Kuwait City, Kuwait, March 27, 2022: Senior official of the Olympic Council of Asia, Mr. Haider Farman, welcomed participants on the opening day of the second phase of the OCA special development project for coaches and referees from 12 National Olympic Committees in West Asia on Sunday, March 27.
Mr. Farman, Director Asian Games and Sports Department, thanked all referees and coaches in football and gymnastics who gathered at the OCA Headquarters in Salmiya for participating in the four-day course which will end on March 31.
Judo, the other sport in the second phase, will get underway on Monday, March 28.
“It is good to see such large numbers at these courses. This is the first time that the Olympic Council of Asia is conducting this programme and I hope at the end everyone will have benefited from it.
I wish you all the best,” Mr. Farman said.
Three senior football officials from Qatar will carry out the Level 2 referees course – Abdullah Balideh, Abdulrahman Hussain and Khamis Al Kuwari.
The Women Artistic Gymnastics coaching course will be conducted by Ms.
Amany Gouda while the Rhythmic Gymnastics course for new judges will be run by Ms. Sarah Ghoneim.
Germany’s two-time Olympic medallist Udo Quellmalz, an International Judo Federation official, will conduct the coaching and refereeing seminars for judo from March 28-30.
“We have got some top-quality instructors for the second phase of the programme and I’m sure all the participants will be able to learn a lot,” said Tony Tarraf, OCA Head of Athletes Development Department and Special Projects.
The experienced FIFA-qualified Qatar referee Abdullah Balideh said:
“This is the first time that such a programme is being carried out by the Olympic Council of Asia for football referees in the Arab world and I think this is a fantastic idea.”