Sixteen young and promising referees from around Central Asia started their Referee Course in Tashkent on Friday, whom AFC Grassroots and Youth Director John Whittle has called “world-famous future judges”.

Opening the course, Whittle said: “I am very happy. There is no doubt that these game arbitrators have a bright future. These courses will be the first step towards their great future careers. Being a football referee is not easy. Each referee has his or her own personality and needs to become a strong person to be a good judge, who will competently judge the matches on the field.”

Whittle, who leads the AFC Grassroots and Youth Department that oversees the annual youth football extravaganza, added: “With proper and serious approach to this business, you surely must achieve success and prominent stature in the international arena.

“Perhaps among the participants here, there are future members of the Asian refereeing fraternity who will shine in the world’s championships. You could be the world-famous future judges,” he encouraged the participants in the course, which was instructed by Ali Al Traifi and Farhad Abdullayev.

Some of the referees taking part in the course may be chosen to form Batch 2011 of the AFC Project Future Referees, the latest batch of the AFC’s future referee grooming programme.

Uzbekistan, four-time hosts of the Festival for Central Asia, is also home to Ravshan Irmatov, the best referee in Asia in three consecutive years (2008, 2009 and 2010) whose exploits in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa equalled the record for number of matches in a single World Cup.