Qualified track officials pursued

The Jakarta-based Regional Development Center (RDC) is hosting a five-day education and certification course for track and field officials.

Experts have long called for standardization among track officials throughout Asia.

"We aim to improve the quality of athletics officials so they are ready for the officiating tasks in Asian competitions," RDC Director Ria Lumintuarso told The Jakarta Post after the opening ceremony at the RDC headquarters here on Tuesday.

The level 2 course will run until Saturday and have 25 participants from 19 Asian countries and territories: Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Japan, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia.

RDC is a branch of the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) with the task of supervising track and field development in the region.

"The course is very essential given that the success of a competition depends largely on how the officials, like the jury and referees can handle matters properly," Ria said.

He said qualified participants could pursue further certification by sitting in on a level 3 course to be able to officiate in an international-level competitions.

P. Solomon, the co-lecturer in the course along with Maurice Nicholas, pointed out the need for the participants to stick to the rule books when officiating a competition.

"We will make them aware that the rule is there," he said.

About match officiating in Asia, Solomon, a member of the IAAF Technical Committee, said: "The officiating standards in Asia have been good. However, re-generation needs to be pursued further. New qualified officials must be developed in order to be ready for the task left by the outgoing officials." --JP