The South African Football Association (SAFA) has embarked on a nationwide drive to improve the standard of refereeing in the lower leagues across the country, starting with the Northern Cape.

The South African Football Association (SAFA) has embarked on a nationwide drive to improve the standard of refereeing in the lower leagues across the country, starting with the Northern Cape.

The first course will take place in Kuruman on Friday, 28-31 March 2014.

The same venture moves to Kimberley from 1 – 5 April 2014.

SAFA has set a target of training 75 regional league referees in the province of Northern Cape. The same referees will then be earmarked for gradual promotion in the process.

Part of the two venues’ training schedule include fitness tests and will be conducted under the guidance of instructors Dumisani Nonkenke, Vusi Mdluli, Tenda Masikhwa and Khatija Bahdur.

“There is a need to improve the standard of refereeing across the country and the starting point is the Northern Cape. We are looking at trainining referees who will officiate in the SAFA Second Division League,” said Ace Kika, Safa’s Acting Head of Referees.

“Both in Kuruman and Kimberley, we will train both male and female referees officiating at regional league level. We hope that by 5 April, we shall have trained around 75 referees. We have just completed the training of referees’ instructors and will soon be having training for match commissioners.”