from various countries and also competing with seven other "teams (of three officials each)".
Venkatesh told PTI that it could be a big step in his dream of becoming a FIFA referee.
"Me and the two assistant referees will have to be at our best as we will be competing against referees from Europe. They will assess our knowledge, fitness and game performance," he said.
He thanked Chennai's K Shankar, the only Indian referee to have been part of the World Cup finals so far, for guiding young officials here and motivating them.
Apart from the training and game performance, fitness would be assessed, the 26-year-old Venkatesh said and added that "the three of us would get an opportunity to referee in the Swedish league and lower divisions of the French league during the 10-day programme."
Stating that the standards of umpiring in India had improved in recent years, he said the standard of referees in Tamil Nadu had improved and there were 10-12 of them in the national panel.
Vairamuthu said "It would be a learning experience as we will get to interact with European referees and trainers."
Also, Vairamuthu said the exposure the trio would receive would be valuable and help in the long run.
"I feel proud that the AIFF has selected us for the Geneva programme. It will help us achieve the dream of becoming international referees," he said.
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