THE Euralis Bouty Pavilion at the Vigie Multipurpose Sports Complex is currently a hive of activity as the St. Lucia Football Association in collaboration with football’s world governing body, FIFA, stages a four-day Match Commissioners Course for its high-ranking affiliates.
President of the SLFA Lyndon Cooper said; “As part of the overall development of the SLFA, what we are attempting to do is to try to enhance the game and to take the sport of football to another level. For the SLFA this is a first in a series of administrative developments just to ensure we could continue to protect the integrity of the game.
Cooper added; “Thirty individuals from the various zones and communities throughout the island are being trained so that when we are having matches we can spread the match commissioners across the island.”
He continued: “It is now part of management, especially when it comes to protecting the integrity of the game. Those match commissioners you see here today are the independent persons representing the SLFA at matches under the SLFA banner.”
Meanwhile, the four day course is under the guidance of FIFA Instructor Patrick Beckles from Barbados. The participants will go through a series of workshops that include the overview, organization of a football match, the role of a match commissioner , match coordination, venue inspection, player verification, planning and preparation, report writing, and laws of the game.
There will a number of practical sessions during which the would-be match commissioners will go through the entire process – venue inspection, facility ready prepared for a match, field of play inspection, arrival of team to kick off, and match countdown. On Wednesday they will be put to the test as LA All Stars play Pioneers FC at the Marchand Grounds from 5:00 p.m.