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Boost for Garissa football as FKF trains, certifies 25 new referees

Twenty-five newly trained football referees display their Football Kenya Federation (FKF)certificates in Garissa County on April 19, following training. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

By Issa Hussein | 20 Apr 2024

The training and certification were necessitated by a lack of competent referees at the sub-county level.

The Football Kenya Federation (FKF) has certified 25 newly trained referees in Garissa County to boost sub-county-level tournaments after they passed the class 3C examination.

Noordin Bedel, the league and competition coordinator of the Garissa FKF branch, said the training and certification were necessitated by a lack of competent referees at the sub-county level.

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Noordin noted that some people were already officiating tournaments, albeit without the required skills and knowledge.

"The branch requested the training since we did not have enough qualified referees and yet there were football tournaments in all sub-counties," he said.

Senior instructor Stephen Oduor and FKF League and Competition Coordinator Noordin Bedel are pictured with certified referee Abdullahi Mohamed Hussein from Balambala Sub-county in Garissa on April 19, 2024. (Photo: Issa Hussein)

The FKF sent senior instructors who offered a week-long training in Garissa, certifying people including teachers and police officers.

"The new referees are entitled to officiate up to division-one matches," Noordin said and thanked Garissa Safi Cleaners for sponsoring the programme.

Among the referees is Abdirahman Aden Ali, a teacher at County High School in Garissa Township.

"We previously relied on YouTube and other such resources to learn how to officiate a game. We now have the necessary practical knowledge," he told The Eastleigh Voice.

He noted that it was the first time the FKF was training and certifying referees in Garissa as part of efforts to improve football there.