Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
FORTY-EIGHT referees have been invited to take part in the elite referees Fifa approved fitness and medical examination test set for Harare on September 26.
Of the invited number eight are female referees.
The announcement by the Zimbabwe Referees Committee puts to rest fears that the country might fail to meet the October 2 deadline for the submission of nominations for the 2017 Fifa referees list.
“All the named officials will be required to attend a medical examination on September 25 between 6PM and 8PM and then on Monday morning we go for the fitness test at the National Sports Stadium B-Arena,” said the ZRC vice chairman and retired referee Gladmore Muzambi.
With Zimbabwe having a ballooned figure of over 90 referees, which is outside the recommended standards, Muzambi said they invited only those who have been practising at the highest level in the last two years.
It is a refreshing start for the newly appointed committee which is led by Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa as in previous years ‘green’ referees would be fast tracked by some unscrupulous officials hence the huge figure of referees that the country has now.
“The list includes those referees who are already on the Fifa and Zifa panel but have officiated for two years and above as per laid down statutes,” said Muzambi.
The proposed referees shall be at least 25 years old (23 years old in the case of assistant referees) on January 1 of the year for which they have been nominated.
Referees must be born no later than December 31, 1991 and assistant referees must be born no later than December 31, 1993 in order to ensure a minimum level of experience.
Fifa reserves the right to require referees over the age of 45 (born in 1972 or before) to undergo additional technical assessments as well as specific medical examinations and fitness testing on a case-by-case basis.
Each candidate must be ranked based on the marks obtained for officiating games at the national level during the 12 months prior to being nominated to the list of international referees.
Zimbabwe has 17 match officials on the Fifa international list made up of nine male officials, six female and two futsal referees —
@skhumoyo2000.