Iqbal Junior, a former fitness Instructor of the Pakistan member association and FIFA Referee has expressed disappointment over the fitness of current Referees in Pakistan and has termed their overall fitness as unsatisfactory in comparison to international standards.
The former FIFA Referee revealed that the eight referees who were selected in the FIFA list showed unsatisfactory performance during the Futuro course which was conducted in Lahore.
“In September, A fitness test had been conducted at Lahore and I was supervising the fitness tests as a referees instructor. In that fitness test, two or three referees who failed the fitness test were those who are on the FIFA list.”
Iqbal Junior emphasized that referees should focus on their fitness and said, “It’s a disappointing situation. These referees should focus on fitness. They should leave politics and become referees. They should read the laws of the game. Unfortunately, Pakistani referees retire before reaching 45 years of age because they become unfit as they don’t focus on fitness.”
“I am not satisfied with their fitness. Besides me and Rana Naseer no Pakistani referee has ever served at 45 years of age,” he added further.
In an interview with a news source, he criticized the Pakistan Football Referees Association (PFRA) elections and pointed out the negligent and incompetent manner in which the elections were conducted.
He explained the categories and level of Football Referees in Pakistan and questioned their professionalism, stating, “We are in the C category, according to the world standards, in refereeing. If we leave politics and focus on professional growth then there is a chance to rise to B and A categories, which means we will have a better level of quality refs.”
“FIFA and AFC laws say that top-level referees will be part of the referee’s committee,” continued the former FIFA Referee.
Iqbal pointed out that the people who are in charge of the Pakistan Football Federation and are running all affairs at the helm only want to inculcate their referees into the major FIFA events, as they do not care about merit.
