早稲田大学審査学位論文

博士（スポーツ科学）

A Critical Examination of the Motivations,

Experiences and Training Systems of Elite

Football Referees in the Asian Football

Confederation

２０２２年１月

早稲田大学大学院 スポーツ科学研究科

陳信全

CHEN HSIN CHUAN

研究指導教員： John Horne 教授
ii
A Critical Examination of the Motivations, Experiences and Training Systems of

Elite Football Referees in the Asian Football Confederation

Chen Hsin Chuan

Graduate School of Sport Sciences

Waseda University

Advisor: John Horne, Ph.D.

January 2022
ii
 Abstract

This thesis discusses the motivations, experiences and training systems of elite
football referees in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It observes recent
developments and challenges, especially since the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,
and future possibilities for the development and training of AFC referees and those in
less well-developed football nations, such as Taiwan.

Modern football to date has become faster, arguably more complicated, and more
physically demanding, requiring the referee to make decisions while being involved
in high intensity exercise. Hence international football organizations, such as the
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the AFC, have started to
pay attention to developing specific abilities and skills which football referees need.
In particular the AFC created an AFC Elite Referee system and its related education
programmes such as the AFC Project Future, the AFC Referee Academy and the AFC
STAR Programme. Although there has been an increase in football referee-related
studies since 2011, academic focus so far has mainly been on match officials'
performances taking place in either Europe or South America and studies are
published in English language journals.

Supplemented by desk-based research of the literature and official documents on

football match officials, the research project underpinning this thesis involved semi-
structured interviews with AFC and Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA)
referees as the primary research method. As an AFC accredited referee, the author
conducted first-person observational research and analysis of both a personal research
diary and documents associated with his role to provide additional supporting
evidence for the arguments of the thesis.

By analysing the actions and reactions of the AFC over the course of the year 2020
and participating as a match official at the restart of AFC football activities in 2021,
the 'uncertainty', 'adjustment' and 'new normal' phases could be seen as the
development of the AFC through an extremely distinctive period of the Covid-19
pandemic. Intrinsic, non-material and non-functional reasons are revealed as the main
motivations and expectations of the AFC elite referee community. 'Self-actualization'
appears as a key and essential aspect of reward for referees around Asia who attempt
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to join the AFC Elite Referee Panel. AFC referee directors are satisfied with the level
of the performance of its elite referees in comparison with leading European match
officials. The AFC also prides itself on its unique referee education programme for
promoting young non-FIFA listed prospects. However, it is suggested that as a
national member association under the AFC, the current referee training system of the
CTFA will increasingly find it difficult to produce exceptional referees that can reach
the AFC or FIFA level. If the football competition environment in Taiwan does not
improve, Taiwanese match officials might soon be eliminated altogether from the
stage of world-class football.

In summary, the thesis argues three things. Firstly, that football match officials need to
be understood as 'atypical athletes'. Evidence shows football match officials today are
required to be highly trained physically using increasingly scientific methods and
have become more like elite athletes. AFC referees admitted that fitness maintenance
and physical challenges have had a large influence on their performance and careers.
The guidelines and criteria of how the AFC referee department will select and train
their AFC elite referees and future potential candidates show the physical
requirements for football referees are the same as for all elite athletes, which indicates
that FIFA and the AFC to date are asking an 'athlete' to determine the sporting results
for another group of athletes, that is, the two teams of players. Secondly, the
development of football refereeing in Asia should be understood as 'an ongoing
process'. The AFC Project Future, AFC Referee Academy and the AFC STAR
Programme are arguably unique in the world. Compared to the performance of
national teams from Asian countries, referees from Asia do perform way better in
continental competitions, thus providing evidence that Asian football refereeing is
connecting to the world stage as a positive ongoing process. Thirdly, at the other
extreme, some countries that are currently at the bottom level of football referee
development could soon be removed from the centre of the Asian refereeing
altogether. Taiwanese referees face the prospect of being eliminated from officiating
at major international competitions in the near future. The connection between the
CTFA and the AFC will become weaker if the football competition environment in
Taiwan does not follow the trend of Asian football, let alone world football, and will
become the most important issue for Taiwanese football that should be resolved in the
near future.

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 Table of Contents

Abstract
Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
Abbreviations
Acknowledgement

Chapter 1 – Introduction…………………………………………………………….1
The Asian Football Confederation
Football Referees and Modern Football
The AFC Elite Referee Panel and the AFC Referee Academy
Referee management policies in AFC regional Member Associations
Research Aim, Questions and Methods
Conclusion and thesis overview

Chapter 2 – Association Football and the Referee: A Selective Literature

Review…………………………………………………………………17
A Brief History of Association Football and the Football Referee
An overview of contemporary referee studies
The European model of football match officials' development
Conclusion

Chapter 3 – The Global, Regional and National Selection and Recruitment of

Elite Football Referees………………………………………………..39
FIFA and FIFA Referees
AFC Referees
CTFA Referees
Conclusion

Chapter 4 – Methodology…………………………………………………………..77
Research Methods
Interviewees
Questionnaires
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 Pilot study and interviews
Conclusion

Chapter 5 – The Covid-19 Pandemic and AFC Match Officials……………...109

The Covid-19 pandemic and sport
Mapping the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Asian Football Competitions
The Restart of Asian Football: A Personal Account from the 2021 AFC Cup
Conclusion

Chapter 6 – The Motivations and Experiences of AFC Elite Referees…………137

The motivations of AFC Elite Referees
Match experiences of AFC Elite Referees
Self-actualization and AFC Elite Referees
Conclusion

Chapter 7 – The Referee Training Systems of the Asian Football Confederation

and the Chinese Taipei Football Association………………………161
The Referee Training Systems of the AFC
The Referee Training Systems of the CTFA
Conclusion

Chapter 8 – Conclusion……………………………………………………………193
Summary of the thesis
Two headline research findings, and a qualification
The football referee as an 'atypical athlete'
The ongoing development of Asian match officials
Scope of the thesis and possibilities for further research
Coda

Bibliography
Appendices

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 List of tables

Table 1.1
Five subsidiary governance bodies/regional associations under the AFC……………3
Table 1.2
Comparison between AFC Project Future Program & AFC Referee Academy………9
Table 2.1
Evaluation table for the Cooper test…………………………………………………23
Table 3.1
Full list of 2021 JFA international referees…………………………………………..42
Table 3.2
Full list of 2021 CTFA international referees………………………………………...44
Table 3.3
Comparison of different kinds of Yo-Yo tests for football referee…………………...51
Table 3.4
Example of AFC Elite Referee recruiting post-match interview questions list……...54
Table 3.5
The comparison of C and B level courses arranged 2019 in Taiwan…………………..67
Table 3.6
The basic considerations of how the CTFA selects their FIFA referees……………….71
Table 4.1
Football activities the author participated in during the research period…………….80
Table 4.2
Documents that the author analysed during the research period…………………83
Table 4.3
Interviewees from the Chinese Taipei Football Association…………………………86
Table 4.4
AFC Elite Referee interviewees……………………………………………………...88
Table 4.5
AFC referee director interviewees…………………………………………………...89
Table 4.6
The questionnaires the author used to interview the CTFA participants……………...91
Table 4.7
The online version of the questionnaire for the AFC referees……………………….93

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Table 4.8
The customized questionnaires for the different referee directors……………………95
Table 5.1
Timeline of the Covid-19 pandemic and Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
competitions in 2020………………………………………………………………..111
Table 5.2
AFC Cup 2021 Group Stage: Group B & C, Amman, Jordan……………………...121
Table 5.3
Confirmation of AFC Match Officials: AFC Cup 2021 Group B & C……………..123
Table 6.1
GNI per capita of all member associations under the AFC…………………………147

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 List of figures

Figure 1.1
The Process of AFC Elite Referee Recruiting…………..……………………………...7
Figure 3.1
FIFA Referee Fitness Test protocol…………………………………………………..49
Figure 3.2
An example of AFC Elite Referee recruitment course program…………………….52
Figure 3.3
An example of annual AFC Elite Referee Seminar schedule……………………….57
Figure 3.4
An example of pre-tournament training sessions designed by the AFC…………….58
Figure 3.5
An example of daily schedule for referee during centralized tournament…………..59
Figure 3.6
An example for a typical four-day home-and-away type match schedule for match
officials……………………………………………………………………………….60
Figure 3.7
The different design of level A referee course and level C course held in 2019 in
Taiwan………………………………………………………………………………..69
Figure 4.1
The structure of the pilot interviews…………………………………………………99
Figure 5.1
AFC Match Operation Protocol During the Covid-19 Pandemic………………...117
Figure 5.2
Operation and Medical Preparedness and Response Plan for Asian Football
Confederation Asian Cup (AFC AAC-West) 2021 Group B & C…………………..125
Figure 5.3
Covid-19 PCR Testing Protocol in the Operation and Medical Preparedness and
Response Plan………………………………………………………………………127
Figure 5.4
The method of how teams should enter the field of play maintaining safety social
distance……………………………………………………………………………...132
Figure 5.5
The preparatory Course and Fitness Check schedule……………………………….134
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x
 Abbreviations

AAR Additional Assistant Referee

ACL AFC Champions League
AFC Asian Football Confederation
AFC PF AFC Project Future Referee Development Program
ARIET Assistant Referee Intermittent Endurance Test
CAF Confederation of African Football
Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean
CONCACAF
Association Football
CODA Change of Direction Ability Test
CONMEBOL Confederación sudamericana de Fútbol
CTFA Chinese Taipei Football Association
FA Football Association (England)
FIFA Fédération Internationale de Football Association
IFAB The International Football Association Board
JFA Japan Football Association
LOTG Laws of the Game
MA Member (Football) Association
MC Match commissioner
MCM Match coordination meeting
NRDP National Referee Development Program
OFC Oceania Football Confederation
PGMOL Professional Game Match Officials Limited
RSA Repeated Sprinting Ability
UEFA Union of European Football Associations
VAR Video Assistant Referee
YYIET Yo-Yo Intermittent Endurance Test

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 Acknowledgements

Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor professor John D. Horne for his
instructions, direction, support and full of patience throughout the duration of this
thesis. Having a student with limited English ability and facing difficulties in the
pandemic was not easy. This research would not be what it is without his feedback,
enthusiasm and drive to support me during this process.

I would also like to thank my research colleague in Taiwan, especially Professor Yang
Yu Long and Professor Tsai Hsiu Hua. They were delighted to give me ideas while I
faced predicaments. I also would like to thank Charlotte Yu, Lin Hsuan Chih and Tsai
Po Hsiu for helping me in English and Japanese during the period.

Particular thanks to Mr. Mayuzumi Toshiyuki, Mr. Ogawa Yoshimi and Mr. Ishiyama
Noboru from the Japan Football Association. Although the visit to the JFA house was
finally cancelled because of the uncertainty during the pandemic, I still truly
appreciated the help they gave me. I also want to thank Patrick Ding and Hirokazu
Abe from the AFC referee department for helping me with the communications.

Special appreciation also needs to be given to Mr. George Cumming, Mr. Ray Olivier,
all AFC referees, AFC instructors and CTFA colleagues for giving their time for the
interview process. It would not have been possible to undertake and complete the
research without this support.

I am truly grateful to both of my parents for their support through undergraduate and
postgraduate education. Without their endless support for my dream to become an
international football referee, I would not have had the chance to finish this work.

最後，我想對十八歲、二十八歲，甚至未來三十八歲可能仍然會迷惘的自己說：

「莫忘初衷。」
這本論文的完成，就是最好的證明。

陳信全 Chen Hsin Chuan

31st August 2021

xiii
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Chapter 1 Introduction

An essential requirement of sport, and especially elite professional sport, are umpires,
judges, referees, and other adjudicators of the rules of the games. Yet studies of match
officials, in the social sciences especially, have only relatively recently begun to gain
traction. This thesis traces the motivations, experiences, challenges and opportunities
association football match officials (referees and assistant referees) in the Asian
Football Confederation (AFC) face. It thus offers a distinctive contribution to the
development of referee studies focusing as it does on the experiences of match
officials outside of Europe.

This introductory chapter provides a brief overview of the research project and the
thesis overall. The general background to the research, the research aims, objectives,
and questions are introduced, and the basic structure of the thesis is presented.
Through the chapter readers will gain an understanding of the highest governance
authority of Asian Football, the Asian Football Confederation, and the general policies
and programmes the AFC uses to manage and educate referees throughout the
continent. Readers will also note that the AFC has a specific selection and recruitment
system for choosing top level referees in Asia and has designed training and
development systems for not only senior elite referees but also for young non-
international level prospects to improve their abilities.

Furthermore, the main objectives and research questions of the thesis are introduced.
Compared with other continental federations and their elite referees, what are the
motivations of the Asian elite referees participating in international competitions?
What are their experiences and thoughts about officiating matches around Asia and
other parts of the world? Are there any specific training systems for elite referees used
by the AFC? If yes, what and how does the AFC develop and support their elite
referees with designed programmes? How do the strategies used by the AFC differ
from other continental federations, like UEFA? Finally, how can I, the researcher, as a
Taiwanese international football referee and also an AFC Elite Referee, use my
experience learned from the existing AFC systems and programmes to propose
changes to the future development of Taiwanese football referees?

The bulk of the research was conducted through an unusual period, when the Covid-
1
19 pandemic struck the world, stopped nearly all sports activities, including football
activities in Asia. The pandemic influenced the research progress, research methods,
and the refereeing activities of the author. Although it was originally intended to
explore the experiences of both male and female referees, for reasons of time and
opportunity, the final focus of the project is on the experience of male referees only.
How the research was supposed to be conducted and what revisions were made when
the pandemic struck is further explored in the methodology chapter (4). Some
unexpected developments brought by the pandemic, such as AFC's advancement of
the online education system for referees, are also discussed in the thesis.

The rest of this chapter is structured as follows. First an abbreviated overview of the
organisation of world football is presented, with a focus on the Asian Football
Confederation. Next, the impact of modern football tactics and speed on referees is
outlined, and how the AFC currently selects and trains referees is sketched. This is
followed by a description of referee management in several regional Member
Associations (MA). The research aim, key research questions, and methods adopted
are then presented and finally the structure of the thesis is outlined.

The Asian Football Confederation

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the highest

governance organization of football. Under its administration, there are currently 211
member associations. Each member association belongs to a regional governance
body, from the continental scale such as the Union of European Football Associations
(UEFA), the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association
Football (CONCACAF), and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), to the smaller
regional scale, such as East Asia Football Federation (EAFF) or the Football
Association of South East Asian countries (AFF), which are branches of the AFC.
Currently, there are six continental football governance bodies under FIFA: UEFA,
CONCACAF, AFC, Confederation of African Football (CAF), Confederación
sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL), and Oceania Football Confederation (OFC)
(FIFA, 2021a).

The Asian Football Confederation was officially established in 1954 in Manila, The
Philippines, and currently contains 47 member (football) associations. These include
2
some members that are not precisely in the geographical definition of Asia, such as
Australia, and non-independent countries such as Guam, Northern Mariana Islands,
Hong Kong and Macau (AFC, 2021a). There are 5 regional associations or federations
under the AFC, divided by geographical location (see Table 1.1).

Table 1.1

Five subsidiary governance bodies/regional associations under the AFC

Regional associations Members

Australia Brunei Darussalam Cambodia Indonesia

ASEAN Football Federation
Laos Malaysia Myanmar Philippines Singapore
(AFF)
Thailand Timor-Leste Vietnam

Central Asian Football Association Afghanistan Islamic Republic of Iran Kyrgyz Republic

(CAFA) Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan

China PR Chinese Taipei DPR Korea Guam

East Asian Football Federation
Hong Kong Japan Korea Republic Macau Mongolia
(EAFF)
Northern Mariana Islands

South Asian Football Federation Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan

(SAFF) Sri Lanka

Bahrain Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman

West Asian Football Federation
Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Syria
(WAFF)
United Arabia Emirates Yemen

Source: AFC, 2021a.

Along with the slogan 'One Asia, One Goal', adopted in 2018, the AFC tries to unite
the member associations in Asia through different levels of competition. There are
currently 15 different types of centralized competitions, tournaments or
championships held by the AFC, including the men's game, women's game, futsal and
beach soccer (AFC, 2021b). Like both FIFA and UEFA, the AFC can be seen as a
'high-profit' or 'corporatized' non-profit organization (Chen, 2021). In addition to
more familiar units like the commercial department, football events and competitions
department, the AFC has an independent referee department in charge of all affairs
related to football referees in Asia, now led by the World Cup referee Shamsul Maidin
from Singapore as department director (AFC, 2021c).

3
Considering the strength or capabilities of national teams from member associations,
the AFC might see pushing its elite referees into the world class level as a different
but great opportunity to increase its visibility in the world of football. In the latest
FIFA men's world rankings (September 2021), Belgium held first place, followed by
Brazil in second and England in third place. The member associations from UEFA and
CONMEBOL, in general, dominate the front position of the world rankings. All the
nations in the top 20, except for Mexico, USA and Senegal, are from Europe and
South America. The lead AFC representative is IR Iran, which currently stands in 22nd
place (FIFA, 2021b).

However, match officials from Asia have shown excellent performances in world
class competitions, including at the most important quadrennial FIFA Men's World
Cups. Five times AFC Referee of the year Ravshan Irmatov from Uzbekistan holds
the record, officiating at 11 matches through three FIFA World Cups over more than
10 years, including the World Cups in South Africa, Brazil and Russia. He also won
the honour of officiating the opening match of the World Cup in 2010 between South
Africa and Mexico in Johannesburg. At the World Cup in Russia in 2018, Alireza
Faghani from Iran achieved the honour of leading an Asian referee trio to officiate the
3rd place playoff between Belgium and England. He also refereed the men's football
final between Germany and Brazil at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
They join more Asian veterans like Benjamin Williams, Sankar Komaleeswaren,
Jamal Al-Sharif and Nishimura Yuichi, and proves that the Asian representatives
trained and educated by the AFC are indeed capable of reaching the world class level.
Asian referees thus may be said to have achieved a higher level through their roles in
the 'third team' of match officials than the national football teams or players from Asia
in the World Cup.

Considering the extensive scale of Asia and political influences by stronger or well-
developed football countries/members, currently the AFC is unevenly balanced
between East and West Asian regional members. In addition, the AFC has agreed that
Arabic will be the other official language of the confederation in addition to English
(AFC, 2017a), which is the main language that West Asian countries use. The highest
level of club competitions in the AFC, the Asian Champions League which was
introduced in 2002, currently is also designed to divide clubs into East and West
Asian Zones, which means at least one team from the East Asian and West Asian
4
Zone will enter the Final, despite the historical results showing that East region
members have won more titles compared to the West by a large difference - from 25
to 11, including the previous version of a club championship named the Asian Club
Championship from 1967 to 2020 (AFC, 2019). The same unevenness can also be
seen at the referee development level in Asia. The annual seminar and fitness test for
elite referees under the AFC elite referee panel is also consistently divided into two
groups, separately held in Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, despite the fact that the
headquarters of the AFC is officially located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (AFC,
2018).

Football referees and modern football

Modern football is changing. In recent decades, professional footballers have become

lighter, more angular and ectomorphic, according to backtracking research into
players' body compositions from the 1970s to the 2013/14 season (Nevill, 2019).
Speed, power and explosive force for football players are considered more important
today and have a direct influence on potential goal situations (Faude, 2012).
According to an analysis from tactical reports conducted by FIFA after the 2014
World Cup in Brazil and the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia, modern football
places more emphasis on possession, speed, agility and players' movement without
the ball when entering the attacking 'final third' of the pitch (FIFA, 2014; FIFA
2017a). The tactical report after the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia also pointed out that
modern football has the characteristics of great speed, dynamism, possession control
and quick transitions (AFC, 2015). In the 2018 World Cup in Russia for example, the
Spanish team made a record of creating more than a thousand passes per match. When
Belgium scored their winning goal against Japan in the same tournament, it only took
9.5 seconds from a Japanese player taking a corner at one end of the pitch to a
Belgium player finishing the stunning counterattack at the other end (FIFA, 2018a).
According to earlier research, the playing speed in World Cup Finals between 1966
and 2010 has increased by about 15% (Wallace & Norton, 2014).

With the development of modern football, international football organizations, such as

FIFA, the UEFA and the AFC have started to pay attention to developing the specific
abilities and skills which football referees need. With advances in the sport sciences,
the improvement of the physical condition of players, and the involvement of new
5
technologies in the sport, modern football has become faster, arguably more
complicated, and more physically demanding. The developments in modern football
require the referee to make correct decisions while being involved in high intensity
exercise. Webb (2017) pointed out that despite the fact that football referees usually
train individually, different to the football players, they should also be seen as
'sportspeople' or ' sports performers', just as football players and football teams, or
'athletes', normally are. When officiating a football match, the basic 'ABC' rules of
football referees are that they must 'have a good Angle of view', 'let the play flow
Between referee and assistant referee' and be 'Close to the play' (FIFA, 2017b). This
'ABC' rule makes the referee necessitate to move and react swiftly on the field,
similar to a football player. The fact that professional football referees and full-time
refereeing have become established in different leagues, countries, regions and
continents illustrates that the selection and training of football referees needs to
become more systematic and better developed (Webb, 2017). In this respect we can
understand contemporary elite referees as 'atypical athletes'.

It is necessary to have an 'arbiter' when a physical or bodily activity becomes a sports

competition (Fan, 1977). FIFA provides a different but limited quota of international
referees and systematically organizes them, with yearly recruitment and approval
sessions (FIFA, 2021c). The candidates to officiate in the quadrennial World Cups, for
example, start the selection and training programmes four years before the event, with
periodical seminars held in different continents on specific topics (FIFA, 2018b).
Since 1989, with the realization of the importance of the fitness and physical
condition of football referees, FIFA started to measure referee's fitness levels using
the 'Cooper test' based on a twelve minutes running test, two hundred meters sprint,
and fifty-meter sprint tests (Cerqueira, 2011). In 2006, in preparation for the World
Cup in Germany, FIFA formulated the 'FIFA Referee Fitness Test' to evaluate referees'
abilities in aerobic exercise and intermittent recovery and revised it in 2016 to better
simulate real match situations (Chen, 2018).

At the beginning of the 2020 season, many countries in Asia already applied the
complete full time professional referee system in their top leagues. For example, the J
League in Japan, K League in Korea and Hyundai A League in Australia all have
introduced full-time professional referee systems (JFA, 2021a). The China Super
League also started to hire professional referees, including famous European referees
6
such as Mark Clattenburg and Milorad Mazic in the 2019 season with astonishingly
large salaries (CSL, 2019). These changes provide evidence that in modern,
professional football, the referee's role should now be considered as a highly
professional occupation and requires them to be educated through organized and
systematic processes.

The AFC Elite Referee Panel and AFC Referee Academy

Currently, the AFC uses the AFC Elite Referee Panel as the specific recruiting system
to recruit and select the candidates they prefer. All Member Football Associations
under the AFC may apply the recruitment request for their FIFA registered referees. In
general, the recruiting period is over one year and has three basic stages: a
preliminary recruiting seminar held at the headquarters of the AFC, match
assessments in their own member associations and a final recruiting seminar at AFC
House (AFC, 2017b). Figure 1.1 shows the process of the AFC Elite Referee
recruiting system.

Figure 1.1:

The Process of AFC Elite Referee Recruiting

• Recruitment Seminar held in Malaysia (AFC House) / Every year around September to Octorber
• AFC Referee Instructor organize the course
• Subjects: Fitness Test, trivia of LOTG, analyze of match incidents, oral presentation, practical refereeing...etc
Seminar 1 • Who fail at this stage will not go to match assessment stage.

• Top league or cup matches in memeber association / Next year around Janurary to March
• AFC Referee Recruiter assess the candidate's performance
• Subjects: match assessment, post match review meeting, candidate interview (English)...etc
Match 1 • Who fail to reach the AFC requirment will not go to next match assessment stage.

• Top league or cup matches in memeber association / Next year around April to June
• AFC Referee Recruiter assess the candidate's performance
• Subjects: match assessment, post match review meeting, candidate interview (English)...etc
Match 2 • Who fail to reach the AFC requirment will not go to final recruting seminar.

• Recruitment Seminar held in Malaysia (AFC House) / Next year around September to Octorber
• AFC Referee Instructor organize the course
• Subjects: Fitness Test, trivia of LOTG, analyze of match incidents, oral presentation, practical refereeing...etc
Seminar 2
• Who pass previous stage but fail at this stage will not have the qualification of AFC Elite Referee.

Source: AFC, 2017b.

7
The recruitment seminar stage gives AFC referee instructors opportunities to assess
and evaluate the candidates' abilities and potential. Through video test and match
situation analyses, instructors can evaluate the candidates' basic football
understanding, knowledge of the laws of the game, and more importantly, general
English language ability. As mentioned earlier, the fitness level has now become one
of the necessary criteria to achieve promotion to the higher levels, so whoever fails
the fitness test will not have the chance to go to the next stage.

After the seminar stage, the AFC confirms the candidates who have the general
'theoretical' abilities. The AFC will send a recruiter to the MAs to evaluate a
candidate's performance in the top league or cup matches in their countries. After the
match, a general match analysis, similar to all AFC matches, will be completed, and
the candidates will have a post-match one-to-one interview with the recruiter. The
candidates must pass at least two match assessments by different recruiters, and one
more seminar will again be organized to select the final ones who can pass and join
the AFC Elite Referee Panel. The whole period can take at least one year long, so now
the AFC encourages young referees to start their career as early as possible.

The AFC also emphasizes the long-term development of potential young referees. In
2007 the AFC initiated the AFC Project Future Referee Development Program
(hereafter AFC Project Future or AFC PF). Every year the AFC organized a batch of
young prospects, around 80 to 100 candidates from Member Associations'
recommendations, to participate in a regional AFC U14 Football Festival, one of the
events related to the AFC grassroots development programme. The potentials had the
chance to referee under AFC referee instructors' guidance, and of course, under
assessment and selection as well. After several courses over two years and
eliminations after each stage, between eight to ten referees graduate from each batch
of the programme. Five selected participants can then visit the Professional Game
Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in England, train with top level English Premier
League (EPL) officials at St. George's Park (the English FA's headquarters) and attend
Premier League matches with post-match analysis given by EPL referees.

In 2017 the AFC revised the programme, changing it from the Project Future Program
to a new brand of AFC Referee Academy. The idea is the same: collecting all young
generations from Member Associations, developing them to the same standard to
8
make greater consistency and uniformity, but the period of the program for each batch
has become longer and the evaluation standards became more challenging. Especially
with the greater physical demands of the match situation today, the AFC now places
much more stress on referees' abilities in short distance sprinting and agility (Chen,
2018). Table 1.2 shows a comparison and the differences between AFC Project Future
Program and AFC Referee Academy.

Table 1.2

Comparison between AFC Project Future Program & AFC Referee Academy

AFC Project Future Referee AFC Referee Academy

Development Program

Origination Since 2007, 1 batch per year Since 2017, 1 batch per year

Period 2 years 8 months to 3 years 4 years

Courses 6 to 7 courses 4 times per year, 16 through 4 years

Under 25 years-old Under 29 years-old

Non-FIFA Referee Non-FIFA Referee

Qualifications
Every member association can Every member association can
for candidates
recommend 2 candidates from recommend 2 candidates from

beginning to join the program beginning to join the program

Fitness, trivia of LOTG,

Fitness, trivia of LOTG,
analysis of match incidents,
analysis of match incidents,
Evaluated oral presentation,
oral presentation,
subjects practical match refereeing,
practical match refereeing,
referee report writing, English
referee report writing…etc.
ability, computer skills…etc.

40 meters sprints.

(repeated sprinting ability, RSA)

40 meters sprints change of directions ability test, CODA

Fitness Test (repeated sprinting ability, RSA) assistant referee intermittent endurance

subjects 4,800 meters high intensity interval run test, ARIET

(aerobic intermittent recovery ability) 4,800 meters high intensity interval run

(aerobic intermittent recovery ability)

Yo-Yo Test

Source: AFC, 2017c; provided by the author.

9
Further details about the policies and current system the AFC uses to manage and
educate their referees are presented in chapter 3, and discussion of the findings from
semi-structured interviews held with AFC Referees trained by these programs, and
AFC referee directors who were in charge of these programs, can be found in chapters
6 and 7.

Referee management policies in AFC regional Member Associations

East Asian region Member Associations of the AFC are also focused on referee
development. Two examples are Japan and China. In Japan, the 'JFA Referee College'
and the 'JFA Referee Caravan', which are similar to the AFC Referee Academy or
young referee development programs, provide enough referees necessary to officiate
in the pyramid of football from grassroots level to the professional Japan Football
League (JFA, 2018). In China, there is a specific referee development program
providing an academic degree at Beijing Sport University, targeting on improving the
performance of top-level referees to win greater visibility for China in Asian football
more generally (Ma, 2011). The Hong Kong Football Association has also built a
complete referee assessment system (HKFA, 2020) to analyse a referee's performance
using big data (for example, using the accuracy percentage of decisions made by
assistant referees as an objective standard to rank the standing of match officials (Fok,
2017).

According to the latest statistics from the JFA, there were 261,149 qualified and
registered football referees in Japan in April 2021 (JFA, 2021c). The JFA referee
system divides all referees into four domestic categories, from Class 4 to Class 1,
adding one additional highest international level with quotas provided by FIFA, in
which there are currently six referees and nine assistant referees (men) and four
referees and four assistant referees (women) (JFA, 2021b). 215 Class 1 referees have
the authority to referee matches organized by the JFA, whilst Class 2 referees can
only officiate matches organized by regional football associations (地域サッカー協
会) in Japan. Class 3 and Class 4 referees are in charge of local matches held by
prefectural associations, and the numbers of referees registered under the ages of 18
and 15 show that the JFA encourages young aspirational people to start the career of
referee as early as possible.

10
There are systemized international exchange programs organized by the JFA for
promoting the referees' abilities. For example, the JFA and Polish Football
Association have had a long-term exchange policy and alternative relationship by
exchanging referee teams to officiate top level matches in the Polish League and J
League since 2008. Some famous English referees from Professional Game Match
Officials Limited (PGMOL) who have officiated matches in the English Premier
League, such as Paul Tierney, Kevin Friend and James Martin, have also been invited
to referee J League matches. The annual Kirin Challenge Cup held by the JFA is used
as another opportunity to invite high level referees from Asia and around the world.
For example, the previous 2018 World Cup Russia candidate Mohd Amirul from
Malaysia, provided Japanese domestic referees a great chance to learn from different
nationalities. A Singaporean trio led by the FIFA U-17 experienced referee,
Mohammed Taqi, were also invited to Japan in 2019 to officiate the J League YBC
Levain Cup/CONMEBOL SUDAMERICANA Championship Final 2019 in
Kanagawa. These developments show that, despite the fact that the JFA already has
world class and experienced referees and a high-level of football referee knowledge,
they still consider an international exchange program as an important part of referee
development. At the same time, the JFA also encourages their young potential referees
to join the new AFC Referee Academy each year.

In comparison with Japan, in Taiwan, a proper selection, training and assessment

system still needs to be constructed. In the AFC, whatever the level of the
competition, a referee assessor is appointed for all single matches. Yet in Taiwan in
2019, organized by the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA), the referee
assessor system is only implemented at the highest levels of male and female
competitions (the Taiwan Premier League & Taiwan Mu Lan Women Football
League). Additionally, Taiwanese football referees who have passed the national level
A license exam can maintain their qualifications by attending just 48 hours of
seminars over four years, without any regular fitness evaluation required or necessary.
Compared to international referees approved by FIFA, whose validity lasts only one
year, and which is required to be renewed every year, and to AFC's Elite Referee's
recruiting period, which can take more than one year with a strict fitness test needing
to be attended every year, it can be argued that the institution of Taiwan's football
referee evaluation and retraining needs to be improved. The details of how the CTFA
recruits and evaluates their limited numbers of referees are described in chapter 3, and
11
further discussion and criticism of the CTFA's referee training system and policies
according to the comments of Taiwanese referees and referee instructors are presented
in chapter 7.

Research Aim, Questions and Methods

As indicated, large football governance bodies such as the AFC to single football
Member Associations such as the JFA and the CTFA, have all started to promote ways
for football referees to improve. This thesis aims to provide a critical analysis of the
motivations, experiences and training systems of elite football referees in the Asian
Football Confederation in the light of these changing conditions. To do this the thesis
explores four main research questions:

1. What are the motivations and expectations of active AFC Elite Referees who seek
to officiate in AFC football?
2. What are the experiences of AFC Elite Referees officiating in AFC football
competitions?
3. What are the training systems and development programs for elite referees used by
the AFC to promote the abilities and qualities of Asian elite football referees and how
do these differ from those of other continental federations?
4. How can a critical assessment of the motivations, experiences and existing systems,
help the future development and management of Taiwanese football referees?

The project uses different kinds of methods of the qualitative research approach. The
major methods used are ethnography, including personal observations of the author
derived from his experience as an elite referee, analysis of documentary sources, and
semi-structured interviews with referees, referee instructors, referee assessors and
referee education directors at different levels of their profession.

The participants in the research fall into three categories: AFC referee representatives,
AFC referee director representatives and CTFA representatives. The reason that the
interviewees were divided into these categories was to enable the author to gain a
broad range of responses both from the bottom and the top of the AFC referee
pyramid. The AFC referees are the bottom group of the pyramid, but at the same time,
they are the main ones affected by the AFC referees' education policies. Including the
12
views of the AFC referee directors, who are the top of the pyramid, helps the
understanding of the original design of some specific programs from the AFC referee
department. For the CTFA interviewees, considering the CTFA as a 'developing' or
'less well-developed' referee education national Member Association, I aimed to
gather opinions about what might be improved and how this might be achieved.

In the original design of this research project, the interviews would all have been
conducted in face-to-face conversations. However, because the Covid-19 pandemic
suspended most of the refereeing activities in the AFC in the 2020 season, the
interviews were largely carried out through online written questionnaires, video
conversations or personal communications via emails. The design of the question
topic guide was also revised during the research period because of the changes to the
research method.

Further discussion of the methodology the researcher used is considered in detail in

chapter 4, including the design of the questionnaires, the choosing of the participants,
the pilot test to confirm the reliability of the interviews, and the revision of the
research methods after the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Conclusion and thesis overview

As an emerging sub-field of research in sport management, sport history and the

sociology of sport, 'referee studies' is currently a multi-disciplinary area that draws
upon the methodological and theoretical traditions of each of these depending on the
focus of the study. This thesis examines the motivations, experiences, and training
systems of AFC Elite Referees, and methodologically and theoretically draws on this
multi-disciplinary approach. It provides a broad overview of the present
circumstances and conditions of football match officials in the Asian confederation.

This introductory chapter has provided a brief introduction to the research project and
thesis. Overall, its research aims and questions have been described and the general
qualitative approach of the research methods has also been introduced. The basic
structure of the rest of the thesis is as follows. Chapter 2, a literature review chapter,
covers three aspects of previous research. First, a brief history of the development of
football refereeing is described. Second, a selective review of contemporary studies of
13
football referees is presented. Third, the model of how a national football association,
here focusing on the English Football Association, has been organized and their
referees educated in specially designed programs is discussed. Through the chapter,
the reader will gain a basic understanding of what modern football is, the importance
of FIFA and other continental confederations in influencing football refereeing, how
and why referees are important, and what other researchers have studied previously.
The chapter concludes by indicating that there are gaps in studies of football match
officials that need to be undertaken, especially research outside English-language
academic environments. What are the issues in football referees' studies 'beyond
UEFA' can be seen as one important question for future research and is one of the
main reasons why this thesis has been completed.

Next, Chapter 3 presents how the international, continental and national football
governance bodies organize and work, especially focusing on referee education. This
chapter provides a basic understanding of how elite football referees in Asia are
selected and educated. Through the descriptions of systems and policies from the top
of the global football governance body to a single member association, readers can
understand how international football referees are chosen, and how they train
themselves under instructions from FIFA, continental football confederations (AFC)
and national member associations (CTFA). The chapter concludes by discussing the
specially designed referee education programs that the AFC uses currently, such as the
AFC Elite Referee Panel, AFC Referee Academy or the AFC STAR program.

Chapter 4 discusses the research methods used during the research project. The
methods used are desk-based research, participation observation, documentary
analysis and semi-structured interviews using a snowball method. First, published
articles were identified through desk-based research, reviewed and analysed. Second,
participation observation by the author, as an international level football referee, is
used to inform the research. Third, documentation collected from the author's
experiences previously and during the research period in matches, tournaments,
mega-events and competitions held by the AFC, is analysed. Last, but not least, the
bulk of the empirical research was completed through semi-structured interviews.
These were conducted with participants who are currently involved in AFC Elite
Referee systems. The structure of the questionnaires used in the interviews are
introduced in this chapter, and also the interviewees are listed, respecting their
14
identities by using a code which provides limited but necessary information. The pilot
interviews which the author conducted to confirm the reliability of the questionnaires
is also discussed as a part of the chapter. Finally, the revision of the research methods
because of Covid-19 pandemic are described as well.

The first 'findings' chapter, Chapter 5, discusses how the AFC responded to the Covid-
19 pandemic in the 2020 season with a specific focus on the implications for football
match officials. This chapter describes three aspects of Covid-19 pandemic-related
developments in the AFC. Firstly, the main influences on competitions and match
adjustments initially were the travel restrictions and disease control policies adopted
by individual countries, rather than action taken by the AFC itself. Secondly, the AFC
then focused on the completion of the AFC Champions League as their first priority,
and at the same time relinquished other tournaments. Thirdly, the pandemic has
encouraged the AFC to create and escalate the use of new online education programs
for referees. These findings conclude that despite the fact that the pandemic
influenced football activities in the 2020 season seriously, they may however lead to
changes in the training and development strategies for all AFC match officials in the
future.

Chapter 6 discusses the motivations and the expectations of AFC Elite Referees. The
interviews, online questionnaires and personal communications with different
categories of interviewees provide various forms of evidence. The results show that
despite the fact that there are large differences between AFC referee representatives
from different countries, for example in terms of age, culture, religion and ethnicity,
the main motivation for the participants choosing to become AFC Elite referees can
be understood as 'self-actualization'. The participants show very high motivations to
officiate football matches because of non-material reasons, such as 'aiming for the
World Cup' or 'representing my country' and can be understood to be primarily
motivated by intrinsic reasons rather than extrinsic reasons. Although there are some
negative or different allegations by the referees according to their diverse AFC match
experiences, the motivation to be self-actualized seems to be a core element of inner
cohesion for members of the AFC Elite Referee community. The chapter concludes
that the AFC Elite Referee Panel system currently can fulfil the motivations for the
members from all of Asia. Through the systems, the AFC can continually produce top
level referees representing Asia in world class competitions.
15
Chapter 7 discusses the training systems used by the AFC and the CTFA. The creation
of the AFC Elite Referee system, the AFC Project Future, the AFC Referee Academy
and the AFC STAR Programme is examined according to responses from senior AFC
referee directors. The AFC referee directors provide generally positive evaluations of
the current AFC referee training systems and the outlook of cultivating the next
generation of elite referees and referee coaches in the MAs. Additionally, the physical
and mental necessities for AFC elite referees are described, and why the AFC focuses
on educating young non-FIFA referees, and how the AFC organised a series of
education programs specifically for young prospects are discussed. This chapter
concludes that despite the fact that the referee education programs from the AFC are
well-designed, the most suitable comparison for the CTFA might be some programs
from the national level associations but not the continental level associations. The
CTFA interviewees provide convincing opinions and evidence that the Taiwanese
referees are struggling with the lack of engagement of the referee education programs
from the CTFA and facing an immediate risk of being eliminated from the stage of
international football if the football environment in Taiwan cannot be improved
rapidly.

The concluding chapter outlines and summarises the research findings of the thesis.
As mentioned earlier, in modern football, the referee arguably should be considered as
an 'atypical athlete'. Therefore, the uniqueness of the modern football referee is
emphasized again, and the understanding of this uniqueness can help the reader to
realize how and why the football referee is closer to a sportsperson, or an athlete. The
direction and the strategies the AFC are using now follow this important concept in its
related training and development systems. The observations from AFC referee
directors suggests that the development of football refereeing in Asia is an ongoing
process. Compared to the performance of national teams from Asian countries, Asian
referees have greater opportunities to represent Asia at the highest level of continental
football contests, such as FIFA World Cups (men's and women's). This may give
further suggestions to football organizers in Taiwan (the CTFA) about putting forward
improvements to football development in Taiwan, or at least, upgrading the abilities,
skills and level of football referees from Taiwan to reach the Asian and thence, world
class, level.

16
Chapter 2 Association Football and the Referee: A Selective Literature
Review

The chapter covers three aspects of previous research. First, a brief history of the
development of football refereeing is described. Second, the chapter presents a
selective review of recent studies of football refereeing. Third, and finally, building on
the recent work of Webb (2017) into European football officials and their continental
federation, how a national football association builds a system of selecting, recruiting,
training and developing their elite referees is discussed. From this chapter, the reader
will gain an understanding of what modern football is, the importance of FIFA and
other continental confederations in influencing football refereeing, how and why
referees are important, and what other recent researchers have studied previously. The
chapter concludes by indicating that there are gaps in football match official studies
that need to be explored, especially research outside English language academic
environments. Football referees' studies 'beyond UEFA' can be seen as one important
aspect of future research and is one of the main reasons why this research thesis has
been completed.

A Brief History of Association Football and the Football Referee

Although the history of football can be traced back through thousands of years in
different areas around the world, the basic concept of 'modern football' can be defined
as distinct from previous ball games and activities. It is a sport that people enjoy and
are crazy about worldwide, at least in recent decades since the globalization of the
world of football (Goldblatt, 2008). The Chinese would argue that they are
responsible for the invention of football since they had a long history of playing 'tzu
chu' (蹴踘) from around 200 BC to 220 BC (Chang, 2017; Wen, 2012). Japan also has
a great history of 'kemari', which resembles 'tzu chu' from mainland China, but was
rarely seen as a popular sport but rather a form of artistry after the Meiji Restoration
(Goldblatt, 2008). Different kinds of evidence can be found from aborigines in
Australia, southern America, and even some islands on the Pacific oceans, that people
use a round object to play games or to maintain social life. But researchers and
athletes will all agree, these are quite different from modern association football.

The original model of modern football in general was developed in Britain around the
17
mid-1800s. The founding of the Football Association (F.A.) in 1863 can be seen as the
historical landmark for modern football (F.A., 2021). During that time football
became 'organized football' or 'football as we know it', as the FA says, from its
original characteristic of folk activity and pure entertainment for a few categories of
people. Colwell (2004) also notes that the transition of football from folk games into
its modern sports form was a gradual, long term and unplanned progress, but
accelerated around the mid-19th century. Dunning and Sheard (1979) describe the
creation of modern football in terms of five stages, but the 1850s-1900s was the key
period when the 'laws' of football familiar to the public today were shaped.

When it came to the late 1800s, football became more and more popular and swept up
the working class around Great Britain and give birth to the formation of professional
football. The best players gained rewards or pay, not only money or salaries, but with
other material rewards, and this shaped the basic concept of what the professional
game would look like. Athletes could live by playing sports, and football players
could consider it as a full-time job by playing it better than others. At the same time
through the expansion of the British Empire, modern football travelled across to the
colonies, harbours and military bases around the world belonging to Britain
(Goldblatt, 2008). Interestingly, Goldblatt (2008) points out that when the world
became industrialized, team sports became popular. The 'atomization' of industrial
society could be overcome by the identity and collectivism enjoyed through team
sports. This gave modern football an environment in which to grow.

Two World Wars did not stop the development of football in the 20th century, and
through the development of technologies of broadcasting, modern football changed
the way people watched, enjoyed and were entertained. The Union of European
Football Associations (UEFA) formed in 1954, can be seen as another historical
landmark in the growth of European football. That the Confederación Sudamericana
de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) was created early in 1916, the Confederation of African
Football (CAF) was born in 1957, and the Confederation of North, Central American
and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) was born in 1961, all symbolize
the globalization of football. This forced countries in related geographic regions to
unite together to handle more and more complicated international affairs, including
conflicts and co-operation over political and nationalist issues (Glanville, 1997).

18
Goldblatt (2008) points out that the 1974 World Cup in West Germany was the great
turning point in the history of football development, perhaps even in the history of
global sports development. The political authorities and power in the FIFA congress
had changed, and the era of commercialization in sports had arrived. The 16
representatives from all around the world showed more new faces from newly joined
continents, and the large sponsorships and huge marketing program between the
World Cup committee and famous sport brand Adidas, had never been seen before. At
the same time in this year the number of member associations of FIFA also grew to
140, nearly three times more than its original number.

Focusing on Asia, despite the AFC being created in 1954, the countries from Asia
showed a lack of competitiveness and good performance in the World Cup or other
continental competitions. At the 2002 World Cup co-hosted by Japan and South
Korea, Japan finally qualified through the group stage and South Korea made the
historical but controversial fourth place. Before this countries from Asia showed very
limited competitiveness in international competitions, especially the south Asian and
ASEAN countries. Goldblatt (2008) summarized the reasons that might be
responsible for the delay in the growth of Asian football. First, different experiences
with colonialism. Compared to the experience of African nations, whilst some of the
colonizers did bring modern football to Asia, the new sport did not spread in a similar
way to other colonial regions. Secondly, the influence of American culture ran deep in
Asia, especially in Japan, Korea and the Philippines. Hence the popularity of baseball
and basketball in these countries can be seen as examples. Thirdly, World War II
caused serious damage in Asia. Asian countries which still remained at the
agricultural stage of development, were slowed down more in the move toward
industrialism, limiting the spread of urban sports, such as football. Arguably until
today, the vast geographic space of Asia, different religions and ethnicities of Asia,
and the large gap between rich and poor countries of Asia, still remain as problems
which obstruct the development of football in Asia (Weinberg, 2015). However, it is
still a work in progress. As the AFC once described it in a long term but confident
slogan: 'the future is Asia'.

The development of football refereeing

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) marks 1863 as the year of the
19
birth of modern football and clarified that the first edition of the laws or rules of
football was published in London in 1862, even earlier than the body's creation in
1882 (IFAB, 2021a). However, before 1863, during the period of development of
association football, there were different rules played, differentiated by region or
composition of players in Great Britain. For example, the original Cambridge Rules
can be traced back to 1848. It got its name as the composition of players involved in
this activity were a majority of Cambridge University students. There were also
Sheffield Rules and Uppingham Rules of football, basically differentiated by their
regional differences (Thomson, 1998). These different governance bodies still
continued to play according to their own rules rather than the 1863 edition of the laws
of the game.

It was the first meeting of the IFAB in 1886 that symbolized a united and common
understanding about how football should be played, at least in the United Kingdom.
The four original members of IFAB, England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, all agreed
to play association football under the agreement (F.A., 2021; IFAB, 2021b).
Following this historical meeting association football was played according to
uniform laws of the game.

The idea of an 'umpire' to uphold the laws of football was first recorded in 1874, as
two umpires took the responsibility to stand on the touch line, rather than on the field,
to decide whether fouls had been committed or not. However, in the beginning, the
two umpires were recommended by each team, rather than by a neutral third man
(Holt, 1989). In the late 1870s, the term 'referee' was first recorded both in the law
book and on the field, but it only meant that a final decision 'judger' stood outside the
field, when two umpires had different opinions. It was 1891 when the 'referee', this
single but unique person, was introduced as a necessary official at football matches,
and started to have the authority to send off players or give penalty kicks. The two
umpires became 'linesman', who are the predecessors of assistant referees in the
present day. Judging 'offside' was their major responsibility. However, in the
beginning, the main responsibility and duty for calling fouls and unsporting behaviour
was given to the team captains and not the umpires or referees. This special spirit still
remains today, as it can be found written in Law 3 of the Laws of the Game, which
states that: 'The team captain has no special status or privileges but has a degree of
responsibility for the behaviour of the team.' (IFAB, 2021c).
20
The association football referee system started with two umpires and brought in the
referee as a final judger at an early stage. After that, four persons constituted a referee
team system, and this was maintained for a long period as a basic necessity of official
football matches (Thomson, 1998). Today the referee team includes one referee who
takes the final decisions and major responsibilities, two assistant referees standing on
the touch line, and one fourth official as the person who takes charge of the technical
area of the field and acts as a reserve referee. In the 2009-10 season, UEFA first
started a trial of an 'additional assistant referee (AAR)'. Two additional assistant
referees stand on the goal line near the penalty area, where crucial or key match
incidents normally happen. Their main duty is to give correct and immediate
information for decision-making inside the penalty area to the referee.

The communication between the AAR and the original referee team needs to be
conducted through a two-way radio system. This can be seen as a symbol that new
technology has become more involved with modern football progressively. Officially,
the AAR system was approved by the IFAB in the 2012 edition of Laws of the Game,
and today referees wearing a two-way communication system to improve the
performance of teamwork are very common on the football field, especially in high
level competitions. Goal line technology, known as the 'hawk-eye' system, used to
make sure if the ball has completely crossed the goal line or not, is another example
of how technology has been introduced to help the referee to officiate a football
match.

The newest discussions about law changes are with respect to the 'Video Assistant
Referee (VAR)' system, which was officially approved and introduced at the 2018
FIFA men’s World Cup in Russia (Chen et al., 2018). FIFA described four kinds of
incidents to initiate official VAR system procedures: incidents related to goals,
incidents related to penalty kicks, incidents related to direct red card offence, and
incidents of misidentification during disciplinary sanctions. FIFA and IFAB also
amended VAR's authority and duty, and signals and procedures to the laws in the
2018/19 season. The VAR system can help avoid obvious mistakes made by the
referee and also even transform sport psychology and tactics of the game in modern
football. Although there are still ethical debates regarding technology and humanity in
sports, the VAR system nonetheless reduces unnecessary mistakes, and arguably
credit should be given for attempts at improving fairness in football.
21
An overview of contemporary referee studies

In this section, a brief overview of other recent studies of football refereeing is

provided. A general review of current research and studies of football referees shows
that most of the research focuses on professional football leagues and match officials'
performances taking place in either Europe or America and are published in English
language journals. There are few studies related to Asian football referees, either in
English or Asian language journals. The position and experiences of elite football
referees in the AFC has largely been neglected as a research topic. Although the AFC,
and national football associations such as the Japan Football Association and the
Chinese Taipei Football Association, have started to promote a better environment and
improve conditions for the development of elite level referees, to date there has been
little published research, at least in English-language publications. A systematic
review of literature suggests that there has been a significant increase in football
referee related studies since 2011 (Pina, Passos, Araujo & Maynard, 2018), and the
studies can basically be divided into two broad topics: the technical and physical
performance of referees, and referee motivations and the organization and
management of referees.

The technical and physical performance of football referees

Before the 1970s, there was little mention of the physical training or fitness testing of
referees (Webb, 2017). One of the small examples was Smith (1973) who suggested a
physical fitness test for football referees. This required a referee to finish 5,600 meters
on a track in at least 36 minutes, including fast running, slow running, side-ways
movement and backwards running. As mentioned in chapter 1, the earliest method
FIFA used to measure the basic fitness level of football referees was the 'Cooper Test'.
This 12-minute continually running test was normally used to measure the basic
cardiovascular function ability of healthy adults or athletes, without using any
instruments. FIFA asked international level referees to finish at least 2,700 meters in
12 minutes, plus repeated 200 meters and 50 meters sprints as other indicators (Chen,
2018). According to the evaluation Table of the Cooper test (see Table 2.1) and the
main group of referees most likely should be defined as group of healthy males
between 30 to 39 years of age, FIFA required referees to have 'very good'
cardiovascular function, according to Cooper's definition (Chen, 2018).
22
Table 2.1

Evaluation table for the Cooper test

Age Sex Very good Good Average Bad Very bad

Male 2700+ m 2400-2700m 2200-2399m 2100-2199m 2100- m

13-14
Female 2000+ m 1900-2000m 1600-1899m 1500-1599m 1500- m

Male 2800+ m 2500-2800m 2300-2499m 2200-2299m 2200- m

15-16
Female 2100+ m 2000-2100m 1700-1999m 1600-1699m 1600- m

Male 3000+ m 2700-3000m 2500-2699m 2300-2499m 2300- m

17-19
Female 2300+ m 2100-2300m 1800-2099m 1700-1799m 1700- m

Male 2800+ m 2400-2800m 2200-2399m 1600-2199m 1600- m

20-29
Female 2700+ m 2200-2700m 1800-2199m 1500-1799m 1500- m

Male 2700+ m 2300-2700m 1900-2299m 1500-1899m 1500- m

30-39
Female 2500+ m 2000-2500m 1700-1999m 1400-1699m 1400- m

Male 2500+ m 2100-2500m 1700-2099m 1400-1699m 1400- m

40-49
Female 2300+ m 1900-2300m 1500-1899m 1200-1499m 1200- m

Male 2400+ m 2000-2400m 1600-1999m 1300-1599m 1300- m

50+
Female 2200+ m 1700-2200m 1400-1699m 1100-1399m 1100- m

Source: Cooper, 1969.

From 2006, in preparation for the World Cup in Germany, FIFA formulated the 'FIFA
Referee Fitness Test' to evaluate referees' abilities in aerobic exercise and intermittent
recovery and revised it in 2016 to better simulate real match situations. The test did
not require referees to continually run at the same pace, which the Cooper test does,
but asked referees to run fast for 150/75 meters and walk 50/25 meters alternately, for
at least 4,800 meters (Chen, 2018). At the same time, they repeated a 40 meters
sprinting test with no more than 6 seconds for each sprint as part of the test.

As mentioned previously, there are differences between a referee and assistant

referee's duties, abilities and skills in modern football, so FIFA has continually revised
the standard and requirements of the fitness test (Cerqueira, 2011; Chen, 2018),
focusing on short distance sprinting and change of direction ability. Until now, new
methods such as RSA (Repeated Sprinting Ability), 4,800 meters interval running
with more separated tempo, ARIET (Assistant Referee Intermittent Endurance Test)
and CODA (Change of Direction Ability) tests have been conducted.

23
ARIET and CODA were formulated based on a well-known Yo-Yo test which was
widely used to evaluate athletes fitness condition in all sports (Castagna, 2004). In
fact FIFA and the AFC also irregularly used the Yo-Yo test to verify the limits of an
elite referee's physical condition, since a feature of the Yo-Yo test is to maximize a
subject's performance until exhaustion (Chen, 2018). Using the Yo-Yo Intermittent
Endurance Test (YYIET) Level 1, the AFC set a standard of 17.6 for 'pass' and 18.2
for 'expectation', and whoever could reach the higher level would be considered as
'good' or 'excellent' (Chen, 2018). Compared to an experiment by Castillo (2016),
referees from the Italian professional football league reached an average distance of
1,591.30 meters in YYIET level 1, which was equivalent to level 17.4. Considering
the AFC is a higher governance body and was aiming to recruit elite referees across
the continent, the higher requirement from the AFC is arguably understandable.

Research has also investigated how much football referees run per match. First of all,
the technical and physical performances of football referee can be evaluated with
running distance per match. Studies from Asami (1988) in the early 1980s pointed out
the average distance football referees covered per match in the Japanese professional
league (J League) was 9,990±927 meters. Results in the Australian football league
revealed similar data with 9,408±838 meters in the 1990s (Johnston, 1994). In 2001
studies from Krustrup (2001) showed that distances had increased to 10,070±130
meters in the Danish football league. In the same year, Italian referees in their
professional league showed even more effort with 11,469±983 meters covered per
game (D'Ottavio 2001).

Running distance for football referees continually increased in Castagna's (2004)

studies with 12,956±548 meters covered. Later on, studies of Silva (2008, around
9,155 meters), Salvo (2011, around 11,634 meters) and Wetson (2011, 11,770±808
meters) showed the running distance for referees stabilize between 10 km to 14 km
per match, depending on the match intensity. These numbers are very similar to those
of top-level professional midfield male football players performing in high level
competitions (Castagna, Abt &D'Ottavio, 2007; FIFA, 2018a). This strengthens the
notion that today a football referee should be considered as an 'athlete': referees not
only have to run but have to run as much as a midfield player, who normally covers
the most distance in a match.

24
Other measures of modern football referees' physical condition have been made.
Studies introduced some different indicators to analyse referee's physical conditions.
Casajus (2015) organized an 11-year long study, using data of body fat (%BF), body
mass index (BMI) and sum of six skinfolds (6SS) to assess 470 Spanish football
referees, and indicated that along with tactical and physical evolution in modern
football, football referees also have had to strengthen their fitness condition to level
the requirements of football in the present day. Additionally, Castagna (2007) points
out that during high level football matches, referees have to follow the game with
high intensity exercises, up to average 85% to 90% maximum heart rate (HRmax) and
70% to 80% maximum rate of oxygen consumption (VO2max). Cerqueira (2011)
pointed out it could be more appropriate to measure referee's physical performance
with not only running distances but also aerobic ability, short distance sprinting
(anaerobic ability) and agility. Referees don't always move on the field with the same
pace; Wetson (2011) indicated that on average more than 11 km was covered, and
referees might sprint (with average speed of more than 25.2km/hr.) around 54 times
per match. Similarly, another study from Krustrup (2001) showed that referees have
to do around 161 high-intensity exercises in one single match.

In modern football, FIFA differentiates the duties and abilities required between
referees and assistant referees, with a different title registered and badge given as a
result (FIFA Referee / FIFA Assistant Referee). Silva (2008) provides some idea of the
skills assistant referees might need, such as shorter distance sprinting, sideways
running and backwards running skills. Mallo (2009) specifically measured the elite
assistant referees' running distance, and the results showed the shorter distance
(around 5,752±554 meters) covered per match, but more sideways running and
sprinting than referees. From the research of Salvo (2011), who also compared the
running distance of referees and assistant referees, it was found that referees cover an
average of 11,634 meters per match, whilst assistants will run around 6,506 meters on
average, but with different types of movement, and both referees and assistant
referees show some stamina decline during the final period of a match.

Referees' motivations, development programs and the organization of refereeing

Much research into referees' motivations and the organization of refereeing

development has been conducted using qualitative research methods, such as
25
interviews with key individuals. For example, Webb and Thelwell (2015) interviewed
37 elite football referees and concluded that there were differences between them and
players' behaviour in different countries. Parsons and Bairner (2015) interviewed
English referees at different levels and suggested comparing football referees with
other human-service occupations to understand the challenges and frustrations they
might face. These ideas lead to a further question: what motivations lead people to
volunteer to referee, and even enjoy being in a position of difficulties with pressure,
serious testing and zero mistake acceptances? This is one of the questions explored in
this thesis and is taken up in chapter 6.

With respect to the organization of refereeing, Colwell (2004), explored the

development of the status of the referee in England from the mid 19th century to
2000/01 Premier League season. She argued that an understanding of the history of
changes in the laws of the game, and their interpretation, illustrates how football was
played and changed through the decades. Forbes (2015) pointed out that female
referees in England face additional stress and pressure not only from players but the
league system itself. In addition to his work on the organization and management of
referees, Webb (2016; 2017; see also Webb, Cleland & O'Gorman, 2017), has
investigated the role of the media in creating pressure for referees, often without
support from the FA or league organizers.

Following research, it is clear that in football referee studies, the majority of studies
have been conducted in England, Italy, Spain and occasionally South America, which
can all be seen as 'advanced football developed' countries and regions. This begs the
question: how about research outside these areas? How about research 'beyond UEFA'
(Webb, 2017)? This section offers a brief snapshot of recent research in China and
Taiwan.

In general, a professional football league is under an organized governance body,

including a national football association, groups of players and coaches, media,
spectators, related industries, and the referees of course. After comparing five major
leagues in Europe (the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A,
Germany Bundesliga and French Ligue 1), Hamil (2010) indicated that the
organization of a football league, including its referee department, will be affected by
its governance policies. The same point has been made by Lee (2010) with reference
26
to the study of how Taiwan should organize a professional football league system.
These include such features as long-term athlete development (LATD) concepts, more
grassroots coaches, exploitation of sports industries, and finally the topic we are
concerned with, a well-designed referee development program. Other research in the
Chinese language carried out in China has focused on the following two aspects. First,
football referee development in China, and second the understanding of the laws of
the game by the players and the referees in China. For example, Hong (2002) tried to
build a pyramid of football referee 'cultivation model' for improving Chinese football
referees' abilities to attain a 'modern professionalism' level. In China, there was an
unbearable history of 'black whistle' (corruption) in football. There have been several
research studies related to the management of football referees on this issue. For
example, Li and Ma (2003) proposed an independent department should be built
outside the Chinese Football Association and Chinese Super League to better
supervise the mental, physical and financial condition of referees.

With respect to the understanding of the laws of the game in China, Ma (2011)
investigated professional players in the Chinese Super League. He discovered that
there were different ideas about the laws between players and match officials. This
issue often caused confrontations between players and referees. From a different point
of view, Xue (2003) argued that professional referees in China were at a low level,
and there was a lack of scientific methods to manage and assess the abilities of
referees. This problem meant that the level of Chinese football referees was still at an
amateur level and often influenced the result of matches.

In Taiwan specifically, there have not been many previous studies or research projects
related to football match officials. The limited number of works that have been done
can be divided into two aspects. Firstly, are preliminary studies about the physical
performance of Taiwanese domestic football referees. Secondly, the mental status of
football referees in Taiwan has been investigated, including the career decisions of the
referees and how referees handle the pressure on the fields. Lu and Chao (1998) were
the earliest researchers focusing on football match officials in Taiwan. They pointed
out the referees in Taiwan at that time were lacking in fitness training by covering less
than 50% of the distances in top level matches compared with referees in Japan. In a
study the following year, Lu and Chao (1999) also pointed out when the Taiwanese
referees penalized fouls, the distance between decision making and the incident were
27
far from the international standard. The reason might be again because the referees
were lacking physical training and at the same time were short of knowledge of
football. Later, Chan (2001) again pointed out the distances covered by Taiwanese
referees in domestic matches were only 50% to 60% compared with research into
foreign referees.

The lack of physical training by the referees is a cause of unsatisfactory performances

and complaints from teams. In 2006 Kim (2006) used heart rate sensors and wearable
devices to measure referees' fitness levels for the first time in Taiwanese research.
Results showed that domestic Taiwanese referees' physical performances were not fit
enough, comparing with statistics from players. Lin (2011) pointed out the Taiwanese
referees repeatedly performed at a low level of fitness because there was no concept
of physical training and long-term fitness management for football referees in Taiwan.
This dilemma might have improved in recent years in Taiwan, but compared to other
well-developed football Member Associations, in Asia and elsewhere, there are
arguably still improvements that can be made.

Secondly, there has been some limited research into football referees' psychology in
Taiwan. Lin (2014) used questionnaires to investigate the relation and satisfaction
between match officials and teenage players in Taiwan. Results show that there are
more confrontations between players and assistant referees, which lead to the
conclusion that there were shortfalls in specific training for assistant referees in
Taiwan. Focusing on referees' mental pressure, Lin (2016) pointed out that compared
to fatigue of physical training or time spent on self-training, Taiwanese referees were
facing major mental pressure. This might be because in Taiwan football is not the
most popular sport. Players and referees might know each other since a young age and
subconsciously they do not want to have confrontations with childhood companions.
Yu (2015) was aware that there were good potential international qualified referees'
that were forced to leave the football field because of this career development
problem. There is no chance for football referees to become a full-time profession in
Taiwan, even today. This issue arguably reduces the motivation for Taiwanese
referees to be self-disciplined and train themself.

Overall, the research scope of Chinese or Taiwanese studies has still only been
internal, focusing on domestic studies in their respective countries. To date there has
28
been no broad overview of Asian football match officials, or comparative study, not to
mention specifically focusing on the referee education program or policies of the
AFC, which this thesis aims to provide. In the third and final section I turn to a more
comprehensive consideration of this aspect of football referee development and
training.

The European model of football match officials' development

This section, drawing on Webb (2017, chapters 4 and 5 especially) provides an

overview of a football referees' education and training system focusing on Europe and
specifically England. From the beginning of organized football there has been a
search for consistency, uniformity and (from the point of view of the organizers of the
professional game) a search for standardization of the interpretation and application of
the laws of the game (Colwell, 2004; Webb, 2017). The international development of
refereeing saw the status and relative power of the (English) Football Association
(FA) extended so that '"British methods" of match officiating and interpretation of the
laws were pre-eminent' (Colwell, 2004).

This has had implications for research into refereeing as well. Webb (2017) provides
an indication that the focus of his, and much other work to date, has been primarily on
European football, and the training, management and assessment of referees at elite
levels. He also noted that much of the research into elite football referees, especially
the systems they operate in, and the management structures, training and support
given to them, has been conducted in the sport sciences, especially physiology and
psychology (Pina et al, 2017). Elite referee research by social scientists, especially
historical, sociological and sport management studies, have been an 'evolving
narrative' (Webb, 2020a) and much has been 'issues' based. Historical sociological
research by Colwell (2004) for example outlined the long-term development of match
officiating in England, looking especially at when, where, and why problems
developed. This issues-based approach revealed two longstanding concerns. First, was
the potential for disparity between 'the ideologies of those framing the laws of the
game, those applying the laws and those playing the game' (Colwell 2004, p. 344).
This could create the basis for conflict between match officials and players. Second,
was the fact that 'written rules are subject to interpretation' (Colwell 2004, p. 344),
could be subjective and therefore have the potential for sowing seeds of contestation.
29
As we previously noted in the introduction, Webb's book provides a systemic
overview of the training and education policies and strategies of European football
governance bodies, especially at the elite level. However, in other research he looks at
problems confronting contemporary referees such as abuse by fans. For our purposes
his discussion and comparison of the match official's education system in three
national member associations, England, Italy and Spain, is most useful. Considering
England is the origin of modern football and that football development in the UK is
well organized, focusing on the advantages of what the football association in
England provides offers a good model and example.

In England, credits are given to two special programs or organizations: the 'National
Referee Development Program (NRDP)' or the 'fast track' system, and the
'Professional Game Match Official Limited', or PGMOL. Under the Football
Association (FA), there are 9 levels of referee: Level 1: National list; Level 2a: Panel
select; Level 2b: Panel; Level 3: Contributory; Level 4: Supply; Level 5: Senior
County; Level 6: County; Level 7: Junior; Level 8: Youth; and Level 9: Trainee.

From the lowest levels, such as levels 9 and 8, the FA encourages young athletes to
participate in referees' education as early as possible. Through the promotion of
different levels from 9 to 5, the referees can gain the authority to officiate in leagues
from amateur to county level. A level 4 referee is called a 'referee on supply', which
means they are the candidates that may possibly officiate in the higher league
competitions such as the Football League (EFL) or the Premier League in the future.
From level 3 to level 1 referee, regular fitness testing is started to be conducted in
order to evaluate the referees' physical conditions since they are approaching the
professional game.

Interestingly, for promotion from the lower level, referees receive marks or
evaluations not only from the referee coaches but also from the clubs. This can be
understood as the FA trying to build a connection and understanding between players
and referees from the very beginning. It may also help the better promotion of the
understanding of the laws of the game. However, this method is not often seen in
Asian countries. For example, according to my own personal experience and feedback
from AFC referee colleagues, in ASEAN countries, most of the time the referees and
players are like enemies. In the Arabic football world, the recommendation for
30
referees is always to avoid any connections with the teams.

The top level, level 1 referees, are those selected to officiate in the Football League
and the Premier League, and some of the level 1 referees are also named as England
FIFA Referee representatives. However, the length of promotion from the bottom
level to the top level is long, and it may have the risk that for some young potentials
the whole promotion schedule eats away at their positive motivation. The long period
also means that some young referees can be stuck at the middle level when they are at
their highest peak of physical condition, for example around the age of 30. In the
present day, modern football requires the referees to have a higher fitness level than
ever before, as mentioned previously as 'sportsperson' or 'atypical athletes'. Therefore,
the 'National Referee Development Program (NRDP)' and the 'fast track' system were
introduced in England.

The NRDP was designed to develop match officials to ensure the FA achieved a 'self-
imposed' target, and at the same time identify and train referees 'with most potential'
(Webb, 2017). According to the fast-track system, the FA and the County FAs
organize a series of referee schools or academies, designed to identify and nurture
talented referees from an early age. During the 4 stages of training, the selected
candidates are observed and helped by the FA, the referee tutors, partner clubs and the
County FA referee academy/schools. The whole fast track program can be finished as
fast as a minimum of six games assessed and one full season evaluated, at the same
time with several courses and coaching sessions. After the program, the potential
referees who passed will be promoted to level 3, which means they are ready for the
professional game, and at the same time ready for becoming a professional referee.

The NRDP and the fast track symbolize the trend of match officials' training and
organization today. The referee should be trained and developed with a specially
designed system to elevate its professionalism. At the same time, the trend at present
is to discover and educate the young potential referees as early as possible, even from
teenage years. Just like professional players who are always identified if they are
suitable or not at an early stage of their career, today referees are also required to be
identified for their potential as early as possible. The division of players and referees
today are clear and unavoidable. The changing of the development of England match
officials is a significant example. If young referees are identified with good potential,
31
through the fast-track system they can approach the professional games very soon.
At that time, the selected elite ones are promoted to the top leagues when they are at
their highest peak of fitness, ambitions and motivations. For the professionalism of
the match officials, this method provides a better approach. Two representatives from
England participating in the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, the
famous alumnus Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor from the 'fast track', are two
examples that demonstrate the FA's unique program could select excellent potential
talent successfully and help them to elevate their refereeing skills to world class
standards while they are at their most energetic ages: between the age of 35 (Oliver)
and 42 (Taylor).

Research that focuses on the AFC has tended only to mention referees in passing,
instead attending to issues such as the organizational structure, institutional
environment and policy-making (Weinberg 2015) on the one-hand, or the politics of
the AFC on the other (Tomlinson & Sugden, 1998; Horne & Manzenreiter, 2018).
With regards to the training of referees in Asia, the AFC started to notice the trend
towards identifying potential talent at a young age in the early 2000s. In 2007, the
initiative of the AFC Project Future could be seen as the AFC agreeing that referees
should be trained differently and as early as possible. Today a new AFC Referee
Academy is maintaining this aspect. For the single national Member Association, the
programmes from the Japan Football Association provide good examples. Previously,
there was a JFA Referee College for the young potential referees. Today, the new JFA
Caravan can also be understood as a similar program to the NRDP. But for the CTFA,
most of the referees started their careers after they retired from being football players.
This issue seems distant from the trend of training today's match officials. More
detailed discussion about the strategies the AFC has created to choose their elite and
potential talents through an 'Asian fast track' system can be found in chapter 7.

Another example of a good model of national refereeing education program is the

'Professional Game Match Official Limited', PGMOL, once again based in England
(Webb, 2017). The PGMOL symbolizes the full professionalism of the football
referee, and today match officials are considered as a unique profession. The selected
group of referees in England are controlled by different bodies: the FA, the Premier
League, the Football League and the PGMOL. It is easier to understand that a referee
should register under the national FA and officiate in their league matches. But what
32
does the PGMOL mean for match officials in Asia? For most of the countries in Asia,
that have a developing or not particularly well-established football environment, for
the rights and interests of match officials being protected and covered by an
independent organization might be hard to understand.

Webb (2017) defines the difference between a professional and a full-time referee.
Being professional does not mean you have to be a referee as your only form of
employment. Meanwhile, choosing to sign a full-time contract with a match official
organizing bodies, such as the PGMOL or JFA, means the referees must fit all the
criteria required by your 'employer'. The contracted referees have to accept all the
appointments, pass all the physical requirements, and attend all the education
programs. These activities become your obligation and responsibility, and if the
contract has been signed, all the participation becomes not only moral but legislative.
In the well-developed football countries, it seems that there are no differences if the
referee is full-time contracted or not, since they are all professional. However, in
some other countries, especially if the football industry is not as prosperous, such as
Taiwan, 'being professional' and 'becoming a full-time' referee are two different
topics. This evidence can also be found in many counties in Asia, considering there
are well developed football countries like Japan, Korea and China that currently have
real 'full-time' contracted referees. This discussion is continued in more detail in
chapter 6 with the results of interviews with the AFC elite referees from different
countries around Asia, in which they are undoubtedly 'being professional' and some of
them are actually full-time referees.

The engagement between continental football federations and national FAs

As mentioned previously, after being listed as level 1 in England, some of the best
referees can become international referees. But Webb points out that sometimes the
development of domestic refereeing can be at odds with the international
environment. Webb (2017, chapters 5 and 6) discusses some of the difficulties when
football refereeing became internationalized. Referees received different support from
between FIFA and their domestic associations, and also claimed that players behave
differently between international and local matches. According to Webb (2017),
referees he interviewed from England, Spain and Italy all agreed that FIFA and the
UEFA gave more support to the referee. Match officials could give more 'straight'
33
disciplinary sanctions to guilty players without considering future pressure from the
teams, clubs or the public. But the situation when they officiate in their own countries
is different. They could not feel the same support from FIFA or UEFA, because they
might penalize some match incidents differently if the games were local, despite the
fact that the reasons might be unintentional and not deliberate. This provokes the
same questions: does this situation also happen in Asia? Do AFC referees behave
differently while officiating the international matches? This will also be taken up in
chapters 6 and 7 where the AFC and CTFA referees describe and compare their
international and domestic match experiences.

The opinions Webb analysed were from referees who were on the international list,
but the situation of non-FIFA listed referees who only officiate in their countries
might show a bigger gap between different countries. A referee from England might
and very possibly has a different understanding of the Laws of the Game from a
referee from Taiwan. But when they all stand on the stage of international matches,
they face the same critics straight away. This issue causes a serious topic that FIFA
and the continental associations cannot ignore but have to overcome as football
referees have become internationalized and football globalized.

Webb (2019) describes this phenomenon – specifically the relationship between some
European football associations with FIFA and UEFA – as a 'lack of engagement'. The
reasons can be understood since in a country with a well-developed football
environment, the organization of football itself will be largely self-contained. Despite
FIFA's emphasis on the uniformity and consistency of football refereeing, it might be
admitted that the applications of the laws of the game somehow are different in
different leagues, even though referees are using the same law book. On the other
hand, even in the top divisions, using the European Champions League as an
example, the public has the consensus that most of the time clubs from England are
more physically demanding. The reason might be because when football matches are
played in England, the strength of legal tackles and challenges allowed in the English
Premier League and English leagues are considered very strong compared with those
in other European leagues. At the same time, clubs from La Liga are normally
considered more skilful, since the playing style in their league matches is more 'player
friendly' and protective. These comparisons also have similarities in Asia. Most of the
time Japanese clubs claim that they are at a disadvantage in Asian Champion League
34
competitions because players are more protected in their league by strict law
applications by the referees in the J League, rather than the west Asia region, or clubs
from the Arabic countries' leagues.

But how about countries where football is not yet well developed? Member
associations from under-developed countries are not self-contained, and therefore lots
of football development assistance is needed from the outside. This means the higher
governance bodies, including the AFC or FIFA, have to step in. Hence another of the
questions this project raises is: does the AFC Elite Referee system really help the
under-developed football countries to promote their referees' abilities? At the same
time, can this assistance help referees in Asia internationalize and avoid the criticisms
and confrontations from the outside?

As interviewees from Webb's study (2017) described, some English, Spanish and
Italian international referees show their best performances, or should it be said UEFA-
or FIFA-uniformed performances, only in European matches but applying different
standards from domestic football matches. Simultaneously, the English FA, the
football associations from Spain and Italy had well self-contained football
environments. Including or especially the referee department, they do not necessarily
rely on elite international referees or veterans to update the latest knowledge from
FIFA or consider them the only influence on refereeing standards. Again, in general it
is different in Asia. At least in some football-developing countries, promoting referees
into the FIFA list or the AFC Elite Referee Panel is one of the most important and
direct ways to get greater direct engagement with international and global football.
Again, for more discussion of this topic, from interviews with AFC and Taiwanese
referees, see chapter 6 and 7.

Uniformity and consistency of refereeing

To better understand the above dilemma, two basic concepts should be clarified:
uniformity and consistency. This is the target that FIFA and the IFAB continually
emphasize to all referees around the world. Whilst we have to admit it is very difficult
to make sure hundreds and thousands of referees from all around the world will have
exactly the same understanding of the laws of the game, it has to be acknowledged
that if the ball is round and globalized, then the application of the laws must ideally be
35
the same wherever it is played.

Consistency means the standard of fouls recognised, the disciplinary sanctions applied
to fouls, and the application of the Laws of the Game should always be the same,
whether the match is played in any continent, country or league, and officiated by any
referee. Uniformity means the signals from the referee, using hand, whistle or flags,
and procedure for any mentioned situations in the Laws of the Game, should also be
the same, whether the match is played in different continents, different countries or
different leagues, and officiated by any referee.

Because of the globalization of football and the internationalization of referees, now

the frequency of continental competitions and cross-country football matches being
held has become greater and greater, and in some way may be the highest number in
football history (Goldblatt, 2008). Today international referees have more chances to
officiate tournaments overseas and co-operate with other match officials from
different social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Take the Tokyo 2020 Summer
Olympics (postponed until 2021) as an example. The event included 99 football
match officials from 51 different countries around the world (FIFA, 2021d). But the
game should and must be played under uniform regulations. This is why FIFA keeps
emphasizing the uniformity and consistency of football refereeing and tries to educate
international referees through the newest media and teaching materials.

Today, FIFA, the UEFA, the AFC and other continental associations use digital
teaching materials to improve the theoretical knowledge of referees. Every year FIFA
and the AFC routinely publish the latest digital teaching materials to explain the latest
amendments of the laws of the game, including text explanations using the four
official languages of FIFA. The teaching materials also include video clips about
match incidents that can help referees to understand the decisions expected from
officials. The video teaching materials normally include match incidents, like if one
challenge should be considered as a foul or not, or a decision should or should not be
offside. The chosen videos normally are the situations that referees might have doubts
about correct decisions, like handball or not, whether a penalty should be given or not,
and whether sanctions should be shown with a yellow or red card. The teaching
materials will give standard answers to each video clip, to make sure knowledge and
decisions will be consistently conveyed to the referees, and hopefully correctly
36
applied in future matches.

Not only FIFA, UEFA and the AFC are focusing on the target of consistency and
uniformity, but also some countries and member associations are progressively
promoting it. One of the aims of the above mentioned 'fast track' program introduced
in 2006 was to attempt to substitute some of the learned 'in-game' experience with
theory and additional training and support outside the field (Biggs & Taylor, 2004;
Webb, 2017). The PGMOL continually gathers all English Premier League referees
every two weeks at St. George's Park, the national training centre for English football,
to refresh their knowledge, review their match performances during the period, and
monitor their physical level during the season (Cumming, 2014). In Asia, for
example, the top-level referees officiating in the K League division 1 in South Korea
regularly have a training camp at Jeju island before the season starts (Kim, 2018),
which also attempts to give referees training and knowledge outside the field of play
and before the matches start, by discussing any errors that had been made during the
previous season.

Conclusion

This chapter has reviewed a selection of previous research studies related to the
history of football refereeing, some programs of referee education from national
football associations, and recent match official studies. Through this chapter, the
reader should now have a basic understanding of what the modern football referee is,
at the same time gained some information about how one country especially – the
English FA - trains their referees with specially designed programs. The overview of
recent studies shows that there is still scope to include more insight into football
referees 'beyond UEFA'. At the same time and more importantly, it is necessary next
to explore how the AFC selects, recruits, trains and develops their elite referees. This
is the subject of chapter 3.

37
38
Chapter 3 The Global, Regional and National Selection and Recruitment of
Elite Football Referees

The aim of this chapter is to outline how elite football referees are selected and
developed and thus describe the overall context within which the empirical research
in this thesis was undertaken. Through the description of systems and policies from
the top global football governance body, FIFA, through the AFC, to a single national
Member Association, readers will understand how international football referees are
selected, and how they train themselves under instruction from FIFA, from
continental football confederations, and from member associations. The chapter
summarizes the special referee education programs that the AFC uses currently and
points out some dilemmas that the CTFA could face in the near future.

This chapter draws on an analysis of official documents and websites and

ethnographic research, including the experiences of the author. Firstly, it describes
how FIFA, the highest governance body of global football, selects and recruits their
international referees. The training and development programs that FIFA uses are also
discussed. Secondly, focusing on a continental football organization, the chapter
explains how the AFC created its own selection and recruitment policies for AFC
Elite Referees. In this part, the training and development programs provided by the
AFC, including improving the abilities of candidates in the AFC Elite Referee Panel
and also young prospects in the AFC Project Future Program and AFC Referee
Academy, are described. Thirdly, using the Football Association of Taiwan (Chinese
Taipei Football Association, CTFA) as an example, the training systems and the
development of football referees in Taiwan is discussed. The different criteria that fit
each level of referees in Taiwan are explained, and the regular support from the
association, the competition environment of leagues and the shortage of a young
generation of referees, are discussed. Some of the deficiencies in the CTFA system are
also identified.

FIFA and FIFA Referees

FIFA is the highest governance body of global football. Currently, there are 211
football associations as members, divided into 6 continental confederations: the AFC
in Asia, the CAF in Africa, the CONCACAF in North and Central America and the
39
Caribbean, the CONMEBOL in South America, the UEFA in Europe and the OFC in
Oceania. In addition to promoting global football development, FIFA is the ultimate
authority to authenticate the certification of international football referees. Today,
there are five different kinds of international football referee licenses approved by
FIFA: FIFA Referee, FIFA Assistant Referee, FIFA Match Video Official, FIFA Futsal
(a five-a-side version of football) Referee and FIFA Beach Soccer Referee. Every
legitimate international football match approved by FIFA must be officiated by FIFA
referees and FIFA assistant referees who are currently registered on a yearly renewed
referee list.

But how does FIFA select, recruit, and approve match officials from the 211 member
associations around the world? Are there different quotas of approved FIFA referees
in different countries? If yes, what are the indicators or criteria that FIFA uses to
decide the numbers they give to each country? After joining the FIFA referees list,
how can one become a candidate to officiate at the highest level competitions, such as
a World Cup game? The following sections attempt to answer these questions.

Becoming a FIFA Referee

FIFA gives its member associations the authority to select their FIFA referees, and in
general approves the candidates from them. Every year before the end of October, 211
member associations under FIFA must name a list of candidates (including referee,
assistant referee, futsal and beach soccer referee) they want to register for next
year/season and send it to FIFA for registration. Each member association is allowed
to have its own methods or policies to evaluate who can be nominated as candidates
(CTFA, 2020a). During this stage, FIFA will not interfere in the process of each
member association, as long as they submit the list of candidates on time. Yet after
receiving the list, FIFA still has the final authority to deny a candidate if it thinks
he/she is not qualified or has issues it considers should be re-evaluated. The validity
of the license only lasts for one year, so every year all the member associations have
to re-submit their candidates and register again with the same process.

Since the first inspection or recognition of the abilities of international referees is

approved by the member associations and not by FIFA itself, how can FIFA ensure all
the referees from different countries will achieve the standard that FIFA enact and set
40
up? How can all the FIFA listed referees around the world maintain consistency and
uniformity? Actually, FIFA gives the most important responsibility to the continental
confederations. The second stage of selection, recruitment and training process for all
international match officials to be promoted as an elite one is the responsibility of the
continental confederations (UEFA, AFC, etc.). As a higher governance body, the
continental confederations are authorized by FIFA to have their own selection and
recruitment policies. One example is the subject of this research project: the AFC
Elite Referee system. Of course, the UEFA also has their own policies to choose their
elite or top referees, and so has CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, and the others.

The introduction of how the AFC authorizes who are good enough to be recognized as
'elite referees', who can officiate legal matches in Asia, and who can become AFC
representatives at major global tournaments, is described in the next part of this
chapter.

Different quotas of FIFA referees in different countries

FIFA gives different quotas of FIFA referees, assistant referees, video match officials,
futsal referees and beach soccer referees to different member associations (FIFA,
2021c). The quotas are influenced by several indicators and decided by the FIFA
referees' committee. There are several representativeness indicators, such as the
standing of member associations in the FIFA world rankings, the development levels
of professional football leagues in the member associations, and the efficiency and
completeness of the referee committee in the member associations. Normally, the
'well developed' football countries will have a better environment to cultivate
potentially good referees. A well-organized professional league with several divisions
also provides more chances for local referees to gain match experience before they
achieve the international level.

Using Asian countries as examples, Japan can be seen as one of the best developed
football countries, and the J League also has a complete promotion and relegation
system between three divisions. FIFA approved six male FIFA Referees, nine male
FIFA Assistant Referees, four female FIFA Referees and four female FIFA Assistant
Referees from the JFA in 2021 (JFA, 2021b). FIFA also gave the JFA four male and
three female FIFA Futsal Referees, considering there is a well-organized futsal league
41
in Japan too. The full list of 2021 JFA international referees is shown in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1

Full list of 2021 JFA international referees

Type Male Female

ARAKI Yusuke KANEMATSU Haruna

IIDA Jumpei KOIZUMI Asaka

KASAHARA Hiroki SUGINO Azusa

FIFA Referee
KIMURA Hiroyuki YAMASHITA Yoshimi
SATO Ryuji

YAMAMOTA Yudai

HIRAMA Ryo BOZONO Makoto

KARAKAMI Satoshi HAGIO Maiko

MIHARA Jun OGATA Mio

NISHIHASHI Isao TESHIROGI Naomi

FIFA Assistant Referee NOMURRA Osamu

TAKAGI Takumi

TAKEBE Yosuke

WATANABE Kota

YAMAUCHI Hiroshi

KIMURA Hiroyuki BOZONO Makoto

MIHARA Jun YAMASHITA Yoshimi

FIFA Video Match Official
SATO Ryuji

YAMAUCHI Hiroshi

FUJITA Takeshi HIRUMA Kumi

KOBATASHI Hiroyuki MATSUO Kumiko
FIFA Futsal Referee
KOZAKI Tomohiro MIYAZAKI Mari

OYA Tsubasa

HATANO Yuichi
FIFA Beach Soccer Referee -
SATO Makoto

Source: FIFA, 2021c; JFA, 2021b.

Another Asian country with a well-developed football system is South Korea. The
Korean Football Association (KFA) has the similar number of FIFA approved officials

42
as the JFA. They have seven male FIFA referees in the 2021 FIFA Referee list, and all
seven of them have successfully passed the recruitment progress and participated in
the AFC Elite Referee Panel in 2020 (FIFA, 2021c). The numbers of FIFA referees
and assistant referees in the Chinese Football Association (CFA) are also the same,
with seven male referees and nine assistants. These numbers might be considered as
the upper limit quotas that FIFA set for the most developed football countries in Asia,
compared with Europe, where for example Germany and France can have up to ten
male FIFA Referees (FIFA, 2021c).

Compared to those East Asian countries, there is a big gap in the Taiwanese football
environment. The standing of the Chinese Taipei national team is over 100 in the
FIFA world ranking system (FIFA, 2021b), and there are only semi-professional
football leagues in Taiwan with just eight teams in the first division (CTFA, 2021a).
This affects the quotas of international referees that FIFA gives to the CTFA.
Currently, there are only three male FIFA referees and five assistants on the FIFA list.
There are also two female FIFA referees and one assistant, together with two futsal
referees, and no video match officials or beach soccer referees (CTFA, 2021b). The
CTFA has tried to increase the quota of international match officials, but without
significant improvements in the football environment in Taiwan, the number has
remained the same for several years. The full list of 2021 CTFA international referees
is shown in Table 3.2.

43
Table 3.2

Full list of 2021 CTFA international referees

Type Male Female

Yu Ming Sun Li Yi Chi

FIFA Referee Chen Hsin Chuan Wang Chieh

Kuo Chia Hao

Hsu Min Yu Lu Yen Ling

Kuo Chan Yu

FIFA Assistant Referee Chen Jia Hao

Chen Hsiao En

Kuo Po Hung

FIFA Video Match Official - -

Lee Po Fu
FIFA Futsal Referee -
Lee Tsun Ing

FIFA Beach Soccer Referee - -

Source: FIFA, 2021c; CTFA, 2021, b.

There are some other key indicators that help member associations demonstrate that
they can cultivate good referees, and successfully convince FIFA to give more places
to them. In Asia, Sri Lanka is a good example. The Sri Lanka national team stands
behind Taiwan in the FIFA world rankings, and the football leagues in Sri Lanka are
quite amateur. However, because of the excellent performances by their former FIFA
referees at some major and important continental tournaments, Sri Lanka now has a
quota of five FIFA referees and seven assistants. Nimal Wickramatunga, the Sri Lanka
veteran who was selected to officiate at the World Cup in France in 1998, gave a very
good impression to the world as both a Sri Lankan and an Asian representative. After
retirement, he became an AFC referee instructor. Another example is Perera
Hettikamkanamge, an active AFC Elite Referee, who also constantly shows good
performances at the highest level competitions in Asia, such as the Asian Cup and
AFC Champions League. This kind of performance can be seen as another indicator
that FIFA considers when it decides to give more places for international match
officials to different countries.

Finally, as the organization is managed by human beings, sometimes 'human factors'

44
can also appear to influence the quotas on the FIFA referee list. Today, the deputy
chairman of FIFA referees' committee is Al Raeesi Hany Taleb from Qatar, and the
Qatar football federation has seven FIFA referees and nine assistants, the highest
number in Asia. Former World Cup referee, Shamsul Maidin from Singapore, is now
in charge of the AFC referees' committee, and the Singapore FA has five FIFA
referees and seven assistants, despite their respective standings in the FIFA team
rankings which, like the CTFA, is well over 100.

Going to the World Cup

In the preparation period of the FIFA World Cup 2006 Germany, FIFA launched a
'World Cup Referees' Project' (FIFA, 2005). A total of 46 potential World Cup match
officials were selected and nominated as candidates to participate in the workshop of
the referee education program in February 2005, 16 months before the World Cup
started. During the workshop, both theoretical and practical training was provided,
and a new, more demanding, FIFA Referee Fitness Test was conducted on the
participants. It was a landmark when FIFA officially announced that the selection of
match officials would be started as early as possible and would be so in the future.
The idea was to unify and level up the refereeing abilities, skills and knowledge of the
referees from different continents. At the same time, a modified FIFA Referee Fitness
Test also showed that FIFA admitted their referees needed to be specifically
physically trained, just like an 'athlete'. The referees from different countries and
continental federations might receive their referee education in various ways and
different directions. However, in a centralized competition, for example, the standard
of recognizing the severity of fouls and misconducts should be exactly the same. This
is why the pre-tournament courses or workshops are important, and simulated
matches were to be included in the workshops.

Before the men's FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018, the preparation for selecting
referee candidates was started even earlier in September 2014 (FIFA, 2018b), shortly
after the end of the previous men's World Cup in Brazil. At the beginning, there were
53 referee trios (teams of three) from around the world on the list to participate in the
preparatory seminars. After several seminars arranged in different places around the
world, such as Doha in Qatar, Dubai in the UAE, and Coverciano in Italy, half of the
candidates were eliminated from the list. After nearly four years of training and
45
selection, only 36 referees were finally left on the list of match officials and went to
Russia.

Presently the selection and evaluation of candidates for the men's World Cup in 2022
in Qatar is still in progress. Similar to the previous one, the selection progress started
immediately after the World Cup in 2018 finished. However, it has been recognised
that the occasional seminars held by FIFA are insufficient. Gathering all candidates
together for two weeks every six or eight months cannot guarantee the physical and
mental condition of the referees is maintained at the appropriate level. The referees
still have their own jobs and need to officiate national league matches. They also have
duties in international matches from the continental federations. So the main training
and education for candidates often relies on the strategies and referee education
policies in the continental federation, and on the dedication of the referees
themselves.

To sum up, FIFA gives different quotas of international match officials to different
member associations, and also gives the authority of selection and recruitment at the
first stage to the member associations. This policy can avoid overload, so that FIFA
need not take all the authority and responsibility for selection and recruitment by
itself. The second level of football governance bodies, the six continental
confederations, play more important roles in practically selecting and recruiting the
referees they need for international competitions. The continental confederations have
different selection, recruitment, training and development strategies in choosing their
own 'elite' referees. The system that the AFC uses is explained in the next part.

AFC Referees

As mentioned in chapter 1, the AFC currently has 47 member associations (AFC,

2021a), and in the 2021 season, they all registered at least one or more FIFA referees
or assistants, except Guam, the North Mariana Island and Yemen, maybe for
demographical or political reasons (FIFA, 2021c). Yet not all of the registered FIFA
referees and assistants are staying on the AFC Elite Referee Panel. As mentioned
previously in this chapter, the AFC itself plays an important role in practically
selecting and recruiting the elite referees they want. All legitimate matches under the
AFC, for example the AFC Champions League, the AFC Cup, the Asian Cup or the
46
U-series AFC Championships (U=Under 23, Under 19 or Under 16 competitions), are
officiated by AFC Elite Referees and AFC Elite Assistant Referees who are on the
AFC Elite Referee Panel. UEFA also has similar policies to select their elite officials,
which are currently divided into Class 1, 2 and 3 for different competitions (UEFA,
2021b). In other words, if a referee wants to officiate a match under AFC, he/she must
first be registered on the FIFA list by his/her member associations, approved by FIFA,
and then pass the recruitment selection from the AFC to become an AFC qualified
match official.

This section will explain how the AFC Elite Referee Panel works. First, the process of
how the AFC selects and recruits the match officials they want from all Asia is
explained. The criteria, requirements and how the AFC evaluates candidates is also
described. Secondly, after joining the AFC Elite Referee Panel, how the AFC Elite
Referees are regularly trained is discussed. The yearly development programs for the
referees from the AFC referee department are discussed. Thirdly, the AFC also
focuses on some referees who are currently not on the FIFA list but have great
potential. For this reason, the AFC Project Future and the AFC Referee Academy
were created for young prospects. How and why these two programs are unique to
Asia, compared to other continental confederations, is discussed as well.

The AFC Elite Referee recruitment process

In chapter 1, the basic process of how the AFC recruits their elite referees was already
described (see Figure 1.1). In general, the recruiting process can be divided into three
parts: a centralized seminar, individual match assessments, and a final evaluation
training camp. Similar to the principle of how FIFA selects their international referees,
the basic requirement of nominating candidates to participate into the first stage of the
recruiting process is open and fair for all member associations (CTFA, 2019; Kuo,
2019). The AFC arranges the recruiting process once every year and normally holds
the first recruiting seminar/course in September or October at its headquarters in
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (AFC, 2017b). Each member association can nominate two
candidates to participate in the first course, as long as the candidates are currently on
the FIFA list or have a guarantee from their member associations that they will be on
the list in the following year. This can be seen as a part of an 'equal to all' policy from
the AFC.
47
The first seminar/course is led by qualified AFC referee instructors, and usually
continues for around three to five days. The course is divided into two parts: indoor
theoretical knowledge evaluations, and outdoor practical performance evaluations. In
the classroom, every candidate must take several tests to check their understanding of
the Laws of the Game (LOTG). Candidates also need to analyse match situations
through oral presentations. After watching video clips of match incidents, for example
fouls or misconducts during real matches, every candidate must analyse what
decisions the referee should take, what sanctions should be given, and how to restart
the match according to the Laws of the Game for those situations. At the same time,
through the above examinations, the English-language ability of all candidates is
evaluated.

Another kind of match video analysis is related to match control, player management
and tactical awareness. Through these kind of video analyses, the personality of
candidates can be observed and evaluated. After watching video clips from real
matches, candidates must not only describe the correct decisions that a referee should
give, but also they have to analyse how the referee should control the match, read the
team tactics, and manage the players. This kind of knowledge and understanding can
help the referee to move smoothly on the field and arrive at crucial positions that can
have the best angle of view to make judgements. These are the traits that the AFC is
looking for from the candidates.

Outside the classroom, the first and very basic practical evaluation is the FIFA
Referee Fitness Test. The test includes 6 times 40-meter sprints to evaluate repeated
sprinting ability (RSA), and 4,800 meters of high intensity interval runs for evaluating
the aerobic capacity and recovery ability of the participants (Cerqueira, 2011). The
details of how the test should be conducted are shown in Figure 3.1.

48
Figure 3.1

FIFA Referee Fitness Test protocol

1. FIFA Referee Fitness Test protocol 2006 version

Run in orange arrow and walk in blue arrow for 12 laps.

2. FIFA Referee Fitness Test protocol 2016 version

Run in orange arrow and walk in blue arrow for 12 laps.

Source: Cerqueira, 2011; Chen, 2018.

49
All candidates are required to pass this test, and during the repeated sprints and high
intensity interval runs, heart rates and VO2 max for the candidates are also recorded
through wearable devices, for example heart rate belts connected to watches. The
AFC fitness instructors are responsible for analysing the data to evaluate the physical
condition of the candidates. Compared to the previous decades, these evaluation
methods now are more scientific, more accurate, and more similar to how an 'athlete'
is assessed. Hence the argument, made at the outset of this thesis, that a top-level
referee today should be considered as an 'atypical athlete'.

Besides the FIFA Referee Fitness Test, the AFC often uses a Yo-Yo test to evaluate the
limits of the physical condition of candidates (Bangsbo, 2008; Delahunt, 2013). As
mentioned previously, the FIFA fitness test is more like a basic requirement to prove
the referees are 'fit enough' to officiate a game, but considering the AFC is looking for
the elite, it needs to evaluate the upper limits of the aerobic abilities of these referees.
The characteristic of a series of Yo-Yo tests is to push the participants to run till
exhaustion. The different kinds of Yo-Yo tests designed for football referees and
comparisons between them are described in Table 3.3. The expected level, repeat
shuttle numbers, distance conversions and time duration for the modified Yo-Yo tests
that the AFC uses to test the AFC referees, are also described in the table.

50
Table 3.3

Comparison of different kinds of Yo-Yo tests for football referee

AFC
Recovery Shuttle
Each shuttle expected Distance Time Approx.
Type between repeats
distance level conversion duration VO2Max
shuttle number
reached

Yo-Yo Test 20m+20m No - - - - -

Yo-Yo

Endurance 20m+20m No - - - - -

Test

Yo-Yo

Intermittent
20m+20m 5 sec. - - - - -
Endurance

Test

Yo-Yo

Intermittent 51.52
20m+20m 10 sec. 18-2 45 1,800m 14:52
Recovery (mL/min/kg)

Test

Dynamic 55.22
20m+20m 10 sec. 19-5 56 2,240m 18:16
Yo-Yo Test (mL/min/kg)

Assistant
20m+20m
Referee
(odd)
Intermittent
& 5 sec. 16-3 45 1,470m 11:14 -
Endurance
12.5m+12.5m
Test
(even)
(ARIET)

Change of

Direction 10m+8m+8m
No < 9.8 sec. 1 - - -
Ability Test +10m

(CODA)

Source: Castagna, C., Bendiksen, M., Impellizzeri, F. M., & Krustrup, P., 2012; provided by the author.

Other than the fitness test, simulated match refereeing is also an important subject
during the practical sessions. Some referees may have a good knowledge of the Laws

51
 of the Game, but how to apply them on the field properly is another issue. The AFC
normally arranges for players and teams to simulate a match on the field and asks the
candidates to referee the match. Each candidate may have only ten to fifteen minutes
to referee the game, so the players will deliberately make fouls or create match
incidents to test the reactions from the referees, especially when playing close to the
penalty area. The AFC instructors record the correctness of the decisions of the
candidates, and also observe their movements, running styles, physical abilities and
game reading abilities at the same time. Figure 3.2 is an example of what a typical
recruiting course schedule looks like.

Figure 3.2

An example of AFC Elite Referee recruitment course program

Selection Course for AFC Referee Recruitment 2017

03-05 September 2016

Course Program

Weight Light Fitness Introduction & Aims of the Sharing Briefing on Report Video Video Fitness Test
Day1 L
Control Training Administration Course Experience Clicker System Writing Test 1 Test 2 Protocol
U
Laws of the Game
Day2 Fitness Test Recovery LOTG Trivia N
Interactive Practical Evaluation
C
Analysis of Match Incidents Feedback &
Day3 H Departure
(Group Discussion) Conclusion

Source: provided by the author.

After the first centralized seminar, the AFC referee course instructors and fitness
instructors are responsible for selecting the candidates who pass the first stage and can
go on to real match assessments. There are no specific numbers or percentages of how
many candidates can pass at this stage. The results all depend on the performances of

52
the candidates during the seminar, for example the scores from the Laws of the Game
tests and video quizzes, the grades of the fitness evaluations, and the opinions of the
instructors.

A referee who passes the seminar needs to prepare for match assessments from the
AFC referee recruiters in the following year. The member associations need to discuss
and arrange a suitable match with the AFC referee department for the candidate to
referee. The match that the candidate will officiate and be observed at should be at the
highest competition level in one of the member associations, for example a First
Division league match or a FA Cup match between top league rivals. Once the match
date has been decided, an AFC approved referee recruiter flies to the country where
the member association is located and assesses the match that the candidate officiates.
This is the first chance for candidates to show and perform their refereeing abilities in
a real 90-minute match.

After the match, an official interview in English between recruiter and referee is
arranged. The candidate needs to analyse his/her own match performance, explain the
reasons for yellow or red cards if there were any, and describe his general opinions of
match control and player management during the match. The candidate is also
required to analyse basic team tactics and identify key players or 'problem players'
from both teams. After the match analysis, the candidate also answers a series of
questions from the recruiter, so that he/she can observe the personality and English
ability of the candidate. This second set of interview questions are more related to the
candidate's long term personal goals, personal training schedules, basic conception of
the AFC Elite Referee panel, and his/her career planning. Table 3.4 is an example of a
question list provided by a retired Taiwanese AFC referee recruiter.

53
Table 3.4

Example of AFC Elite Referee recruiting post-match interview questions list

No Question Answer Rating

How were you accurate and consistent in recognizing foul play?

1
If there was any difficult decision, please explain it concretely.

How were you accurate and consistent in using advantage?

2
If there was any difficult decision, please explain it concretely.

3 How well did you deal with fouls and misconducts?

4 How was your positioning?

How do you think about your fitness level?

5
Was it as high as it should be?

6 How were you aware of the tactics used by the teams?

How did you use your personality to deal with players and club
7
officials?

8 How did you act with your assistants and 4th official as a team?

9 What did you do well? (max 3 points)

10 How can you improve your performances? (max 3 points)

Source: Chuang, 2019; provided by the author.

The candidates who pass the first seminar can have one match assessment
opportunity. After the match assessment, the marks and general performance reports
from the recruiter will decide whether the referee passes the first assessment and if
they can have a second match assessment opportunity. The process of second match
assessment is similar to the first one, but it is observed and assessed by a different
AFC referee recruiter. Post-match analysis and the interview are also required to be
done again. Normally, there is one to two months between the two match assessments,
and all match assessments are usually completed before the end of June every year.

Combining the reports, grades and opinions from two referee recruiters, a final
decision report provided by the AFC referee department informs the member
associations whether the candidate has passed the second match assessment stage or
not. Some candidates may fail to pass the assessment only at the first match but
having two match assessments does not mean that the candidates can go to the final

54
seminar/training camp, usually arranged in September or October. Since the
candidates have only two matches at most to 'impress' the recruiter, the process of the
evaluations can be seen as quite subjective. Luck may also be needed during the
crucial two match assessments. For example, if all players behave in a controllable
manner, it can make the referee's ability to control a match look much better.
However, the behaviour of both teams is usually unpredictable. This is why some
referees may think the process of match assessment is too subjective, and some
aspects of the recruiting sessions are difficult for them to control. This dilemma is
discussed in more detail in the methodology chapter (4) and the findings chapters (6
and 7).

After passing the first stage of the seminar and the second stage of real match
assessments, the AFC arranges a final recruiting seminar to confirm whether the
candidates can become part of the elite referee panel the next year. The programs of
the seminar are similar to the first stage in the previous year, but the participants are
fewer and more competitive. Despite the fact that the abilities of the candidates have
been confirmed in general by different AFC referee instructors and recruiters,
candidates may still fail and be eliminated during this final selection course,
especially if they fail the fitness test. The AFC decided to modify the final course to
include a third match assessment in 2019, and this provided another chance for
candidates to really referee a game. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the recruiting
process may be subject to yet further change in the future.

Regular training and development programs from the AFC

The regular yearly training and development programs for elite referees and assistant
referees from the AFC can be divided into three parts. First and most important is the
AFC Elite Referees Seminar arranged around the end of the season every year. The
second part is the training and development schedule during long-term centralized
competitions, such as the Asian Cup and the U-series AFC Championships. Third,
how the AFC referee assessor and referees co-operate together in daily schedules at
home-and-away matches, for example AFC Champions League, AFC Cup matches or
World Cup qualifiers between national teams.

Until the pandemic in 2020 (see the detailed discussion in chapter 5) every year
55
around late November or early December, the AFC held an AFC Elite Referees
Seminar to communicate the latest AFC policies, fitness training methods,
amendments to the Laws of the Game, and season feedback to referees in the AFC
Elite Referee Panel. Only match officials who are in the AFC Elite Referee Panel are
invited to the seminar. This seminar can be seen as the most important event of referee
development in the AFC. Since the elite AFC referees are from different countries
across the Asian continent, it is sometimes difficult to gather all the match officials,
instructors and assessors together at one place very often. The yearly seminar is held
at the headquarters of the AFC in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and sometimes half of the
referees (largely from West Asia) attend another seminar in Dubai, United Arab
Emirates (UAE) at the same time (AFC, 2018).

Similar to the recruiting seminar/course, the elite referees' seminar is also divided into
a theoretical part and a practical part. The participants who fail to pass the fitness test
will be suspended until they pass an official re-test. There are also lectures about
knowledge of the Laws of the Game, match video analysis and match control. The
instructors also focus on practical fitness training and match incident simulations. The
seminar is the best and only opportunity to actually see all AFC match officials from
Asia running and training together. However, compared to the recruitment seminar,
the yearly knowledge update seminar is more educational, not with the goal to
eliminate referees. In fact, for experienced referees, gathering together for one week
for courses seems not really helpful for improving their skills or abilities, but does
allow for the exchange of experiences with colleagues from different countries. The
actual efficiency for the AFC Elite Referee Seminar, according to the opinions of the
AFC Elite Referee themselves, is discussed in chapter 6. Figure 3.3 is an example of
the course design for the AFC Elite Referees Seminar in 2018.

56
Figure 3.3

An example of annual AFC Elite Referee Seminar schedule

Source: provided by the author.

Another opportunity for the AFC match officials to gather together are the centralized
competitions held by the AFC, for example the Asian Cup 2019 in the United Arab
Emirates, AFC U23 Championship 2020 in Thailand, and the AFC U19
Championship 2018 in Indonesia. The selected referees and assistants fly to the host
country and stay together for up to nearly one month. These centralized competitions
gather referees together in one country for a long period, providing good opportunities
for the AFC referee department to educate, train and develop the referees' knowledge
and abilities, and monitor their physical condition. Depending on the different
competitions, the AFC asks the referees to report for duties from between one week to
three days before the first match day. During these week-long or several day long
57
periods, the AFC arranges fitness examinations, daily theoretical and practical
programs, and match coordination meetings. Again, the AFC sees the fitness test as a
basic criterion, and whoever fails the test is released from the tournament
immediately. This is why in recent years, the AFC invites 'reserve' referees and
assistants to join the pre-competition sessions, in case there are match officials that
fail to fit the requirements from the AFC referee instructors in charge of the
competitions. The reserve match officials are released before the match day starts if
all referees and assistants are in good condition. Figure 3.4 is an example of pre-
tournament training sessions at AFC U16 Championships 2018 in Malaysia (Chen, J.
H., 2018).

Figure 3.4

An example of pre-tournament training sessions designed by the AFC

Day 0 arrival of all match officials

morning afternoon

fitness
weight tournament
Day 1 training theoretical courses I theoretical courses II
control administration
(light)

Day 2 Fitness Test rest theoretical courses III theoretical courses IV

team tactical
practical theoretical appointments
Day 3 theoretical courses V analysis
training courses VI for match day 1
session

Source: Chen, J. H., 2018; provided by the author.

During the competition or tournament period, the referees are led by the appointed
AFC referee instructors and fitness instructors. Instructors monitor the referees'
performance every match, both in terms of the application of the Laws of the Game
and physical performance, and report back to the AFC referee department every day.
They also have to arrange daily training and education sessions for the referees.
Considering every referee may have different duties on each match day, the training
session may be different for each individual. Figure 3.5 is an example of a specific
daily schedule for a referee during a centralized tournament.

58
Figure 3.5

An example of daily schedule for referee during centralized tournament

Referees

Match Day -2 Match Day -1 Match Day Match Day +1 Match Day +2

AM 7:00
AM 7:00 AM 7:00
Agility + Repeated AM 9:00
Match preparation Rest Strength + Aerobic
Sprint Ability Active recovery
(Low intensity) (Medium intensity)
(Medium intensity)

AM 10:30

education courses, post-match analyse, appointments for next match day

Match
Match Match
Referee
4th Official 4th Official
(High intensity)

Assistant Referees

Match Day Match Day -1+1 Match Day Match Day -1+1 Match Day

Active recovery Active recovery

or or
Rest Rest Rest
Match preparation Match preparation

(Low intensity) (Low intensity)

AM 10:30

education courses, post-match analyse, appointments for next match day

Match Match Match

Assistant Referee Assistant Referee Assistant Referee

(High intensity) (High intensity) (High intensity)

Source: Chen, J. H., 2018; provided by the author.

For referees, normally instructors use match day plus one or two (MD+1, +2) and
match day minus one or two (MD-1, -2) to design the intensity of physical training
sessions. All key match incidents from every match day are selected and made as
video clips for instructors to analyse the correct decisions together with the referees.
After the group stage, quarter-finals and semi-finals, some match officials will be
released, depending on their performances and which teams qualify. This is why
during the centralized tournaments; we can say all referees are in a 'competitive but
co-operative' situation.

59
The yearly AFC Champions League or AFC Cup are all held as home-and-away
matches. Also, the qualifiers for the Asian Cup and World Cup are played in home-
and-away format. For these kinds of matches, the AFC appoints one match
commissioner, one referee assessor and four match officials (referee, two assistants
and fourth official) to the venue of home team or host nations. The match
commissioner, referee assessor and referees are from different member associations.
For home-and-away matches, there is normally a four-day itinerary for each match.
All match officials need to arrive in the host city two days before the match day. A
match coordination meeting, match preparation training session for referees, and
official training for home and away teams, is arranged on day two. The third day is
the match day, and all match officials are released on day four. Figure 3.6 is an
example for a typical four-day home-and-away type match schedule for referees.

Figure 3.6

An example for a typical four-day home-and-away type match schedule for match officials

Day1 Day2 Day3 Day4

Match coordination

meeting (MCM)

Official conference
Pre-match meeting
Arrival of match Official training for
(organized by referee)
officials away team

(at least 15min. open

to media)

Match preparation Departure of match

Short meeting with training for match officials

referee assessor officials Match

(optional) (at stadium, around

45min to 1hr)

Official training for

Light training Post-match meeting
home teams
(individual) (organized by referee
(at least 15min. open
assessor)
to media)

Source: provided by the author.

60
Because of the short period of the itinerary, there is no fitness test for home-and-away
matches for the referees. The AFC assumes the match officials are in good physical
condition, if they all pass the yearly fitness test during the elite referee seminar and
perform well in previous matches. The match preparation training on day two is
normally conducted by referee teams themselves with light or medium intensity, and
referees can have a full rest on the morning of the match day. The post-match analysis
is arranged immediately after the match, and the referee assessor points out the
positive performances and items for improvement for the referee team. An official
match assessment report also needs to be completed by the assessor and sent to the
AFC's referee department. Referees may check the report online, but the actual
mark/score they get is hidden and not made public. Compared with the centralized
competitions and the annual seminar that invites several AFC referee assessors and
instructors to assess the referees' performances, assessment of the performance of a
referee team in home-and-away format single matches relies only on one assessor's
judgments. Some referees therefore question if one person's estimation and evaluation
might be too subjective and arbitrary. This intriguing issue is discussed further in
chapter 6, considering it can highly influence the motivations and match experiences
of referees. However, accumulated match performances/scores that the elite referees
get may affect his/her evaluation and standing in the AFC Elite Referee Panel. There
is a non-public ranking of referees in the AFC Elite Referee Panel, which the AFC
referee department uses to divide AFC referees into different levels (Chuang, 2019).

In general, the AFC provides the basic concept and direction of training and
development for referees in the yearly elite referees’ seminar, or through the periods
of centralized competitions. Referee assessors for home-and-away matches can also
provide instructions for referees individually, but in general, the AFC referee
department can only train and monitor elite referees very closely on a limited basis.
The AFC provides the methods of training and general direction that the AFC wants,
however it still relies on self-discipline from the referees. The referees who are in the
AFC Elite Referee Panel must be self-disciplined, train themselves, and continually
update their knowledge of the latest changes to the Laws of the Game. At the same
time, the support they receive from member associations and the competition
environments within the member associations can strongly influence the condition of
the referees. This raises the questions: how can the AFC encourage their elite referees
to discipline and train themselves? What are the motivations or factors that stimulate a
61
national referee into becoming an AFC representative match official? After becoming
an AFC Elite Referee, do the participants really get what they expect through various
match experiences? Through this research project, and in chapters 6 and 7 especially,
we seek to gain some answers from the AFC referees directly.

The AFC Project Future and the AFC Referee Academy

This section describes an education program specifically designed for young potential
match officials from the AFC, the AFC Project Future Referee Development
Programme. In Table 1.2 in Chapter 1 the general information and the differences
between the AFC Project Future and its new successor, the AFC Referee Academy,
were already presented. This section explains the details of how the programs work,
and describes the outcomes and results so far, along with comments and evaluations
from the director of the AFC Project Future, collected in an online interview in 2021.

The AFC Project Future was started in 2007, initiated by the AFC President at that
time, Mohammed bin Hammam. The original design for the programs included two
parts, the Project Future Coaches development program and the Project Future
Referee development program. The programs were combined with the AFC U-14
Football Festivals, which was a part of the AFC grassroots education. Each member
association under the AFC could send two referees and several young coaches to join
the festivals. During the festival, participating referees can officiate the unofficial
matches between U-14 'national teams'. More importantly, the participating referees
could have a comprehensive training course prepared by experienced AFC Referee
Instructors. For the young coaches, they had the education program for coaching
abilities too.

The festivals were held in different parts of Asia, including China, India, Qatar and
Uzbekistan. Every year there was a total of seven festivals for male and two for
female. Male and female referees were nominated by the member association
participating in each festival to accompany the squad of players. When the young
referees officiated the matches, they were observed by instructors for their abilities
and potential. Since the participating referees had to be under the age of 25, they were
not likely to be on the FIFA International list, so the festival could be seen as their
first, and an important, experience of officiating international matches.
62
At the end of the festivals, the referees who were evaluated as the best were selected
to attend the AFC Project Future Selection Course in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The
standards of moving from the festivals to the selection course were very high and
possibly only a maximum of four referees were selected per Festival (Cumming,
2021). Every year, a batch of around 25 referees would take part in the selection
course. During the course, they have to take examinations in knowledge of the Laws
of the Game, English speaking abilities, and refereeing matches in a competition
involving local teams from Malaysia. Finally, around 16 candidates were selected by
the AFC Referee Instructors to become participants in Project Future.

Former FIFA referee and instructor George Cumming, who took charge of the referee
organization of World Cup 2002, was invited to become the director of the program in
2008. When I interviewed him he told me that 'I believe that the concept of AFC
Project Future was unique in world football' (Cumming, 2021). He said this because
firstly, very few development programs were for referees at that time, and there were
hardly any in Asia. Most of the programs were for coaches and players. The Project
Future was the unique one focusing on educating young and non-international
referees. Secondly, all member associations from Asia took part in this project.
Considering that Asia has a large scale of geography and big cultural differences, the
idea and ambition of gathering all members together was really creative.

'The aim was to provide the next generation of international referees.' Cumming told
me in an interview (Cumming, 2021). This aim describes the concept of the AFC
referee education system: to unify the knowledge and ability level of referees as early
as possible, starting from a young age when they were not yet FIFA listed. At the
same time, credit must be given equally to the member associations, that selected and
identified young prospects in their countries prior to the festivals. For advanced
football development countries, such as Japan, it might be easy to find someone who
is already well prepared from the JFA Referee College. But for other developing
football countries, nominating someone still very amateur in refereeing but has full
potential would not be easy. This equal access policy indeed provided a good chance
for all member associations under the AFC to receive better knowledge from the AFC
referee department, yet at the same time, it appeared to some as a form of political
correctness to let all the MAs have the same chance to join AFC referee activities.
This topic is discussed in more detail in chapter 7.
63
If the pre-selection has been done well in the MA, and the participant did have the
potential to learn from the instructors in the Project Future, then the AFC can actually
put out batches of good referees and promote the level of AFC referees through the
project. At the end of the Project Future in 2017, over 50 graduates from the project
became FIFA international referees. Recently, a successful graduate, Casey Reibelt
from Australia, was appointed to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France while
another graduate, Abdulrahman Al Jassim of Qatar, refereed the 2019 FIFA World
Club Cup Final between Liverpool and CR Flamenco. These can be seen as two
obvious achievements of the project.

The success of the project could be attributed to higher aspects set by the director:
As Cumming told me: 'The content of the training is not just about passing a fitness
test or being able to recognize fouls or offside on video clips. Top referees need to
know about game management, player and coach management and be tactically
aware' (Cumming, 2021). During the course, the education given by instructors was
set with higher goals than just foul recognition or raising the offside flag. Not every
member association has qualified instructors who know about 'tactical awareness' or
'player management' skills. Some of the participants received these kinds of concepts
for the first time and only from the project through the AFC. At the same time,
referees in the project were introduced to football in different environments outside
their 'comfort zone' (Cumming, 2021). Courses were held in Japan, Malaysia,
Uzbekistan, India and the Maldives, which meant referees had to adjust to different
football playing styles, different weather, jet lag and even some simple things like
knowing local Muslim culture. This is a most valuable treasure that the 'next
generation of FIFA referee' could gain at their early stage of referee career.

The AFC Project Future was officially replaced by the new AFC Referee Academy in
2017. With the same concept of searching for young potential and latent AFC elite
referees, the AFC Referee Academy now provides longer training and observation
periods together with more stringent demands on the participants. Discussion and
comparison of the AFC Project Future and the AFC Referee Academy can be found in
chapter 7, through the interviews with AFC referee directors who are or were in
charge of these programs.

64
CTFA Referees

This final part of the chapter describes the football referees' environment in Taiwan.
First, the training system used by the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) to
manage and develop referees in Taiwan is explained, which includes how one can
register and become a football referee in Taiwan, different levels of referee licenses in
Taiwan, and how a referee can become a FIFA certified one in Taiwan. Then the
regular training and development programs held by the CTFA are discussed. The
support from the member association and the competition environment in Taiwan are
also sketched. Thirdly, some dilemmas and predicaments in Taiwan's football
environment, previously briefly mentioned in chapter 1, are discussed. Drawing on
the author' personal experience and observations as a senior referee, the difficulties
that the CTFA has in comparison with other regional and national member
associations are described. Further detailed discussion of these appears in chapter 7
from the interviews with CTFA referees.

Becoming a football referee in Taiwan

The Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA) is the highest governance body and
the official window to communicate with the AFC and FIFA in Taiwan. It was
officially created in 1954 with the name of 'China National Football Association', and
then changed the name to 'Chinese Taipei Football Association' in 1981 for political
reasons associated with the People's Republic of China (PRC) (CTFA, 2021c). The
CTFA once left the AFC in 1974 to join the OFC because of the political issue but re-
joined the AFC in 1989. The referee department in the CTFA is the major organization
that manages all football referees' affairs in Taiwan. Under the direction of the CTFA,
there are 16 county or city level regional football associations in Taiwan. Yet
compared to other sports, such as baseball or basketball, football is not considered as
a popular sport in Taiwan, and the population of football athletes and fans is still small
(MOE, 2018). These facts are also evident in the under-development of Taiwanese
football referees.

There are currently three levels of football referees in Taiwan, from level C to level A.
To become a football referee in Taiwan, the participants need to attend an amateur
referee course first. The entry level C referee courses are open to all citizens of
65
Taiwan nationality over the age of eighteen (CTFA, 2018). The amateur courses
normally last only one weekend, and the content includes basic theoretical knowledge
and practical training. The local Taiwanese referee instructors explain the Laws of the
Game chapter by chapter, and introduce the basic whistle skills, referee signals and
flag techniques to the new referees. The aim of the level C referee course is to
cultivate numbers of referees to have the basic abilities to officiate matches at the
grassroots level. The criteria for participants to graduate and get the level C license
are very basic. One only needs to pass an examination on the Laws of the Game (in
Chinese language) without any fitness requirements.

After becoming a level C referee in Taiwan, one has the authority to officiate matches
approved by the CTFA or county/city FA. The CTFA does not set particular
restrictions on what level of competition a level C referee can officiate. However, in
general, a level C referee will not take charge of matches above junior high school
level. If a referee wants to be promoted to the next level, he/she has to attend another
course.

The requirements for one to participate in the level B referee promotion course are as
follows. The participant must have been registered as a level C referee for at least one
year, have 'enough' referee experience from CTFA approved matches, and not be
currently suspended by the CTFA (CTFA, 2017). Theoretically, the CTFA should set a
minimum number of matches that the participant should have already officiated to
prove that he/she has the sufficient refereeing experience. However, because of the
lack of referees in Taiwan, the CTFA has to encourage more level C referees to be
promoted to level B by setting lower requirements.

This problem also shows in the design and the standard required for passing level B
promotion courses. Theoretically, level B referees can and should officiate in national
level youth leagues/championships, high school matches, or even university level
matches. Level B referees should have some advanced refereeing skills to a certain
extent, too. However, because of the lack of motivation for referees to pursue their
referee career further, the CTFA has been forced to set lower standards to certify level
B referees. Participants only need to pass an examination on the Laws of the Game
one more time, again without any fitness tests. The course instructors monitor the
participants' actual refereeing abilities through practical sessions, for example
66
simulated matches. But with the consideration of the low numbers of referees in
Taiwan, normally the instructors will not eliminate participants if he/she can pass the
paper examination.

This situation demonstrates a major problem in Taiwan's refereeing: there is a big gap
between level C referees and level B referees; between entry level referees and the
referees who really have an interest in continuing to progress their referee career. This
issue is more fully discussed in chapter 7. The CTFA gives the authority for arranging
level C referee courses to the county or city FA, for example Taipei City FA or
Taitung County FA. A number of courses are held and a number of level C referees
are approved every year. But without supplementary policies, clear motivation or
enough grassroots competitions for referees to train, most of the level C referees who
graduate leave the refereeing system very quickly (Yu, 2015). Table 3.5 shows a
comparison between level C and B courses arranged and the number of referees
registered in Taiwan in 2019.

Table 3.5

The comparison of C and B level courses arranged 2019 in Taiwan

Level B course Level C course

courses arranged in 2019 1 time 8 times

original quota of participants (total) 24 240

actual participants (total) 18 167

total hours in one course 24 hours 20 hours

practical sessions yes yes

simulated fitness test session yes no

simulated matches yes no

passing requirements paper exams on LOTG paper exams on LOTG

Source: CTFA website: https://www.ctfa.com.tw/judge/judge-announce.html; Provided by the author.

The CTFA takes the process to A level referee status more seriously. The promotion
method still requires the referee to participate in a course, but one must have been
registered as a level B referee for at least three years and have the certificates to prove
that he/she has a high level of match experience with good grades from referee
assessors. During the course, a referee needs to pass the FIFA Referee Fitness Test at

67
the suggested 'national standard', and his/her performances at simulated matches are
evaluated. During A level courses, the instructors focus more on the referee's abilities
of match control, player management and recognizing tactical fouls (CTFA, 2020b).
Considering that some of the participants might be future FIFA referee candidates, a
basic 'Football-English' lecture in English is added to the course. Figure 3.7 shows the
different design of the level A referee course and the level C course held in 2019 in
Taiwan.

68
Figure 3.7

The different design of level A referee course and level C course held in 2019 in Taiwan

Level C course program (in Chinese, translated by the author)

14th June 15th June 16th June

Friday Saturday Sunday

12：30 08：20 Laws of the Game Ch.12

Register for participants Laws of the Game Ch.13-14
13：00 09：10 direct freekick

13：00 Gender equality 09：10 Laws of the Game Ch.12

Laws of the Game Ch.15-17
14：40 Laws of the Game Ch.1-4 10：00 indirect freekick

15：00 10：20 Laws of the Game Ch.12

Laws of the Game Ch.5-10
16：40 11：10 Caution (yellow card)
Practical training
16：50 Laws of the Game Ch.11 11：10 Laws of the Game Ch.12

18：30 Offside 12：00 Send off (red card)

Signal for referee and

19：00 assistant referee 12：00

Lunch break Lunch break
20：40 Used of whistle and flags 13：00
Throw-in, goal kick and corner kick

13：00 Guideline for referee

13：50 Position and movement

Practical training
13：50 Guideline for assistant

14：40 referee

Positioning for referee

Summary of Laws of the
15：00 Freekick management
Game Ch.12
16：40 Teamwork
Conclusion and discussion
Penalty management

16：40
Offside training Examination
17：30

Program mark in shading is practical training on the field.

Source: CTFA, 2018; provided by the author.

69
Level A course program (in Chinese, translated by author)

25th June 26th June 27th June 28th June

08：20
｜ Gender equality Advantage
Examination:
09：10 New amendments of
Video Test for
the Laws of the
fouls and
Game for 2019/20
09：10 misconducts
National sport season
｜ LOTG Trivia
policy
10：00 Severity of fouls:
Careless
Reckless
Using excessive Practical training
10：20 Fitness training Tactical fouls &
force session for Referee
｜ program for the Hand ball
and Assistant
11：10 referees (Group discussion)
Referee

Practical training
11：10
Match report Football English for session for Referee
｜ Teamwork
writing match officials and Assistant
12：00
Referee

12：00
｜ Lunch break
13：00

Delay the restart of

13：00
Positioning & play
｜ Analysis of Match
Technical awareness Serious foul play & Match management
13：50 Situations
violent conduct (Presentations by
(Presentations by
13：50 Challenges inside participants) participants)
Literacy of top-level
｜ the penalty area
14：40 (group discussion) referees

15：00 Practical training

Practical Training Discussion of match
｜ sessions for AR: Offside
Session (Physical) incidents
16：40 Signal & offside

Practical training
16：50 Practical training
session for Referee
｜ sessions for R: Fitness Test Course summary
and Assistant
18：30 Counter Attack
Referee

Program mark in shading is practical training on the field.

Source: CTFA, 2020b; provided by the author.

70
Finally, as mentioned earlier in this chapter, each member association needs to submit
a FIFA referee list each year. The CTFA normally publicizes an announcement about
applying to become a FIFA referee around late August (CTFA, 2020a). An A level
qualified referee can apply for nomination if he/she has sufficient top level league
match experience in the previous season. Passing the FIFA Referee Fitness Test at the
FIFA standard is a must for candidates, and the CTFA also arranges English oral and
paper examinations, supported by the former FIFA referees or AFC referee
instructors. At the same time, the candidate's performances in top league matches in
the previous year are also an important factor taken into consideration. Table 3.6
shows the basic considerations for how the CTFA selects its FIFA referee nominees
(Chuang, 2019; Liu, 2019).

Table 3.6

The basic considerations of how the CTFA selects their FIFA referees

(in Chinese, translate by the author)

No Subjects Rating

0%

1 Fitness test Whom fail the test will not considered as

candidates

10%

2 Seniority of refereeing experiences Only FIFA level or A level experiences

included

3 Laws of the Game Trivia (in English) 15%

4 Oral presentation (in English) 15%

5 Video test of match incidents 15%

6 Video test of offside situations 15%

30%

Including referees' performance at TPL*,

7 Comprehensive evaluations
TWL**; cooperation with the FA; general

personalities…

* Taiwan Premier League, TPL; the highest level of Taiwan men's football league

** Taiwan Women's Mulan League, TWL; the highest level of Taiwan's women's football league

Source: Chuang, 2019; Liu, 2019.

71
Interestingly, all candidates applying for the FIFA list are given a mark/score on their
'cooperation with the FA'. This special criterion again illustrates the fact that there are
a small number of high-level referees in Taiwan. Anyone who always accepts
appointments by the CTFA and 'cooperates' agreeably with the FA can have a high
score in this category. In other words, if the referee always keeps up a 'good
relationship' with the committee members from the CTFA referee department, he/she
may have a strong chance to be on the FIFA list through having a very high score on
this account. This may be one reason for some referees to consider that the FIFA
referees’ selection in Taiwan is not always fair and transparent. This issue is also
discussed in more detail in chapter 7.

Regular training and development programs from the CTFA

Unfortunately, there are not really many organized training and development
programs for referees from the CTFA. As mentioned previously in this chapter, the
national member associations of the AFC actually play a more important role in
training and educating referees than the AFC itself, let alone FIFA. The member
associations can arrange training camps, practical training sections for fitness, and
regular updates on the Laws of Game through seminars for referees more often or
systematically. The member associations can also closely monitor and observe the
referees' performances and conditions by appointing referee assessors to weekly
league or cup matches. In a well-developed football country, systematic training and
development programs from the national FA are both necessary and indispensable.

These policies or methods do not exist regularly in Taiwan. In Taiwan, football

referees tend to train individually and not systematically (Hsu, 2019; Kao, 2019).
Some limited training or development programs from the CTFA are provided, for
example irregular fitness tests, Laws of the Game seminars and referees' performance
observations. However, as a football referee in Taiwan, especially a high level or
international level referee, generally all training and self-improvements has to rely on
the referee himself/herself, without expectation of much support from the CTFA.

As an example, an obvious problem about the referee system in Taiwan is that the
level A referees can maintain their license by attending just 48 hours of courses or
seminars over four years. This policy creates an unhealthy environment for football
72
referees, since there are lots of registered level A referees on the CTFA list, but in
reality only a few of them are really on active duty and train themselves regularly.
Some referees do not maintain a good fitness level even during the season and do not
have the required qualities to referee top league matches. Without the appropriate
quality or condition, the CTFA cannot appoint them to the league matches, and lack of
match opportunities again lowers their motivation to improve themselves. This
unhealthy vicious circle leads the CTFA to only appoint those few self-disciplined
referees, for example the FIFA level ones, to the important top-level matches, and thus
continually reduces the chances and motivations of other referees.

Moreover, the fitness requirement tests for referees in Taiwan are held irregularly and
are not compulsory. According to the annual schedule (CTFA, 2021d), the CTFA
should arrange official fitness tests three times a year: before the top league starts,
mid-season, and post-season. However, in fact the tests are held more irregularly and
without any compulsory requirement for the match officials. In other words, there are
no clear regulations to ask the referees to attend the fitness tests. If some referees do
take the tests and fail, the CTFA still will not suspend them because at least, they were
willing to attend the test. The CTFA referee department merely offers an 'appreciation'
for the referees who come to the test (Liu, 2019).

The CTFA also holds the referees' training and development seminars irregularly.
Seminars are practically arranged before some annual tournaments or competitions
supported by the government, for example the high school league or university
league. This way the expense of staging the seminar can be shared with the
government, and the financial pressure on the referee department of the CTFA can be
reduced (CTUSF, 2020). However, compared to other well developed football
countries, the frequency of the training or development programs in Taiwan is
arguably insufficient. Take Japan as a comparison, where all FIFA listed referees must
have an online education meeting nearly every week. Also, a series of young
prospects development programs, called the JFA Referee College, was created to
cultivate a young generation of Japanese referees (Matsuda & Tawara, 2013).
Similarly in Singapore, fitness tests are conducted every month and are compulsory
for all national level referees. Those who fail the test are suspended immediately
(Lim, 2019). In Hong Kong, there are monthly practical training sessions in refereeing
skills for domestic referees to improve their abilities, and at the same time, to monitor
73
their condition (HKFA, 2020). Compared to these programs, Taiwanese referees are
largely left to work and train by themselves without programs supported by the
CTFA.

As mentioned previously, referee assessors can provide knowledge, advice and

objective opinions to help referees improve. However, in Taiwan, only in the top
leagues (Taiwan Premier League - men and the Taiwan Mu Lan League - women)
were referee assessors appointed in 2019. The post-match analysis is similar to how
the AFC does it. However, for some referees, the abilities and knowledge of some
referee assessors has been questioned because of their lack of updating about the
latest information from the AFC or FIFA. This issue will also be discussed in more
detail in chapter 7.

As for growing the numbers of level C or level B referees during the periods
refereeing in the domestic second division leagues or youth leagues, it is very
important to have someone to give them advice after each match. Actually, compared
to some referees at the top level, the young, developing referees, with enthusiasm, are
the ones that really need assessors to educate, train and give them support. Compared
to the senior referees, the juniors may face more frustration and have more questions
after each game. Without help from assessors or instructors, it is difficult for the
junior referees to improve, and the motivation can be easily defused through the
frustrations and heavy pressures coming from the teams or players. The CTFA
recognizes this problem, but without enough funding and enough qualified assessors,
most of the level C or level B referees have to 'survive' by themselves in the lower
divisions. This again may easily reduce the motivations of referees to continue their
referee career.

Predicaments and challenges in Taiwan's football environment

An additional challenge for football in Taiwan is that the competition environment is

not as competitive as in other well developed football countries. Currently there are
only eight teams in the first division, and the champions and the runner-up can
proceed to participate in the AFC Cup the following year. Participating in the AFC
Cup or the AFC Champions League (ACL) is one indicator that shows the
competition level of AFC member national associations. In the 2020 season, not only
74
traditional well developed football countries like Japan, Korea and China were
competing in the ACL, but teams from Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Hong
Kong were also involved. However, teams from Taiwan are a long way from the ACL
level, according to AFC grading policies (AFC, 2021).

The lack of teams and players in the league also limits the development of Taiwanese
referees. In general, referees are very familiar to the players in the league, which
makes them also familiar with the tactics of the teams in the top division. Thus it is
more easily than expected for the referees to control the matches and players.
Furthermore, in this closed environment, some players and referees have been friends
since childhood, so it is questionable whether a referee can really experience the
challenges or pressures he/she might face in international matches. Without the
chance to learn real match-controlling skills in domestic environment, will the referee
be able to analyse team tactics and recognize key problematic players quickly
enough?

Another example is the importance of the competitiveness of the domestic league as

an influencing factor on a referee's experience and personality. The AFC elite referees
from Japan or China all officiate in their domestic J League or China Super League
regularly. At the AFC competition level, teams from Japan and China play in the ACL
but not in the AFC Cup, which means that Japanese and Chinese AFC officials are
very familiar with the competitiveness and high pressures equal to that of the ACL. If
a Japanese AFC Elite Referee is appointed to an AFC Cup match, the pressure will
not be too high or too tough since the match will likely be easier than their domestic
games. But what if a Taiwanese referee is now appointed to an ACL match? He/she
has to face the teams from Japan, Korea, Australia, Qatar or Saudi Arabia, which are
obviously stronger, faster and more difficult to control than the Taiwanese domestic
teams. The standard and expectations set by the AFC for all AFC Elite Referees are
the same, but the mental or even physical challenges for the referees are clearly
different. This may be another issue or challenge for some elite referees from the
lesser developed football countries. Responses to questions about this are described in
chapter 6 and 7.

More smaller issues may be seen as predicaments for Taiwanese referees. Since
Taiwan is a small island, most of the referees may not have long distance travel
75
experience. Referees only need to arrive and leave the field on the same day, with the
same weather conditions. However, after reaching the AFC level, long distance travel
fatigue, jet lag and climate differences may be a very new experience and challenge
for Taiwanese international officials. In addition, most of the Taiwanese referees are
from a unique but closed physical education system. During their compulsory
education period, their life has been occupied by football and little else. Their English
language abilities may become the first and most challenging difficulty if they want to
become an international or AFC qualified referee. However, in general, the
competition environment is probably the crucial factor that influences the abilities,
experience and basic personalities of the referees before they receive education from
the AFC to have the consistent and unified knowledge that the AFC or FIFA require.
Without solving these problems, the CTFA match officials arguably face an
immediate risk that they might be eliminated soon from the centre of the AFC referee
affairs. This serious problem is considered in discussions with the CTFA referee
directors in chapter 7.

Conclusion

Through this chapter, the reader will have gained insights into how elite football
referees are selected and developed and be able to understand the football referees'
systems from the top of the global football governance body to a single member
association. This chapter also points out the importance and uniqueness of the AFC
Elite Referee Panel, which is the core of the research project. Issues that are
confronted by referees in the CTFA, as an example of a less well-developed football
country in the AFC, have been identified and these are taken up in more detail in later
chapters.

The next chapter, chapter 4, summarizes the methods the researcher used to conduct
the empirical research for this thesis. Following this, chapters 5, 6 and 7, deal with the
findings from empirical research, including observations, and the results of semi-
structured interviews. Readers will discover more detail about the motivations,
experiences and views of the training system from AFC elite football referees of
different countries. How Taiwanese football referees, working in an unfavourable
football environment, are able to react to the requirements of the AFC and trends in
world football, is also considered in more detail.
76
Chapter 4 Methodology

This chapter discusses the research methods used in the research project underpinning
this thesis. It primarily combines methods used in historical, sociological and sport
management studies, similar to previous attempts to research elite referees (for
example see Webb (2017), a book based on that author's own doctoral thesis). As
mentioned previously in chapter 1, the research uses different kinds of qualitative
methods, and the major method is ethnographic, including participant observations,
analysis of documentary sources, and semi-structured interviews with referees, referee
instructors, referee assessors and referee education directors at different levels of their
profession. In addition, desk-based research enabled the identification of published
articles that were then reviewed and analysed.

Participant observation conducted by the researcher as a FIFA listed and AFC Elite
qualified football referee is used throughout, and especially chapter 5. Official
documentation gathered as part of the researcher's experiences as an elite referee
previously and during the research period in matches, tournaments, mega-events and
competitions held by the AFC have been analysed. Finally, semi-structured interviews
with participants who are currently involved in AFC Elite Referee systems have been
conducted. These methods have together provided the researcher with a multi-
stranded research approach with which to investigate the motivations of elite referees
who participate in AFC matches, their match experiences, and how the AFC designed
referee training system for elite match officials operates.

At the outset of the research in 2019 the semi-structured interviews were intended to
be conducted in a one-to-one and face-to-face format. But the Covid-19 pandemic
developed during the early stages of field research, and most of the football activities
in Asia were suspended, thus reducing most of the opportunities for the researcher to
conduct interviews in person. This situation also created the need to focus only on
male football referees. As a result most of the interviews have been conducted online
through written questionnaires or via video conversations. Only the Taiwanese
interviewees (from the CTFA) were interviewed using the original questionnaires
designed for use in a face-to-face format. Adaptations to the research approach as a
result of the Covid-19 pandemic are explained in separate sections in this chapter.

77
Research Methods

There are four kinds of methods used in this research: desk-based research, participant
observation, documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. This section will
briefly discuss how they have been used. Analysis of previous relevant academic
studies, documentary records and observations made by the researcher during
AFC/FIFA competitions are essentially supplementary information. First-hand
experiences, often noted in a research diary, helped the researcher to analyse and
interpret the findings from the interviews with greater accuracy.

Desk-based research

There are two categories of previous research included in this research and these were
previously referred to in chapters 2 and 3. The first category is materials discussing
contemporary academic studies related to modern football, modern football referees,
European elite match officials and Asian football refereeing. The second category is
material about the referee education strategies and policies of FIFA, the AFC and
national member associations. This means two kinds of desk-based research have
been conducted to underpin the thesis: official announcements and reports from the
governing bodies, such as FIFA, the AFC and the CTFA, and the smaller but growing
body of academic research from scholars focusing on match officials around the
world. Most of the results of the desk-based research are presented in chapters 2 and
3, as contextual information. These identified that despite the increase in studies
related to referees in association football in recent decades, there is still a significant
gap in explaining referee education and training policies beyond the European
experience. Arguably then this is one of the main reasons why this thesis is necessary
and valuable: it provides a critical examination of the AFC's referee education and
training policies, especially into the top and elite levels, that has not yet been done
before, at least in an English-language academic environment.

Participant observation

During the research I, myself, participated in several football activities organized by

the AFC. There were four kinds of activities that provided valuable information for
me as the researcher. Firstly, were the regular AFC matches arranged in the home-
78
and-away format. Like the regular annual AFC Cup or AFC Champions League
matches that I participated in, I, as a referee, had the chance to spend four or five days
with match officials from other countries, gathering different football knowledge
about different countries, and more importantly, understanding different football
cultures through the descriptions of referee colleagues. The second type of activities
were the centralized competitions, for example, the AFC U-16 Championship held in
Malaysia in 2018, the 2017 South East Asia Games (SEA Games) held in Malaysia,
the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines, and the restart of the group stage of the AFC
Cup in 2021 in Jordan (the competition restarted with centralized tournament format,
see chapter 5 for further details). These competitions gave me the opportunity to
cooperate with many foreign referees over a longer-term tournament period and to
work very closely with some AFC referee instructors. A third activity was the annual
AFC referee seminar. The seminar was the chance for me to record directly from the
AFC referee department all the directions and the priority goals for referee
development in Asia. All elite referees from Asia gathered together in one place for a
week also provided me with great opportunities to have a conversation with the top
referees from different Asian countries. Finally, because of the Covid-19 pandemic,
the AFC arranged several online education programs for referees, especially in the
2020 season. Although I had to stay at home and participate in activities online, it was
still a good and first hand opportunity to observe how the AFC was reacting to and
changing its management policies. This is also fundamental to the discussion in the
next chapter 5. Table 4.1 shows all the activities in which I personally participated
during the research period.

79
Table 4.1

Football activities the author participated in during the research period (organized by AFC/FIFA only)

Name of the activities Type of the activities Duration Location

2021 AFC Cup group Centralize

2021.5 Jordan
stage competition*

2020 AFC Online Referee education

2020.4 to 2020.7
Coaching Session course (online)

2020 AFC Cup group

Home-away matches 2020.2 to 2020.3 Singapore, Bahrain
stage

2020 AFC Cup

Home-away matches 2020.1 Indonesia
preliminary stage

2019 South East Asian

Centralize competition 2019.11 to 2019.12 Philippines
Games – Men's Football

2022 FIFA World Cup

Singapore, Tajikistan,
Preliminary Home-away matches 2019.9 & 2019.11
Guam
Competitions

2019 AFC U-19

Centralize competition 2019.9 to 2019.10 Tajikistan
Championship Qualifiers

2019 AFC U-16

Centralize competition 2019.9 Kyrgyz Rep.
Championship Qualifiers

2019 FIFA MA Referee Referee education

2019.8 Taiwan
Course course

2019 AFC Champions Uzbekistan,

Home-away matches 2019.4 to 2019.5
League group stage Saudi Arabia

2019 AFC Cup group

Home-away matches 2019.2 to 2019.6 Vietnam, Singapore
stage

2018 AFC Elite Referee Referee education

2018.11 to 2018.12 Malaysia
Seminar course

2018 AFC U-16

Centralize competition 2018.9 to 2018.10 Malaysia
Championship Final

2018 AFF Suzuki Cup Home-away matches 2018.9 Brunei Darussalam

2017 AFC Elite Referee Referee education

2017.11 to 2017.12 Malaysia
Seminar course

*AFC Cup 2021 Group Stage matches changed from home-away format to centralized competition since Covid-19 pandemic.

80
Documentary analysis

In the project, three kinds of documentary information have been analysed. First are
the official publications from FIFA, the AFC and the CTFA. The official publications
include tactical reports from the FIFA and the AFC after major tournaments such as
the World Cup and Asian Cup, and the competition regulations from the FIFA and the
AFC. For example, the AFC Champions League's yearly revision of competition
regulations provides evidence of how the East and West Asia countries compete with
each other by changing competition formats. Today, the current competition
regulations still ensure that one team from the West Asia countries will participate in
the Finals, despite the historical records that East Asia clubs have had better
performances in ACL history (see the statistics and discussion in chapter 1).

Second are the documents in my possession as an active AFC Elite Referee. As a

FIFA referee and an AFC Elite Referee, I have had the chance to participate in many
AFC competitions and refereeing activities. When conducting participant observation,
some incidents were recorded by me in a research diary. Also, all official documents
or emails between the author and FIFA, the AFC or the CTFA are considered as
another kind of research document. For example, if I was appointed by the AFC for a
match, an official email and appointment letter would be sent to the CTFA with a
copy to my personal email address. The official communications provide a basic
understanding of how the AFC appoints their match officials, how the AFC groups the
referees from different countries into one team, or 'trio', and sometimes it also
provides clues as to why and how the AFC re-appoints referees, for example in 2020
because of the Covid-19 pandemic (for examples, see chapter 5).

The third kind of documentary sources are the digital software and applications
provided by FIFA and the AFC. Today, many teaching materials are made in digital
form for better delivery and preservation. For example, FIFA has recently built a
'RED' (FIFA Referee Education & Development) online education system and used it
to help referee instructors around the world. This was started in 2021 to help maintain
consistency and uniformity amongst participants in understanding the laws of the
game. After the AFC U-23 Championships held in China, the AFC provided teaching
material for referee education, including video clips and explanations of incidents
during the tournament. All fouls and challenges recorded in the teaching materials
81
were explained with standard disciplinary sanctions, the reasons for the disciplinary
sanctions, and the skills explained about how a referee should manage the situations.
Through analysing these kinds of teaching software, all the referees in Asia can
appreciate the standard expected from the AFC referee department and thus seek to
maintain consistency and uniformity. By analysing these kinds of digital documents,
the researcher could maintain a link with the AFC referee department, without
instruction through face-to-face means. This method worked well especially in the
2020 season because many of the referee education programs were changed to an
online format.

Table 4.2 shows the documents that the researcher analysed during the research
period.

82
Table 4.2

Documents that the author analysed during the research period

Name Type

2021 AFC Cup Group Stage: Amman, Jordan – Daily notes Personal documentary

2021 AFC Champions League Competition Regulation Official publication

2021 AFC Cup Competition Regulation Official publication

FIFA RED: Referee Education & Development Digital teaching software

2020 AFC Champions League Competition Regulation Official publication

2020 AFC Cup Competition Regulation Official publication

2019 South East Asian Games – Daily notes Personal documentary

2019 AFC Champions League Competition Regulation Official publication

2019 AFC Cup Competition Regulation Official publication

2019 FIFA MA Referee Course – Daily notes Personal documentary

2018 FIFA World Cup Russia: Statistics Official publication

2018 AFC Elite Referee Seminar - Daily notes Personal documentary

2018 AFC U-23 Championship – Fouls and Misconducts Digital teaching software

2018 AFC U-23 Championship – Offside Digital teaching software

2018 AFC U-23 Championship – Match officials Technique Digital teaching software

2018 AFC U-16 Championship Final Regulations Official publication

2018 AFC U-16 Championship Final – Daily notes Personal documentary

2018 AFC Champions League Competition Regulation Official publication

2018 AFC Cup Competition Regulation Official publication

2018 AFF Suzuki Cup Regulations Official publication

2017 South East Asian Games – Daily notes Personal documentary

FIFA Confederation Cup 2017 Russia: Technical Report Official publication

Teaching Material 2017 (FIFA) Digital teaching software

2017 AFC Elite Referee Seminar - Daily notes Personal documentary

2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil: Technical Report and Statistics Official publication

83
Semi-structured interviews

After the Covid-19 pandemic developed, the target personnel for interviews had to be
changed several times. For example, if the annual AFC Elite Referee Seminar had
been held as planned in December 2020, I would have had very good opportunities to
interview some elite referees in person. However, because of the changing of the
interview method, in the end, three categories of interviewees participated in the
research using slightly different research methods for each.

Firstly, eight male Taiwanese football referees and referee instructors were
interviewed in person and face-to-face. The conversations and the questions asked
were conducted in Chinese. The results have been translated into English by myself.
All conversations were recorded, and the reliability of the interviewees was
confirmed. Because the interviews were conducted face-to-face, all questions were
discussed in detail. After each question, the participants could talk freely and openly
to better express themselves. These results gave the researcher some detailed and
unexpected answers, compared with the online questionnaires.

Secondly, 26 AFC male elite referees participated in an online questionnaire

investigation. Since the Covid-19 pandemic stopped nearly all referee activities from
the 2020 season to the first half of the 2021 season, I was forced to interview most of
the interviewees who were not Japanese or Taiwanese through online communication.
Hence, I tried to build a Google survey form for use in an online interview. In total 26
responses from referees from all over Asia were considered valid. Compared to the
questionnaire used to interview the 8 Taiwanese participants from the CTFA, the
questions in the online Google form were revised into a simpler version with slightly
fewer questions. The author could not directly talk to the participants, nor could I give
prompts or follow-up questions immediately after they responded to each question, so
the answers from each question are relatively short and simple. This could also have
been because the participants might have limited English writing abilities, though
they are all capable of communicating in English (certainly as referees). However,
most of the participants still gave valuable information for the research.

Thirdly, three detailed written communications were conducted with senior referee
directors who are (or who were) in a leading position in the AFC referee department.
84
Different again from the above-mentioned Google form, these written
communications were conducted in Microsoft Word documents. Because I wanted to
receive detailed and clear information from these directors, key and complex
questions were listed and sent to the targeted personnel. In the end, 3 responses were
received and considered valid with very convincing answers from the AFC referee
directors.

Detailed information about all the interviewees, how and why the interviewees were
chosen, and the differences in questions between different categories of interviewees,
is explained in the next two sections.

Interviewees

This section explains the details of the participants who participated in the semi-
structured interviews for the research. As previously mentioned, three types of
interviewees participated in the research project: CTFA members, AFC Elite Referees
and AFC referee directors. This section describes how and why these participants
were chosen, and how their responses are presented in the thesis anonymously.

Chinese Taipei Football Association participants

During the research period, the Taiwanese participants were the only members that
participated in one-to-one and face-to-face interviews. For the selection of the
interviewees, several basic criteria were considered. Firstly, the interviewee should at
least be or had used to be on the CTFA registered FIFA referee list or on the national
A level referee list. The two selected CTFA referee instructors, who were FIFA
referees before, also fitted into this criterion. Secondly, the participants needed to
have some basic knowledge about the AFC's referee development policies or
programs. All the participants had at least participated in one of the programs from the
AFC Elite Referee recruiting process, the AFC Project Future or the AFC Referee
Academy. Thirdly, the participants needed to have fundamental knowledge about the
CTFA's referee development policies or programs. All the interviewees were or still
are all officiating in the top league in Taiwan in the 2020 and 2021 seasons and
maintained training and evaluation through the CTFA regular referee courses or
fitness tests. Table 4.3 shows the basic information about the CTFA interviewees.
85
Because of the policy of anonymity and for the protection of the participants, their
identities are only shown as codes without using their real names.

Table 4.3

Interviewees from the Chinese Taipei Football Association

Code A1 A2 A3 A4

Nationality Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan

Experience c, d, f c, d, f a, b, d, f a, b, d, f

Involved in AFC Referee

Recruiting program, AFC Referee No No Yes Yes

Academy or AFC Project Future

CTFA referee committee member Yes Yes Yes Yes

Code A5 A6 A7 A8

Nationality Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan

Experience a, b, f a, b, f a, b, f f

Involved in AFC Referee

Recruiting program, AFC Referee Yes Yes Yes Yes

Academy or AFC Project Future

CTFA referee committee member No No No No

a: FIFA Referee or FIFA Assistant Referee; b: AFC Elite Referee Panel.

c: former FIFA Referee or FIFA Assistant Referee; d: domestic referee instructor.

e: AFC Referee Instructor; f: National A Level Referee

Because the face-to-face interviews were conducted in Chinese, all conversations

were firstly recorded by the researcher using Chinese and later translated into English.
In chapters 6 and 7 therefore the reader will see quotations in the following format:

'...I think the Chinese Taipei Football Association should pay more attention to
referee development. Compared to the national teams, the referees might have a
better chance to go to the Asian Cup.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the
researcher)
(participant A1, September 2019, Taipei)

86
AFC Elite Referees

After revising the interview method, the author built an online Google form for the
AFC Elite participants in other Asian countries to answer the questions without
meeting in person. A total of 26 referees from different countries under the AFC Elite
Referee Panel participated in online interviews. The participants are all presently in
the AFC Elite Referee Panel and have gone through the AFC Elite Referee Recruiting
process and attended the Annual AFC Elite Referee Seminar. By collecting their
opinions and responses, I aimed to gain a broad view of how AFC Elite Referees
understand the referee education programs from the AFC, and what their motivations
to participate in these programs are. Table 4.4 shows some information about the
participants from different countries. Considering that all of them are still FIFA listed
international referees and they are also AFC Elite Referee representatives, most of the
information that might cause the referees to be recognized is disguised. The full
protection offered by the anonymity policy used in this research might be considered
as a key factor explaining why the referees were willing to join in the online
interviews.

87
 Table 4.4

AFC Elite Referee interviewees

Name B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9

Sri Lanka, Korea Rep., Mongolia, Philippines, Iraq, Vietnam, Hong Kong,
Nationality
Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Syria, Indonesia, India, Maldives, China, Singapore

Experience a, c, d, e a, c, d, e, f a, d, e a, d, e a, c, d, e a, c, d, e, f a, d, e a, d, e a, c, d, e, f

Name B10 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 B16 B17 B18

Sri Lanka, Korea Rep., Mongolia, Philippines, Iraq, Vietnam, Hong Kong,
Nationality
Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Syria, Indonesia, India, Maldives, China, Singapore

Experience a, d, e b, c, d, e a, c, d, e, f a, d, e b, c, d, e a, d, e b, c, d, e a, d, e a, c, d, e, f

Name B19 B20 B21 B22 B23 B24 B25 B26

Sri Lanka, Korea Rep., Mongolia, Philippines, Iraq, Vietnam, Hong Kong,
Nationality
Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Syria, Indonesia, India, Maldives, China, Singapore

Experience a, c, d, e a, c, d, e b, c, d, e b, c, d, e b, c, d, e b, d, e b, d, e b, d, e

a: AFC Elite Referee

b: AFC Elite Assistant Referee

c: AFC Champions League experiences

d: AFC Cup experiences

e: AFC Elite Referee Seminar experiences

f: AFC Project Future experiences

To avoid the participants being identified, some information, such as the nationality of
the referees, is not disclosed. The reason is that in some countries under the AFC,
there are only one or two elite referees in the AFC Elite Referee Panel, so marking
their nationality could easily show who the interviewees are. In this thesis, if the
answers from the AFC referee interviewees are quoted, the answer is shown in the
following format:

'My dream is to go to the World Cup. This is my major motivation to become an

AFC Referee.'
(participant B6, January 2021)

88
AFC referee directors

To understand the training system and the design of those referee education programs
of AFC elite referees, the opinions from the AFC referee department itself are crucial
and important. During the research period, I had the opportunity to connect with some
participants who are or were in an essential position in the AFC referee department. In
the end, three directors agreed to be interviewed. In order to understand better the
referee education direction and guidelines inside the AFC referee department itself, I
decided to use a different approach to interview the AFC referee directors, rather than
using the previously mentioned online Google form for the AFC referees. Each
director received one customized questionnaire related to his specific focus area in the
AFC referee department, for example, the project of which he was in charge, and they
were asked to reply to the questionnaire by written answers in Microsoft Word format.
After I received the answer documents, some follow-up questions were added and
sent to the directors again. Each director might have responded two or three times to
me to clarify the details of the projects or programs for which he is or was responsible
in the AFC referee department. Table 4.5 shows the basic information about the
participants, and again, for their basic protection, the results are shown anonymously
and only limited identification is provided here.

Table 4.5

AFC referee director interviewees

Code C1 C2 C3

1. Former FIFA Referee

Director of World Cup 1. AFC Referee department 1. Former FIFA Referee

referees in early 2000's member 2. Participated in the design

2. Former AFC Referee 2. AFC referee instructor of the AFC Elite Referee

Experience department member 3. In charged of AFC recruitment process

3. Former AFC/FIFA referee Referee Academy 3. Former AFC/FIFA referee

instructor 4. In charged of AFC STAR instructor

4. In charged of AFC program 4. AFC match commissioner

Project Future

89
Some of the written responses from the AFC referee directors are quoted in the thesis.
The responses are shown in the following format:

'One of our long-term goals is to set up an academy to identify and nurture

talented referees from all levels within the game in order to provide further
development opportunities.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

Questionnaires

As mentioned previously, there were three kinds of questionnaires used for the
interviews. The 8 participants from the Chinese Taipei Football Association were
interviewed in a one-to-one and face-to-face format, 26 AFC referees participated in a
Google form online investigation, and 3 AFC referee directors responded to the
researcher's questions through written texts. Because of the different methods of
approaching the interviewees, it was necessary that the questionnaires were all
slightly different. Arguably, to understand better the interviewees' opinions from the
different perspectives of the CTFA, AFC referees and AFC referee directors, creating
different kinds of questionnaires was a reasonable adaptation.

Chinese Taipei Football Association participants

Because the researcher had the chance to have conversations with the participants in
person, the questionnaires for the CTFA participants were longer than the online
questions for other interviewees. Each interview took around 40-60 minutes on
separate dates, which meant all the participants were interviewed privately and
separately. Table 4.6 shows the questionnaires I used to interview the CTFA
participants.

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Table 4.6

The questionnaires the author used to interview the CTFA participants

Topic I Reasons for participating in the AFC Elite Referee system

1 What did you expect to obtain when you chose to become an AFC Elite Referee?

2 Please describe any difficulties you encountered to become an AFC Elite Referee.

Do you think you could control the 'variables' during your recruitment to become an AFC
3
Elite Referee?

4 What do you expect, from your position now, the next stage or phase will be?

What remunerations, outcomes or results have you obtained since you became an AFC
5
Elite Referee? Please describe examples in detail.

6 Are you satisfied with the general outcomes since you became an AFC Elite Referee?

7 Do you consider that you could have negative outcomes through good performances?

8 What have been the intrinsic rewards since you became an AFC Elite Referee?

As stated above, are you satisfied with the 'balance' between extrinsic and intrinsic
9
rewards you get from the AFC?

As a football referee, what is the most valuable non-material thing you ever received? Did
10
you receive this 'reward' as a character of being AFC Elite Referee?

When joining the AFC Referee Recruiting process, did the system the AFC use now fit
11
what you expected?

Topic II Experience of officiating AFC matches

1 What did you expect to obtain before you officiated an AFC match?

2 Please describe any difficulties you encountered to officiate an AFC match.

3 Do you think you could control all the 'variables' in play during an AFC match?

4 What were the remunerations, outcomes or results after each AFC matches?

5 Are you satisfied with the outcomes after you have officiated AFC matches?

Do you think it is fair to say the outcomes for yourself after matches were always on the
6
basis of the effort you gave during the match?

7 What are the intrinsic rewards after a single AFC match?

As stated above, are you satisfied with the 'balance' between outcome and rewards you
8
get from the AFC?

9 As a football referee, what is the most valuable non-material thing you ever received?

10 In general, what would you say is your main motivation to officiate AFC matches?

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 Topic III Understanding of elite referee development policies of member associations / AFC

What are the regular training programs for football referees held by your member
1
association?

Please describe the difficulties to become the national A / national 1 / FIFA referee in your
2
country.

Please describe the supports or helps you received from member association during the
3
period you advanced to the next level of referee.

Are you satisfied with the general supports to your referee career from your member
4
association?

Please give your evaluations to the current referee development policies from your
5
member associations.

There were three topics that I sought opinions from the CTFA interviewees about. The
first was their reasons and motivations to join the AFC referee system. It includes
their expectations and the rewards, which indicates what they thought before and after
joining the AFC referee system. The second was about their experiences of
participating in AFC matches or programs. Again, it includes the expectations before
they participated in one specific activity, and the results of what they received after
participating in that specific activity. The third asked about their opinions about the
CTFA's referee development and education policies. Compared to the participants'
experiences and understanding of referee education from the AFC, I wanted to know
how the interviewees evaluated the football environment in Taiwan, especially in
referee education.

Although the questionnaire was originally written in English, I did translate it into
Chinese for better understanding for the participants. The details of how the
translation was done and how a pilot interview was conducted to confirm its
reliability are described in a later section. During the interview, the interviewees were
free to speak in Chinese without limitation, so most of the interviews were not
conducted through the designed orders or sequences of the questionnaire. Some
unexpected results, which were unrelated to the original questions, were revealed by
the interviewees during the interviews. Yet these results were still valuable and should
be considered as one of the benefits of semi-structured interviews, which allows
interviewees to speak freely.

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AFC Referees

The AFC referees participated in the interviews through an online Google form. Since
the author could not help them answering the questions or give them prompts or tips
for each question, the questionnaire was simplified, and the number of questions was
reduced. Table 4.7 is the online version of the questionnaire for the AFC referees.

Table 4.7

The online version of the questionnaire for the AFC referees

No Questions

What did you expect to obtain when you chose to become an AFC Elite Referee? For
1
example, honour, salary or chances to officiate matches in AFC competitions.

Were there any difficulties during your recruitment to become an AFC Elite Referee?
2
Please describe.

3 What do you expect, from your position now, the next stage or phase will be?

Are you satisfied with the general outcomes since you became an AFC Elite Referee? For
4
example, match allowances, life living differences or your referee career. Please describe.

As a football referee, what is the most valuable non-material thing you ever received? Did
5
you receive this 'reward' as a result of being an AFC Elite Referee? Why?

Do you think you could control all the 'variables' in play during AFC matches? For

6 examples physical difficulties, different opinions from the referee assessors. Please

describe.

Are you satisfied with the allowances and feedbacks after you have officiated AFC
7
matches? Why?

Do you think it is fair to say the outcomes for yourself after matches were always on the
8
basis of the effort you gave during the match? Please describe.

Can you describe some 'non-material' rewards after a single AFC match? For examples

9 accomplishment, respect from players and teams, the ovation from spectators, praise from

the media, co-operation with officials from different countries…

10 In general, what would you say is your main motivation to officiate AFC matches?

What are the regular training programs for football referees held by your member
11
association? Please describe some examples.

Please describe the support or help you received from member association during the
12
period you advanced to the AFC Elite Referee.

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 13 Please evaluate the general support from the AFC to your referee career.

Are you satisfied with the general support to your referee career from your member
14
association? Why?

15 Are you satisfied with the general support to your referee career from the AFC? Why?

Considering the participants were from different countries in Asia and English is the
official language of the AFC, the online questionnaire was conducted in English. It
might have caused some difficulties for the referees who have limited written English
abilities. However, considering all the AFC referees have passed the AFC Referee
recruitment process and their English abilities are approved by the AFC referee
department, they are supposed to be at least capable of clarifying the reasons that
made them want to join the AFC referee system, the expectations for them to become
part of the AFC elite, and what they think about the current AFC referee training and
education programs. These could give me enough information for the purposes of this
research project.

AFC Referee directors

The questionnaires for the AFC referee directors were customized in English. The
reason that the questionnaires for directors were so customized is that each director
who agreed to participate had different responsibilities and was in charge of different
programs when they worked in the AFC referee department. Creating a list of
customized questions could help the researcher and the interviewees to have a better
understanding of the research topic. Table 4.8 shows the customized questionnaires
for the different referee directors.

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Table 4.8

the customized questionnaires for the different referee directors.

For participant C1

What was the reason for you to created/organized/managed the AFC Project Future

1 Referee Development Program at the beginning? Before that, how much do you know

about Asian football, or particularly, Asian football match officials?

Previously many reports described the Project Future program was 'unique' in the world.

Do you agree? If yes, what are the uniqueness of this program? Especially compare it to
2
other training programs provided by other continental football confederations (UEFA,

CAF…).

What do you want the young referees get from the project, or what are the basic abilities

3 or concepts at least they must have, when he/she graduated successfully from PF? If

possible, please describe in specific examples.

Please describe the overall outcomes, results or achievements of the Project Future, from

your position as a project manager; Furthermore, how will you compare the Project Future
4
and the new AFC Referee Academy, both specific designed for the young prospects in the

Asia?

What do you think about the AFC Elite Referee recruiting process, during your staying
5
period in the AFC? If possible, please provide both some positive and negative opinions.

How will you evaluate or describe the general support for the AFC Elite Referees from

the AFC referee department during a year-long season? For example, the frequency and
6
quality of training or courses provided by the AFC. If possible, please compared it to your

plentiful experiences other than the AFC.

From your position as a higher director in the referee department, what do you think is

the main motivation for the referees from all the Asia to join the recruitment to become
7
AFC Elite? Can you describe both some material and non-material reasons? Do you think

the AFC Elite Referee recruitment system can fulfil all different motivations?

Over all, are there any differences about the development of the referees, between the

8 beginning when you join the AFC and at the time when you leave the AFC? Can you

describe in some specific examples if possible?

95
 For participant C2

What are the priority targets/objects of the referee education policies from the JFA,

1 especially against to the top level or international level referees in Japan? Please

describe in examples and reasons if possible.

Please describe the 'regular training/education program' organized by the JFA, especially

against to the top level or international level referees in Japan. From your position as a
2
director of JFA referee department, do you consider the routine program can fulfil all the

needs from the referees?

What do you think the basic abilities or concepts the young referees should have, before

they become the 'national representative' or 'flag carrier' as registering as FIFA referees

3 representing their countries? Are there or should there be any differences for referee

education policies between potential FIFA referee candidates and domestic top-level

referees? Why?

Please describe the overall outcomes, results or achievements of the previous 'JFA referee

caravan' and the 'professional referee system (PR)' from JFA; Furthermore, how will you
4
compare the JFA referee caravan to the AFC project future or the new AFC Referee

Academy, both could be seen as designed for the young prospects?

What was the reason for you to decide to join the AFC at the beginning? Before that, how
5
much do you know about Asian football, or particularly, Asian football match officials?

How will you evaluate the AFC Elite Referee recruiting process for selecting the elite

6 match officials in Asia? Please compare it to your experiences other than the AFC; and if

possible, please provide both some positive and negative opinions.

How will you evaluate or describe the general support for the AFC Elite Referees from

the AFC referee department during a year-long season? For example, the frequency and
7
quality of training or courses provided by the AFC. If possible, please compared it to your
plentiful experiences other than the AFC.

From your position as a higher director in the referee department, what do you think is

the main motivation for the referees from all the Asia to join the recruitment to become
8
AFC Elite? Can you describe both some material and non-material reasons? Do you think

the AFC Elite Referee recruitment system can fulfil all different motivations?

What are the main targets for the 'AFC STAR' program? From your position as a director,

how will you evaluate the general outcomes until now? What do you expect to achieve in
9
the future, for developing the AFC referee education? If possible, please describe with

some feedbacks from the program participants.

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 For participant C3

Please describe the creation of the 'AFC Elite Referee'. What do you think are the key
1
elements for the referee to become international level or AFC level?

How would you evaluate a potential AFC Elite Referee candidate during the recruiting
2
progress? Can you describe in some concrete examples?

What were the key elements when you assessed an AFC Elite Referee during the AFC
3
competitions? Can you provide some aspects both 'inside' and 'outside' the field?

From your position as a higher director in the referee department, what do you think is

the main motivation for the referees from all the Asia to join the recruitment to become
4
AFC Elite? Can you describe both some material and non-material reasons? Do you think

the AFC Elite Referee recruitment system can fulfil all different motivations?

Considering Taiwan is a football-developing member association, can you provide some

5
recommendations for the development of match officials in Taiwan, if there's any?

In summary, I tried to revise the questionnaire stage by stage in order to have a better
connection with the interview participants and to make the research possible during
the pandemic. The Covid-19 pandemic suspended most of the opportunities for me to
actually meet referees and instructors in person. The design of online and written
interview schedules was considered to be more direct and user friendly, and thus
likely to secure the reliability of the responses. That was why the Google form and the
Word formats were used. For the AFC referee directors, because they are or were in
key positions in the AFC referee department, a list of specially designed questions
helped me to analyse the opinions of these key insiders.

Pilot study and interviews

All the research interviews were conducted in the previously mentioned order during
the research period (September 2019 – March 2021). First were the CTFA
participants, the AFC referees and lastly the AFC referee directors. Before the
interviews with the CTFA participants officially started however a series of pilot
studies/interviews were conducted. The objective of the pilot study/interviews was to
try to clarify the reliability of the designed questionnaires, and to verify how much the
chosen participants who were non-English native speakers could understand the

97
questions and then provide accurate corresponding answers. In other words, the aim
of the pilot tests was trying to find out about any difficulties the participants had in
understanding and answering the questions in their non-native language. The
following sections explain how the pilot study was completed, what the findings were
after the pilot study, and how the author revised the questionnaires after the pilot
study.

Design of the pilot interviews

The pilot studies/interviews sought to find out how much the interviewees understood
the questions. Could the participants answer the questions clearly in their non-native
language? Did the researcher and participants have the same understanding of the
questions and responses? For solving these problems before the official interviews,
three pilot interviews were conducted through designed sequences. Figure 4.1 shows
the structure of the pilot interviews.

98
Figure 4.1

The structure of the pilot interviews

Questionnaire designed (English)

Questionnaire translation (Chinese) Expert confirm

Interview I: Participant 1 (Taiwanese) Interview 1.1 (English)

Interview 1.2 (Chinese)

Interview II: Participant 2 (Taiwanese) Interview 2.1 (English)

Interview 2.2 (Chinese)

Interview III: Participant 3 (Japanese) Interview 3 (English)

1st revision of the questionnaire (for group1 CTFA members)

Covid-19 Pandemic started

2nd revision of the questionnaire (online version for group2 AFC Referee members)

During the pilot tests period, two Taiwanese participants and one Japanese participant
were contacted and agreed to join the interviews, at the same time they agreed to
provide feedback after the tests. These three participants fitted the criteria of official
interviewees. Two Taiwanese were CTFA registered international referees and fully
participate in the CTFA's referee education programs. The Japanese interviewee was
also a FIFA referee, and at the same time, a full-time professional referee contracted
by the JFA.

99
The three interviews were conducted individually on different dates, using the original
version of the questionnaire (see Table 4.6). Before the first and second interviews
with Taiwanese participants, I provided only limited information before the
interviews, as follows:

1. The name of the research project title, but without research objectives and aims.
2. No interview outline was provided either in text or oral.
3. The participants had to answer the questions both in English and Chinese, but with
the sequence that finished all the questions in English first and then restarted with
Chinese.

During the first and second interviews, neither interview outline nor questions in texts
on paper were provided to the participants. It meant the interviewees had to listen to
the questions only and answer in their second language, English. I also only explained
the research details orally at the beginning of the interviews. The design was to try to
put the interviewees in the predicament or dilemma of language difficulties as much
as possible, and thus obtain comparisons and differences after the interviews were
repeated in Chinese.

During the interviews, I gave as few prompts about each question as possible,
especially to avoid providing a 'word' or 'vocabulary' not in the questions to the
participants, to simulate situations that could happen in the official interviews. The
two Taiwanese participants were also asked to provide a self-evaluation of 'English
ability compared to AFC Elite Referees' using a 7-point scale.

After the first and second pilot interviews, the third interview conducted with the
Japanese participant was only in English. The paper questionnaire was provided to the
interviewee before the test to simulate the real situation. However, I still tried to keep
prompts as limited as possible to confirm whether the questionnaire was
understandable for the participant. As with the Taiwanese participants, the Japanese
interviewee was asked to give himself an evaluation of 'English ability compared to
AFC Elite Referees' using a 7-point scale, as well.

100
Findings after the pilot interviews

Firstly, the author found out that the participants could underestimate their English
abilities. The participants gave themselves scores of 3, 4 and 4 points on the 7-point
scale, whilst I would consider their standards as 4, 4, and 5 points compared to the
general 'English ability of AFC Elite Referees'. However, this is my subjective view.

Secondly, the interviewees could give clear motivations for them to officiate in AFC
matches and to join the AFC Elite Referee Panel. By answering the question 'In
general, what would you say is your main motivation to officiate AFC matches?'
(Question 10, Topic II.), the participants described their motivations clearly. The
answers from the Taiwanese referees were not much different between English and
Chinese responses. Another example is when the participants answered the question
'What did you expect to obtain when you chose to become an AFC Elite Referee?'
(Question 1, Topic I.). All participants could understand the questions and described
their expectations, both in English and in Chinese.

However, for the non-native English speakers, they might face difficulties with the
definition of 'extrinsic' and 'intrinsic' in English. For example, the question 'What have
been the intrinsic rewards since you became an AFC Elite Referee?' (Question 8,
Topic I.) caused difficulties for all 3 participants. But if I asked the same questions in
Chinese for two Taiwanese referees, they can understand the questions and answer
them clearly because the keywords are clearly defined (extrinsic:有形的; intrinsic:無
形的). I gave the prompts for the Japanese interviewees when using these two words.
The prompts of 'material' or 'non-material' correspond with 'extrinsic' and 'intrinsic'
called the interviewee's attention to give some suitable answers. Finally, after the pilot
study, I decided to use prompts or revise the questions to clarify between material and
non-material when facing these two words during the official interviews.

Then, the word 'variables' in the question 'Do you think you could control the
"variables" during your recruitment to become an AFC Elite Referee?' (Question 3,
Topic I.) led one Taiwanese interviewee to misunderstand the objectives of the
questions. The series of questions including the word 'variables' was meant to lead the
participants to think through all kinds of considerations that could affect his/her
evaluations of their AFC referee career, and not only non-controllable factors that one
101
interview responded with. When I started the later interviews with CTFA participants,
I paid more attention here and explained the meaning in Chinese for a clearer
explanation.

I found only limited responses to the questions about 'extrinsic rewards' and
'outcomes'. All the interviewees could only mention salaries as the extrinsic reward
without further prompts, hints or follow-up questions. On the other hand, no valuable
observations were obtained in either English or Chinese for Part III questions from the
Taiwanese participants. This may be because the football association in Taiwan does
not provide satisfactory support or development programs for referees under CTFA.
Especially for those who are already at the AFC Elite level, the routine training
programs from the CTFA were amateur and not suitable. They can only gain useful
information and ability improvement from the AFC but not the CTFA. This is the kind
of expected result before the pilot studies, so during the later interviews the questions
in Part III for the CTFA participants were revised from the concept of 'what does the
CTFA's referee education program have' to 'What do you want from the CTFA's
referee education program'.

In general, the Taiwanese participants gave more valuable and complex answers in the
Chinese interviews, with limited prompts, hints and follow-up questions provided,
which were the expected results. During the English-language interviews, prompts or
clear definitions of some words provided them with a better understanding of the
questions. This pilot study also pointed out that in the actual research interview
outlines and question lists provided before the interviews would help both
interviewees and researcher. The interviewees in the pilot study suggested follow-up
written answers or responses after the interviews could give more useful information,
since normally many opinions, ideas, clarifications or thoughts might occur to them a
few days after the interview.

The revision of the questionnaires

After the pilot test and before the formal interviews started, the Covid-19 pandemic
struck the world, suspending nearly all the activities of football in Asia in the 2020
season. The results of the pilot study and the change of the interview method to online
form led the author to decide to revise the questionnaires. The full comparisons of the
102
questionnaires before and after the pilot study are shown in Table 4.6 and Table 4.7.
There are several points about the revised online version.

The first was the need to simplify the questions. Considering during the online
investigation, I could not help the interviewees when they face difficulties, I tried to
simplify the questions and made them easier to answer. For example, the questions
related to 'expectations' from the original design are:

'What did you expect to obtain when you chose to become an AFC Elite
Referee?' (Question 1, Topic I.)
'What do you expect, from your position now, the next stage or phase will be?'
(Question 4, Topic I.)
'When joining the AFC Referee Recruiting process, did the system the AFC use
now fit what you expected?' (Question 11, Topic I.)
'What did you expect to obtain before you officiated an AFC match?' (Question
1, Topic II.)
(from Table 4.6)

After the simplifications, the online version questions related to 'expectations' became
like the following:

'What did you expect to obtain when you chose to become an AFC Elite
Referee?'
'What do you expect, from your position now, the next stage or phase will be?'
(from Table 4.7)

Though there are risks that I could gain fewer responses, the two simplified questions
listed above are clearer for the interviewees and the researcher. The remaining two
questions simply ask the referees what they expect 'before' and 'after' became an AFC
Elite Referee. The analysis of how or whether the AFC referee recruitment system
could fit the expectations of the referees or not is now my responsibility. It is also
more suitable for the aims or objectives of this research project.

At the same time, removing some difficult words also simplifies the questions. Words
such as 'remuneration', 'extrinsic and intrinsic' or 'encounter' were removed or simply
103
changed to 'outcomes', 'material or non-material' or 'officiate'. Considering the
referees might have no chance to hear the explanation from me while responding to
the questions, using simplified words might reduce misunderstanding or irritation
from the interviewees.

The second change was to give prompts to the participants. According to the pilot
interviews, there are some situations that the participants might need hints from me.
However, in the online investigation, I could not give them the prompts or the hints
immediately if they face difficulties. I therefore decided to provide some prompts or
possible answers prior to the interviewees answering the questions. For example, the
original question 'Are you satisfied with the general outcomes since you became an
AFC Elite Referee?' (Question 6, Topic I., see Table 4.6) was revised to:

'Are you satisfied with the general outcomes since you became an AFC Elite
Referee? For example, match allowances, life living differences or your referee
career. Please describe.'
(from Table 4.7)

Another example is the question 'What are the intrinsic rewards after a single AFC
match?' (Question 7, Topic II., see Table 4.6) was revised to:

'Can you describe some ''non-material'' rewards after a single AFC match? For
examples accomplishment, respect from players and teams, the ovation from
spectators, praise from the media, co-operation with officials from different
countries…'
(from Table 4.7)

Providing prompts or some possible answers could help the interviewees to answer
the questions smoothly, according to the pilot tests. During the formal interview
period, the CTFA participants received these kinds of prompts verbally when I
realized they felt puzzled and were looking for suitable answers. However, the online
interviewees could not receive this kind of information immediately, so I decided to
provide some hints behind each question at the online version of questionnaires.

The third change was to reduce the number of questions. In the original design, I
104
wanted to have a personal conversation with all the interviewees for about 40-60
minutes. This method remained in place for the formal interviews with 8 CTFA
participants. But for the other 26 AFC referees who participated via the online
version, it was unrealistic to ask them to write so many words in English online. The
feedback from the pilot tests also indicated that the interviewees preferred speaking
rather than writing in English. Considering this dilemma, I decided to reduce the
number of questions.

For example, the whole Topic I of the original design of 'Reasons for participating in
the AFC Elite Referee system' was reduced from 11 questions (see Table 4.6) to the
following 5 questions (see Table 4.7):

'What did you expect to obtain when you chose to become an AFC Elite
Referee? For example, honour, salary or chances to officiate matches in AFC
competitions.'
'Were there any difficulties during your recruitment to become an AFC Elite
Referee? Please describe.'
'What do you expect, from your position now, the next stage or phase will be?'
'Are you satisfied with the general outcomes since you became an AFC Elite
Referee? For example, match allowances, life living differences or your referee
career. Please describe.'
'As a football referee, what is the most valuable non-material thing you ever
received? Did you receive this ''reward'' as a result of being an AFC Elite
Referee? Why?'
(from Table 4.7)

In the original design, there were 26 questions divided into 3 parts. Yet in the revised
version, the number of questions was reduced to 15 without separated parts.
Considering the participating AFC referees were from all around Asia, having
different English abilities, and having different interests in participating in this
project, reducing the number of questions was reasonable. In the end, a total of 26
AFC referees willing to join the project could be seen as evidence that revising the
questionnaire was the right decision.

The fourth change was to preserve two keywords from the overall research project,
105
'motivation' and 'expectation'. Because the questionnaires are for the AFC referees but
not the AFC referee directors, understanding the 'motivations' and 'expectations' of
them is important. Opinions from the 'AFC referees' can be seen as opinions from the
bottom of the pyramid in the AFC referee department, and the opinions from the 'AFC
referee directors' can be seen as those from the top of the pyramid. People at the
bottom might not fully understand the original design of the whole system and
policies, but the ones at the top could because they are those who designed this
system. That is why it was important to find out what were the 'motivations' and
'expectations' of the referees since they did not necessarily have a wide view of the
system but were still willing and hoping to join it.

To evaluate the motivations, experiences and opinions about the training system of the
AFC referees, the opinions from the referees at the bottom of the pyramid are
valuable and insightful. The research was partly to try to find out about their
'motivations' and 'expectations'. This is why these two key concepts and these two
'keywords' were preserved before and after the revision of the questionnaire (see
Table 4.6 and Table 4.7).

Conclusion

In this chapter, the research methods, the interviewees, the questionnaires and the
pilot study of the research project have been introduced. There were four methods
used in this research project: desk-based research, participant observation,
documentary analysis and semi-structured interviews. The desk-based research led the
author to realize that there is a large gap that could be filled in studies of Asian
football match officials. Through participating in four kinds of refereeing activities
with the AFC, I had the chance to work closely with other AFC colleagues and
instructors. These opportunities provided me with a valuable standpoint from which
to record and describe the different hierarchies of an AFC referee's life. By analysing
documents such as official publications, my personal research diary and digital
teaching materials, I could strengthen the accuracy of my subjective evaluation of the
motivations, experiences and training systems of the AFC referees. Finally, through
the semi-structured interviews, I received many valuable opinions from three
categories of research participants. The results from the interviews gave me evidence
to evaluate the AFC's referee education system and thus undertake this research
106
project.

The three kinds of chosen interviewees symbolize the three different approaches to
the target personnel. The AFC referees and the AFC referee directors represent two
contrary points of view in the AFC's referee pyramid. Gathering feedback and
opinions both from the top and the bottom of the pyramid gave me multiple views
with which to inform the research. The interviews with CTFA participants provided a
series of responses from a single national member association and yielded valuable
insights. How or what a national member association should reflect about the trend or
referee education strategies from the AFC, a continental federation, can be analysed
through the interviews with the CTFA participants.

Because the Covid-19 pandemic happened during the research period, the
questionnaires for the semi-structured interviews were revised. It changed from a
face-to-face version to an online version, and at the same time the questions were
simplified, and provided with prompts for the interviewees. The number of questions
was also reduced, but important keywords were preserved. The revision of the
questionnaires was based on the findings of the pilot interviews with three
participants. Finally, the customized questionnaires for each AFC director who
participated in the research helped the author to gain a broad understanding of how
the programs were designed and gave the research an additional key point of
reference.

107
108
Chapter 5 The Covid-19 Pandemic and AFC Match Officials1

In 2020 there was a radical change to the football environment in Asia and the rest of
the world. For a brief period the Covid-19 pandemic completely stopped football
activities around the world, and the restart has led to alterations in the training
systems and development strategies for football match officials in the AFC and
elsewhere (for example, on the impact of the pandemic on referees in Brazil and
South America generally, see Boschilia et al. 2021).

This chapter identifies three developments and their impact on AFC match officials
over the course of the year 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic developed and spread.
These included restrictions placed on the movement of referees, during what can be
called the 'uncertainty phase' of the pandemic, the impact on competitions available
for them to officiate, during an 'adjustment phase', and potential future developments
in the training and development of football referees in the AFC, entering what may
come to be known widely as a 'new normal phase'. Drawing on documentary sources,
my research diary, participant observations and experience as an elite AFC referee,
this chapter examines each of these phases.

The structure of the chapter is as follows. In the next section, we discuss the context
in which the Covid-19 pandemic impacted sport, AFC football and match officials
specifically. The distinctiveness of the AFC is considered, mainly using documents
obtained by the researcher which recorded the impact of the pandemic on AFC match
officials, along with issues identified by Webb (2020a). The second section identifies
the three phases mentioned above. The third section provides a first-hand account
about how the AFC reacted as it tried to restart football activities in 2021. The final
section draws preliminary conclusions about these developments.

1 Chapter 5 is an extensively revised and expanded version of the following article: Chen, H. C. &

Horne, J. (2021). The Covid-19 Pandemic and Asian Football Confederation Match Officials. Sport in

Society, 24(12), 2246-2261.

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The Covid-19 pandemic and sport

The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked an outpouring of research papers, commentaries

and articles, not just in epidemiological journals. In sport-related journals there have
been outline agendas for future research (Evans et al. 2020), articles discussing the
impact on mass gatherings, including the UEFA EURO 2020 football competition
(Parnell et al. 2020), papers reflecting on the future of the sports world (Nauright et
al. 2020) and the future of sports broadcasting (Majumdar & Naha, 2020) and
research into the economic impact of the pandemic on specific sports, such as
professional football (Drewes et al. 2020). In addition some have speculated about the
impact of the pandemic on the use of social media in relation to physical activity in
the future (Hayes, 2020). Whilst Lee and Tan (2020) have discussed the impact of the
pandemic on sport in the Asia-Pacific region generally and Webb (2020b) has
considered some issues in relation to football referees there are still gaps missing in
our understanding of the wide-reaching impact of the pandemic.

During the period that the AFC nearly put a stop to all football activities, between
February 2020 and January 2021, I frequently communicated with the AFC referee
department about my role. In total 59 official communications, including emails and
official documents, were received during this time. All the announcements from the
AFC discussed in this thesis, such as revised competition schedules and match
postponements, were received by me directly, although reference in the thesis to these
is mainly to the AFC website version. I recorded all developments, including the
uncertain match and travel arrangements when I was the appointed match official, in a
research diary, and also participated in the online education program that the AFC
provided during the pandemic.

Mapping the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Asian Football Competitions

The initial indications of the Covid-19 pandemic affecting Asian football

competitions were the different travel restrictions emerging from different countries in
early February 2020. I received an official letter about the withdrawal of a match
appointment on 7th February. The original appointment was for an AFC Cup group
stage match scheduled to be played on 9th March in Kuwait City, Kuwait. The reason
for the withdrawal of match officials was because the Kuwait FA could not provide a
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visa for 'Chinese citizens' during that time, since at the beginning of the pandemic
China was the most seriously affected country and faced strict travel restrictions.
Although the researcher is not a citizen of the People's Republic of China, I am
counted as one by the AFC (and FIFA). Another illustration of the impact was that I
received an urgent appointment by a phone call direct from the AFC department on 4th
March, which sought to confirm whether Taiwanese people could enter Singapore to
officiate an AFC Cup match. The match was played just one week later on 10th
March, but because by that time Singapore had placed travel restrictions on several
countries, including rejecting the visas of the original referee team from Iran, the AFC
had to find different match officials to replace this appointment. Considering the AFC
normally announces a match appointment by official letter through the country FA at
least one and half months before kick-off, this 'last minute' appointment and phone
call direct from the AFC referee department was very unusual.

With the seriousness of the pandemic getting worse, the AFC played its last 2020
AFC Cup group match on 11th March in Dushanbe, Tajikistan using a 'closed door'
format (that is, without spectators). It then announced that all matches would be
temporarily postponed, including the AFC Champions League, the AFC Cup and the
World Cup 2022 Qualifiers due to be played on 18th March. Table 5.1 lists the most
important dates and provides a timeline of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on
Asian football competitions in 2020.

Table 5.1

Timeline of the Covid-19 pandemic and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) competitions in 2020

The AFC travel department alerted all match officials about the difficulties of
February 25th
travel and visa applications

The AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia were closed and all
March 16th
departments under the AFC started working from home

The AFC announced the postponement of all matches and activities scheduled
March 18th
for March and April

The AFC referee department announced that 'Online Coaching sessions' for
April 2nd
referees would be started

The AFC referee department provided guidelines about 'Indoor exercises with
April 3rd
body weight for strength and power' for match officials

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 April 8th First 'Online Coaching sessions' for East Asian region match officials started

The AFC announced the continued postponement of all matches and activities
April 14th
in May and June

The AFC announced new match dates for FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022

June 5th qualifiers to be played during the international window in October and

November

The AFC announced 1st edition 'AFC Champions League revised schedule' and
July 9th
'AFC Cup revised schedule'

The IFAB confirmed an extension of the temporary amendment of Law 3 of the

July 16th
Laws of the Game (allowing extra substitutions)

The AFC 'match operation protocol during Covid-19 pandemic` was circulated
July 24th
to FAs, Clubs and match officials

FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Qualifiers were again postponed until 'at least'
August 12th
early 2021

The referee department provided an updated version of 'AFC Referees

August 18th
Guidelines 2020/21'

The referee department appointed match officials for the AFC U19

August 24th Championships (Uzbekistan 2020), scheduled to be played from late October to

November

September 10th The AFC Cup 2020 was officially cancelled

The AFC U19 Championships in Uzbekistan were postponed to early 2021, and
September 14th
appointments for officials were withdrawn

The remaining group stage and knockout stage matches of the West Asian
September 14th
region of the Asian Champions League (ACL) was restarted in Doha, Qatar

It was announced that all remaining East Asian region ACL matches would also

be played in Doha, Qatar; a 2nd edition of 'AFC Champions League revised

October 9th
schedule' announced

The AFC confirmed that the Final of the ACL 2020 would be played in Doha,
October 16th
Qatar with a single match only, rather than the original home and away format.

The remaining group stage and knockout stage matches of East Asian region of
November 18th
the ACL restarted in Doha, Qatar

The ACL 2020 Final took place (Champions Ulsan Hyundai, South Korea;
December 19th
runners up, Persepolis, Iran)

Sources: AFC, 2020a-2020j; Personal Communications, 2021, 2020a-2020e.

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The following sections describe three phases of Covid-19 pandemic-related
developments affecting Asian Football Confederation football officials. Firstly, and
initially, after some uncertainty, the AFC reacted to developments in countries
affected. The main influence on competitions and match adjustments were the travel
restrictions and disease control policies adopted by individual countries, rather than
action taken by the AFC itself. Secondly, the AFC then responded by adjusting and
prioritizing. It focused on the completion of the AFC Champions League as its first
priority, and at the same time increasingly appeared to relinquish other tournaments,
possibly to reduce expenditure. Thirdly, the pandemic has encouraged the AFC to
seize the opportunity to create and escalate the use of new online education programs
for referees, which may change development strategies for AFC officials in the future.

A difficult but passive reaction from the AFC

As mentioned previously, there were travel problems and difficulties of visa

applications from early February 2020. According to AFC competition regulations,
match officials have as their main duty to verify their visas after having been
appointed, and the host countries, member associations or clubs also have the
responsibility to assist the officials to obtain certified documents if needed. However,
at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the situation in numerous countries was
varied and non-transparent. The examples given above faced by the author with
appointments for Kuwait and Singapore matches illustrate this. The AFC faced
difficulties when the host countries suddenly announced travel restrictions or disease
control policies, often with immediate effect or within a very short time because of
uncertainties about the new virus. However, on the other hand, the AFC still tried
their best to continue the competitions on schedule by reacting as quickly as possible.

In another example, I received an appointment and successfully travelled to Manama,

Bahrain for an AFC Cup group stage match on 22nd February. However, at the same
time, the original appointed referee assessor from the Korean Republic was refused
entry into Bahrain even though he took the same flight with all the other match
officials and had already landed at Bahrain international airport. Bahrain announced
the travel restrictions on the precise date that the officials arrived. These forbade some
high-risk countries' citizens, including Koreans, from entering the Kingdom of
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Bahrain with immediate effect. The assessor had no knowledge of this since the start
of his journey from Seoul to Manama the night before. After the referee assessor was
repatriated, the AFC was forced to send a referee assessor at the last minute from
another of the Gulf countries, which at that time were still allowed to enter Bahrain, to
ensure the match could be played.

Following this the AFC travel department sent an alert to all AFC registered match
officials, stating that due to the lack of clarity about the status of the disease, match
officials should start their itinerary only if they received valid visas and clear
information that allowed them to enter the destinations (PC, 2020a). With the
situation changing daily, the AFC could give very limited assistance to officials, and
was sometimes forced to react suddenly, change match officials abruptly and postpone
matches at very short notice.

Finally, on the 18th March, the AFC decided to postpone all competitions and
activities for March and April (PC, 2020b). This was the first initiative from the AFC
after the very difficult situations throughout all of February. The postponement
included two important match days on 26th March and 31st March; qualifiers for the
2022 men's World Cup to be staged in Qatar. Since World Cup qualifiers can only be
played during 'FIFA Days' (FIFA approved international competition windows), this
first and then second postponement announced on 14 th April (PC, 2020c) changed the
schedule of national teams completely, including the training plans and progress of
international players and referees.

The completion of the AFC Champions League

Before all competitions and football activities stopped on 18th March, the last AFC
Champions League (ACL) group stage match was played on 4th March in Sydney,
Australia between Sydney FC and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. After the announcement
made by the AFC, all other ACL matches were postponed and had an undetermined
status until the AFC provided the first edition of an 'AFC Champions League revised
schedule' on 9th July (AFC, 2020a). According to this version of the restart program,
the AFC West Asia region ACL matches would restart on 14th September, and the
AFC East Asia region matches would restart on 16th October. The remaining matches
in both regions would be played at a centralized venue, and the format of knockout
114
stages and final were also changed to single matches, rather than the original home
and away format. For the remaining group stage matches, it was expected that each
group could and should be hosted by one volunteer club or country. However, in the
end all matches were played in Doha, Qatar. Malaysia did present their interest in
hosting remaining group G and H matches of the East Asia region (AFC, 2020b),
despite their only representative team in the ACL, Johor Darul Ta'zim, not performing
well and with little chance of qualifying according to its previous record. Finally, the
AFC announced a second edition of the 'AFC Champions League revised schedule' on
9th October (PC, 2020d), and this confirmed that all the remaining East Asia region
ACL matches would also be played in Doha.

Compared to the positive action taken by the AFC to complete the Champions
League, the participating clubs, or at least some of the clubs, showed a lack of interest
in restarting the AFC Cup. Only Jordan (AFC, 2020c), the Maldives and Vietnam
(AFC, 2020d) showed interest in hosting the remaining group stage matches as
neutral centralized venues for the West Asian region (Jordan), group E (Maldives), F
and G (Vietnam). But due to travel difficulties, financial problems and despite the
AFC also announcing an 'AFC Cup revised schedule' on 9th July (AFC, 2020e), the
restart of the AFC Cup did not progress. The AFC finally decided to cancel the AFC
Cup 2020, and officially announced this on 10th September (AFC, 2020f). Later on,
the AFC also announced that the 2020 AFC Under-19 Championship in Uzbekistan,
and the 2020 AFC Under-16 Championship in Bahrain would both be postponed until
'early 2021' (AFC, 2020f). The originally scheduled World Qualifier match days 7 and
8, that would have been played on 'FIFA Days' in October, were also rescheduled for
2021 as well (AFC, 2020g).

Although the AFC Champions League was the only competition that the AFC
restarted successfully, the AFC still put efforts into the possibility that the remaining
competitions could be restarted. The AFC had begun to prepare for competitions
restarting since July. The AFC circulated the 'Match operation protocol during Covid-
19 pandemic' on 24th July to all FAs, Clubs and match officials (PC, 2020e). The
protocol included specific details about how matches should be arranged under
Covid-19. During that time, the AFC still remained positive about the pandemic, so
the match restart protocol described three types of formats: matches with full
spectators (normal match), matches with limited spectators (restricted match) and
115
matches without spectators (closed-door match). However, the end result was that all
matches were played closed-door and in a 'quarantine bubble' in Doha. Figure 5.1
shows the table of contents of the match operation protocol.

116
Figure 5.1

AFC Match Operation Protocol During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Source: Personal Communication 2020e. Asian Football Confederation, Match operation protocol during Covid-19 pandemic.

Personal correspondence to the author, July 2020, Taipei, Taiwan.

117
A close look at the contents reveals that the protocol includes very specific details for
how the FAs, clubs, players and officials should react when matches might restart. For
example, when and where face masks should be worn, a revised pre-match player
equipment checking procedure from the club rooms to the team bench on the field,
and other measures to avoid close contact and maintain social distances. Very detailed
instructions such as how teams should enter the stadium, how the players and referees
should line up before kick-off, and how and who should leave the field first are also
described very clearly in the protocol. Additionally, the hospitality formats of the host
clubs or countries, which in the end only Qatar could fulfil, were restricted very
stringently in the protocol. How the players should be seated and served food during
dining to maintain social distance and avoid unnecessary contacts, were also
described in the protocol (PC, 2020e).

For the restarted ACL matches, PCR tests for all participants from the clubs were
required before their departure to Qatar, and other tests were conducted at Doha
airport to confirm the health of the team members. During the competition period, all
players and officials stayed in a 'bubble' and were expected to avoid any contacts from
the outside. Despite the AFC placing these heavy restrictions, some teams and players
failed to remain healthy during the period. The team Al-Wahda from the UAE was
unable to travel to Doha since players tested positive (AFC, 2020h). Team Johor
Darul Ta'zim from Malaysia was also unable to join the restart of the ACL because the
Malaysian government refused to lift its travel restrictions (ESPN, 2020). Team Al-
Hilal from Saudi Arabia was also forced to leave the tournament because players
tested positive during their stay in Qatar. On their last day in Doha only 13 players
tested negative and therefore would be available to play a match, including three
goalkeepers (AFC, 2020i).

New online education programs for match officials

As described in chapter 3, normally during the AFC season, the majority of training
and education for AFC referees is conducted by referee assessors during match
appointments, or by referee instructors through training programs held during
centralized competitions. As Webb (2017) notes, this is a widely shared experience for
all elite football referees. Because of the total lockdown of all activities under the
AFC from March 2020, the referee department had to find another way to maintain
118
the condition of AFC referees, both physically and mentally.

For the maintenance of the physical condition of the referees, the AFC provided
guidelines for 'Indoor exercises with body weight for strength and power' on 3rd April
2020 (PC, 2020f). The main points of the guidelines were providing indoor training
methods for the referees to at least maintain their basic physical condition during
lockdown, and make sure the referees were physically ready for the restart of the
competitions. Because of space restrictions, the guidelines were focused on
bodyweight training rather than using machines and focused on strength training
rather than aerobic ability improvements.

At the same time the AFC referee department started weekly 'online coaching
sessions' for match officials in April. Using the Zoom online meeting software, the
AFC qualified referee instructors held online education programs every week. The
AFC separated all the participants into different zones due to time differences. The
East Asia zone included Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mongolia, led
by senior FIFA/AFC instructor Yim Yau Cheung from Hong Kong (PC, 2020g). Every
week one specific topic was discussed, like 'tactical fouls', 'handball offences' or
'offside'. All registered AFC Elite Referees were required to attend the online meeting
on time and discuss, respond, and reply to the topics straightaway through online
meeting software. These activities aimed to keep the referees at least mentally still
prepared for the matches and stay active for the restart of the competitions at any
possible time (AFC, 2020j).

The online coaching sessions continued from April to the last week of July 2020,
totalling 18 sessions, plus tests and two match analysis seminars were also conducted.
The final evaluation reports on match officials were sent back to the AFC referee
department. The reports recorded the attendance percentages of the referees, the
marks of the tests and the results of the match analysis. These grades and evaluations
replaced the ordinary match performance evaluations conducted during real matches.
This was a method that had no option but to be conducted online, but also can be seen
as a new way in which the AFC might seek to educate and evaluate match officials in
the future.

Close to the end of 2020, the decision had already been made that the yearly AFC
119
Elite Referee Seminar would not take place, or at least not in its usual format. The
most important annual activity for the match officials was forced to change to a new
format because of the pandemic. The AFC announced that a new AFC STAR
Programme would start in December 2020 and invited former English Premier
League referee instructor and commentator Ray Oliver as project director (PC, 2021).

Although the program still does not have graduates yet, the basic concept of the
program is that the AFC will try to cultivate future referee instructors from each
member association through the new online meeting format, rather than the traditional
real-time, face-to-face, courses. The participants invited to train in the AFC STAR
Programme are senior referee veterans from each member association, who are likely
to have retired from the AFC Elite Referee Panel in recent years. This will act as a
most important training window for each member association under the AFC in the
future. In 2021, the first batch of the AFC STAR Programme prospects are also
selected and trained online, since travel restrictions and the pandemic remain. This
suggests that the Covid-19 pandemic has led to decisions about the future training and
development strategies for match officials in the AFC. It is possible that the majority
will be using the online format, or at least take a very important part in training and
development, in the future.

The Restart of Asian Football: A Personal Account from the 2021 AFC Cup

This section is written based on my personal experience, as I was appointed as a

match official from 17th May to 29th May in 2021 for the AFC Cup group stage
matches played in Jordan. Normally, the group stage of AFC Cup or ACL matches
would be played in a home-and-away format. Because of Covid-19 most of the Asian
countries retained stringent border controls, and the AFC decided to play all the 2021
AFC Cup and ACL group stages matches in a centralized competition. I was
appointed to Amman, Jordan as the Jordan Football Association agreed to host the
group B & C matches.

Schedule of AFC Cup 2021 Group B & C in Jordan

The Jordan Football Association agreed to host two groups of matches since in both
Group B and Group C, there was one Jordanian team. But compared to the ACL
120
 group stage matches played in April 2021, the AFC decided to reduce the number of
matches of the AFC Cup 2021. There were still four teams in each group, but each
team played only one game against each other. Compared to the ACL played in April
in the same centralized competition format where each team still played two games
against each other, the AFC decided to reduce the number of matches of the AFC
Cup, possibly for financial reasons. Table 5.2 shows the schedule of AFC Cup 2021
Group B and Group C.

Table 5.2

AFC Cup 2021 Group Stage: Group B & C, Amman, Jordan

Date Group B Group C

Al-Salt (JOR) vs Al-Muharraq (BHR) Tishreen (SYR) vs Kuwait SC (KWI)

16:00 King Abdulla Stadium 16:00 Amman International Stadium

Match Day 1

May 21st 2021

Balata Center (PLE) vs Al-Ansar (LIB) Al-Faisaly (JOR) vs Al-Am'ari (PLE)

20:05 King Abdulla Stadium 20:05 Amman International Stadium

Al-Muharraq (BHR) vs Balata Center (PLE) Kuwait SC (KWI) vs Al-Am'ari (PLE)

16:00 King Abdulla Stadium 16:00 Amman International Stadium

Match Day 2

May 24th 2021

Al-Salt (JOR) vs Al-Ansar (LIB) Al-Faisaly (JOR) vs Tishreen (SYR)

20:05 King Abdulla Stadium 20:05 Amman International Stadium

Al-Ansar (LIB) vs Al-Muharraq (BHR) Al-Faisaly (JOR) vs Kuwait SC (KWI)

16:00 King Abdulla Stadium 16:00 Amman International Stadium

Match Day 3

May 27th 2021

Al-Salt (JOR) vs Balata Center (PLE) Tishreen (SYR) vs Al-Am'ari (PLE)
20:05 King Abdulla Stadium 20:05 Amman International Stadium

Source: AFC, 2021e; provided by the author.

Considering that for each matchday a total of eight referees and eight assistant
referees needed to be appointed, the AFC sent a total of 10 referees and 12 assistants
to Jordan for this competition together with five technical instructors, but no fitness
instructors were assigned. The AFC seemed to place more importance on the ACL,
since there they appointed at least one fitness instructor to each centralized venue to
monitor the referees' fitness conditions and help referees to rebuild their physical

121
condition after months of lockdown. However, the AFC did try to appoint one referee
plus one assistant referee from each country. This could retain the teamwork of
referees both technically on the field and mentally strengthen the unity of referees.
Table 5.3 shows the completed appointment of the AFC Cup group B & C, with the
names of the match officials anonymized because of the AFC privacy protocol.

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Table 5.3

Confirmation of AFC Match Officials: AFC Cup 2021 Group B & C

Designation Name & Country

Technical Instructors/Assessors Anton, Islamic Republic of Iran

Abdullah, Qatar

Jasim, United Arab Emirates

Thomas, Thailand

Yusri, Yemen

Referees Kevin, Afghanistan

Bryan, Islamic Republic of Iran

Kim, Korea Republic

Mohammed, Saudi Arabia

Ahmed, Iraq

Rowan, Sri Lanka

Joseph, Thailand

Kabirov, Tajikistan

Abdul, Oman

Chen, Chinese Taipei

Assistant Referees Santos, Afghanistan

Manur, Bangladesh

Armani, Islamic Republic of Iran

Rashid, Oman

Yaqoob, Saudi Arabia

Sayood, Uzbekistan

Tammer, Qatar
Chathura, Sri Lanka

Ole, Thailand

Akmelov, Tajikistan

Qasim, Iraq

Wang, Chinese Taipei

Source: N.B. names anonymized, provided by the author.

The referees and instructors reported for duty four days before the first match date.
This gave the instructors plenty of time to arrange a preparatory course and fitness

123
check sessions before the competition. The appointed referee instructor decided to use
Dynamic Yo-Yo to test the fitness conditions of the referees and to use ARIET to test
the assistant referees. However, the required level and numbers of shuttles were cut
down compared with the usual requirements (level 17-8 for DYY and level 15-3 for
ARIET; for a comparison of the use of the Yo-Yo test, see Table 3.3). During the
preparatory course and competition period, there was practical training on the field in
the morning and a classroom program in the afternoon every day except on match
days. The classroom program on the day after a match day was to analyse match
incidents, referees' performances and points for improvements. Finally, all referees
and instructors were released on the day after the last match date, but some of the
referees needed to travel directly to other countries/venues for the following FIFA
World Cup 2022 Qualifiers (WCQs) starting in early June. Because most of them
needed to be quarantined and would not be able to travel again if they flew back to
their own countries first. The AFC had to pay for hotel accommodation and provided
these referees with a daily allowance during the gap between the AFC Cup and the
following WCQs. This was another new arrangement between the AFC and referees
as a result of the pandemic.

Safety of the Competition

To hold a sport competition during the Covid-19 pandemic, the safety of the athletes,
officials and staffs was seen as a most important priority. As mentioned previously,
the AFC published a 'Match operation protocol during COVID-19 pandemic' as a
guideline for any host member associations to follow. According to my personal
observations during my stay in Jordan, credit should be given to the host member
association, the Jordan Football Association, since it followed the protocol in most of
these aspects and made the safety of the participants a top priority. The Jordan
Football Association provided an 'Operation and Medical Preparedness and Response
Plan for Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup (AFC AAC-West) 2021 Group B &
C, Amman, Jordan' before the competition to all participants (Jordan FA, 2021), and
the AFC and Jordan FA together decided all matches should be played in a 'closed-
door' format. Figure 5.2 shows the content of the 'Operation and Medical
Preparedness and Response Plan for Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup (AFC
AAC-West) 2021 Group B & C, Amman, Jordan'. The response plan includes some
very detailed regulations for protecting all participants.
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Figure 5.2

Operation and Medical Preparedness and Response Plan for Asian Football Confederation Asian Cup

(AFC AAC-West) 2021 Group B & C, Amman, Jordan

125
Source: Jordan F.A. (2021).

Firstly, the duplicated requirement of PCR tests was conducted on all competition-
related participants, including players, team officials, referees, media members, and
even hotel staff. Before I departed from Taipei, a negative PCR test result of Covid-19
certification provided by the national health department or national level hospital
within 72 hours was required both from the Jordanian side and the AFC referee
department. After landing at Amman international airport, another PCR test was
conducted again on all match officials. Referees were transported directly from the
airport to the hotel without any contact with local residents. The referees were also
ordered not to leave their rooms before the results of the landing PCR tests proved
negative, which was by the following morning. According to the 'response plan'
provided by the Jordan FA, all related participants in the competition were divided
into four groups for the PCR testing every three days. Figure 5.3 shows how the
groups were decided and scheduled for PCR tests during the competition period, and
how the AFC and Jordanian side would respond if a participant tested positive for
126
Covid-19.

Figure 5.3

Covid-19 PCR Testing Protocol in the Operation and Medical Preparedness and Response Plan

127
128
129
Source: Jordan F.A., 2021.

130
Secondly, the Jordan Football Association and medical official representatives from
the AFC strictly maintained a 'safety bubble' or 'quarantine bubble' throughout the
competition. According to the Jordanian government border control policy at that
time, all travelers entering the Kingdom of Jordan had to be isolated for days and
monitored by the Jordanian Ministry of Health through applications and mobile
devices. However, the AFC competition-related participants were exempt from this
isolation and mobile monitoring by special permission, with some conditions. For the
referees, we were not allowed to leave our hotel during the stay in Jordan. The bubble
of the competition for the referees only included the hotel, two stadiums and the
training field. All transportation between the hotel to the training field or stadiums
were directly from place to place, avoiding contact with any local people. No
handshakes were allowed during the competition, including before and after the
match. Masks should be worn all the time at the hotel except when dining. At the
hotel restaurant, there was an isolated area for the AFC members. We could remove
masks when eating but when entering the restaurant we had to wear disposable plastic
gloves. At the stadium, the referee and assistants were allowed to take off their masks
from when the warming up session started until the match finished, but the fourth
official had to keep wearing their mask during the whole match. Social distance was
also strictly required during the competition. For example, the standard pre-match
equipment and starting lineup check of both teams was moved from the team dressing
room to the field of play. The marching format on entering the field was changed from
the traditional lineup to a new U-shaped style as in Figure 5.4.

131
Figure 5.4

The method of how teams should enter the field of play maintaining safety social distance

Source: PC, 2020e.

132
Thirdly, additional medical officers from the AFC were appointed to the competition
to ensure all protocols were strictly followed. Before the pandemic, neither a doctor
nor a medical officer from the AFC would be appointed even to a centralized format
competition. Only a doctor from the local host countries would take charge of health
and basic medical affairs. But this time in Jordan, the AFC appointed AFC qualified
medical officers from other countries to cooperate with the local health department to
ensure the safety of the competition and all participants. During the competition
period, the authority of AFC medical officers could be seen as the highest, sometimes
even greater than leading AFC referee instructors. For example, the first meeting of
all referees and instructors, normally held on the arrival date, was postponed to the
next morning because the AFC medical officers instructed that all referees needed to
stay in their room until the arrival PCR tests results had proved negative. Two
assistant referees were suspended on the final matchday even though the appointment
was already published, because the AFC medical officers found out that they had
failed to follow the safety protocol closely. The AFC medical officers reported the
issue back to the AFC immediately and forced the instructors to change the
appointment at the last minute. On matchday one, the author, other referees and
instructors, were blocked outside the stadium because the AFC medical officer
insisted that the temperature check at the entrance was not strict enough and that it
had to be done again. These small details demonstrate how, since the pandemic period
began, the AFC has given medical representatives a much higher authority than
before.

Using centralized competitions as referee education opportunities

Although the 2021 AFC Cup reduced the number of matches, the centralized format
of the competition provided an opportunity for the AFC referee department to
implement their referee education program. As mentioned previously, the AFC Elite
Referee Seminar scheduled for December 2020 was cancelled. It meant that most of
the referees in the AFC Elite Referee Panel, except for those participating in the
restart of the 2020 AFC Champions League in Doha, would remain unsupervised by
the AFC referee department from late 2019 until May 2021. Yet several online referee
education seminars were conducted, the AFC referee department was still looking for
chances to hold actual and practical education courses. That is why the author and
other match officials were asked to report for duty earlier than the actual match dates.
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Figure 5.5 shows how the AFC organized a three-day preparatory course for referees
before the matches began.

Figure 5.5

The preparatory Course and Fitness Check schedule

Source: provided by the author.

According to Figure 5.5, all AFC Cup group stage matches would hold the same
preparatory course as the AFC considering it would be a good opportunity to train and
refresh the knowledge of referees during the centralized competition. Seven
theoretical sessions were conducted by AFC referee instructors. For some referees,
this might be the first chance to have this kind of course and renew their football
knowledge face-to-face with AFC qualified instructors since the 2019 AFC Elite
Referee Seminar, nearly a year and a half previously. At the same time, for most of the
appointed referees, this was also the first official fitness test held and monitored by
AFC referee instructors since 2019. Although this time in Jordan the instructors,
maybe considering some referees might lack full training during the lockdown,
decided to use the Dynamic Yo-Yo test instead of the much more difficult FIFA
Referee Fitness Test to measure the referees' physical conditions, it was still an
opportunity for the AFC to monitor and check their referees' physical condition
directly and personally.

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Conclusions

This chapter has traced the impact of the Covid-19 on Asian Football with a focus on
elite referees and match officials. AFC competitions were affected by the Covid-19
pandemic initially in February 2020, as matches were postponed, and referees were
re-appointed frequently during that month. After the last AFC Cup group match was
played in March, the AFC announced that all matches and activities were to be
postponed. Following the peak of the pandemic, the AFC tried to create online
education activities for the elite panel referees, including theoretical knowledge
refreshment and indoor physical training methods in order to maintain the condition
of the match officials. The AFC also provided a new match protocol and guidelines
for the teams, clubs and member associations to prepare before the competition
restarted. The AFC Champions League began again in September 2020; however, the
AFC Cup was cancelled and the U-19 and U-16 AFC Championships for national
teams were again postponed to at least early 2021. These two Championships were
finally announced as completely cancelled in early 2021 as the pandemic remained.

Based on personal observations and documents obtained by myself I have identified

three phases: uncertainty, when reaction was the main feature of AFC responses;
adjustment, when prioritizing of certain competitions became apparent; and a new
normal, when the AFC seized the opportunity to develop new methods of delivering
training and support for match officials. At the start of the pandemic the AFC referee
department initially appeared to react slowly to the impact of Covid-19. However, it
would be unfair to be too critical of the response of the governance body, responsible
for 47 national FAs, across eight different time zones and so many cultural and
linguistic differences. Overall, it can be considered to have done its best to alert match
officials in response to travel restrictions, often announced at short notice, and revised
the match schedule as quickly as possible, whilst it had to use some unofficial
methods, like direct phone calls or social media apps to contact those affected.

From April 2020, the AFC referee department maintained regular correspondence,
training and education for match officials through weekly contact and use of online
programs. This reaction can be seen to have accelerated the reform of the AFC
referees’ education project, involving the training and development of match officials.
At the same time the successful restart of the ACL in 2020, but not the AFC Cup,
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indicates the different value attached to each competition by the AFC competition
department. As outside observers we cannot fully know why, for example whether
they were for financial or political reasons, until the evidence becomes available. The
unexpected cancellation of the AFC Cup 2020 does however show the prioritizing of
certain competitions in the AFC, and possibly for some countries or member football
associations.

Finally, what I observed and experienced at the restart of AFC Cup in 2021 can be
seen as indicative of how the AFC, and other football confederations around the
world, actually sought to restart football activities following the 'Match operation
protocol during Covid-19 pandemic'. The AFC did react more positively in 2021 by
restarting most of the annual football activities. However previously held referee
education programs, such as the yearly AFC Elite Referee Seminar, are still not yet
confirmed to be held in 2021. The way the AFC used a centralized competition as a
means to introduce some referees' education opportunities can be seen as part of the
previously mentioned 'new normal'. Since the pandemic continues to disrupt
previously normal life, this 'new normal' has forced continental federations, such as
the AFC, and single MAs, such as the CTFA, to start the transformation of referee
education using online and more technologically developed methods of training. By
decreasing the number of opportunities for in-person contact, how successful this new
structure of the AFC and CTFA's referee training systems will be in motivating and
directing the individuals involved in terms of their self-discipline and other attributes
required of modern (and especially elite) referees becomes questionable, and a
research issue for future investigation. The next two chapters take up the story of the
motivations, experiences and training systems of AFC referees, through semi-
structured interviews, reference to official documents and reflections based on my
own experience as an elite referee, in this light.

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Chapter 6 The motivations and experiences of AFC Elite Referees

This chapter focuses on the motivations and experiences of AFC Elite Referees.
Through a discussion of the results of semi-structured interviews, online
questionnaires and personal communications with the three categories of
interviewees, three aspects of the research findings are discussed. Firstly, the
motivations, expectations and evaluations of referees in the AFC Elite Referee system
are analysed. Secondly, their experience of feedback, either positive or negative,
following matches is discussed. The rewards and outcomes after they became part of
the AFC elite are described, and the interviewees reveal some unexpected situations
which they have faced as AFC referees. Finally, it is suggested that the main reason
for the international referees from different countries in Asia choosing to become part
of the AFC Elite can be understood as 'self-actualization'. The participants show very
high motivation to officiate football matches for non-material reasons, such as 'aiming
for the World Cup' or 'representing my country'. It is suggested that AFC referees are
primarily motivated by intrinsic rather than extrinsic reasons.

The chapter concludes that the AFC Elite Referee Panel system the AFC uses
currently fulfils the motivations of match officials from across Asia well. In general,
referees from all parts of Asia are satisfied with the current system. Although different
individuals might have varying expectations and satisfaction with the recruiting
sessions, match allowances and the training activities, the current system can still be
seen as maintaining a good balance. Through the system, the AFC aims to continually
produce top level referees representing Asia in world class competitions. Following
this well-designed and organized system, the physical and mental necessities for AFC
Elite Referees, why the AFC focuses on educating young non-FIFA referees, how the
AFC organizes a series of education programs specifically for young prospects, and
how the CTFA might respond as one of the AFC member associations, is discussed in
this and the next chapter.

The motivations of AFC Elite Referees

This section discusses the motivations of AFC Elite Referees. As mentioned

previously in chapter 4, 26 AFC Elite representatives completed an online
questionnaire and 8 Taiwanese representatives were interviewed face-to-face.
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Through their responses, this section describes three main findings. Firstly, after
comparing the interviewees' answers, it was discovered that the main motivation for
the interviewees choosing to become part of the AFC Elite is the aim of officiating in
a higher level of competition. At the same time, they seek to represent their country as
a 'football referee'. Secondly, the results show that in general the referees’
expectations before and after they joined the AFC Elite Referee Panel are the same,
which means the system appears to set a clear target for the referees to follow.
Thirdly, although there are some negative evaluations and criticisms of the current
AFC Elite Referee system, most of the referees still concluded that the current method
was useful and equitable for all members from across Asia.

Motivation to participate in the AFC Elite Referee Panel

'My dream is to go to the World Cup. This is my major motivation to become an

AFC Referee.'
(participant B6, January 2021)

'I wanted to be selected into the AFC Champions League.

And finally become a World Cup referee'
(participant B7, January 2021)

These two quotations can be seen as representing the overall opinion of all the
interviewees. Most of the referees gave clear answers about their motivations and why
they choose to become AFC Elite Referee. The answers such as 'Honor (participant
B2)', 'Opportunities to manage football matches for the higher levels in addition to
fame (participant B8)' or 'Explore the higher-level football match and officiate an
AFC match in a professional manner (participant B14)' are all testimony to the fact
that all referees want to officiate in higher level competitions. In the AFC, the highest
level competitions are the yearly AFC Champions League and the quadrennial AFC
Asian Cup. Above these two competitions, then the FIFA men's World Cup is the
highest target of all for a football referee. These three answers were all mentioned by
the participants as their main motivation for participating in AFC referee recruitment
or as a future target.

However, if we look closely at the answers, there are slight differences in the
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definition of what is the higher level competitions. Some referees pointed out their
next target level was the AFC Champions League or Asian Cup, or the World Cup.
But for some participants, their definition of higher or next level of competitions were
not specific or distinct. This issue can be understood in two different ways. Firstly, for
some referees that came from well-developed football countries such as Japan, Korea
or Qatar, the clubs from their countries are playing in the ACL. It is very normal or
reasonable that referees from these countries think they will or should officiate in the
higher level competitions in Asia, rather than only officiate the AFC Cup or the U-
series AFC Championships. On the other hand, for referees who come from the lesser
developed football countries, for example Chinese Taipei, that have successfully
become an AFC Elite Referee, it can already be seen they have made a huge
achievement for their Member Association. Although they all know the existence of
the ACL or FIFA World Cup, setting a target of going to the World Cup seems an
unrealistic proposition for them. When facing the AFC Cup competitions or U-series
AFC Championship already having many differences with the local league matches
and becoming a higher and more difficult challenge, their understanding of the
definition of 'higher level' competitions may be indistinct and vague. They can
describe their next step and motivations as 'high competitions (participant B13)',
'Chances to officiate matches in AFC competition at a higher level. (participant B18)'
or 'Chance to officiate in AFC competitions (participant B23)'. Compared to someone
who already knows what the next option is, it is fair to say that for some AFC
referees, even those already in the AFC Elite Referee Panel, they still think they
would not have the chance to be selected into an ACL match official crew or trio.

In summary, 'honour' is one of the keywords that continually appeared in the results.
For many of the participants, passing the recruitment sessions to become an AFC Elite
Referee is already an honour for them, and even for their family, friends and
countries.

'I am the first elite referee from (Country Name) and people in (Country Name)
focuses on me very much. It made me feel proud but on the other hand, I must
be so much responsible for behaving and being an elite referee. It also required
me to be a good model and example for our local youth referees.'
(participant B4, November 2020)

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Outstanding performance athletes are always seen as heroes or stars from their
nations. At the Olympic Games, most of the time the athletes are seen as the flag
carriers for their countries. Yet according to the response from this referee, being
selected as an AFC Elite Referee made him famous in his country, just like a sports
star. At the same time, the pressure after being famous and been seen as a model
increased the responsibility for the referee himself.

Expectations of AFC referees

First of all, the above mentioned motivations of the referees can be understood as
their expectations as well. For some participants that haven't had the experience of
officiating in the AFC Champions League or the Asian Cup, their clear expectations
for moving to the next level become their major motivations.

Some participants expected to gain match experience from AFC matches and learn
refereeing knowledge from the match assessors or instructors.

'They provide chances for overseas match experience.'

(participant B17, March 2021)

'They have been supporting me since day one. From teaching materials to
monetary matters which has always been the essential necessity in becoming an
AFC referee.'
(participant B5, November 2020)

Summarising the opinions of the participants, it can be suggested that nearly all of the
interviewees expect to gain more refereeing education by joining the AFC Elite
Referee Panel. Furthermore, with the question 'Are you satisfied with the general
support to your referee career from the AFC? Why?', all of the 26 participants gave
positive feedback such as 'satisfied', 'good', 'very good' or 'Yes very satisfied.', which
means the current referee education methods from the AFC Elite Referee system fulfil
the expectations from the referees. For some referees, gaining referee education from
the AFC was not only for himself but more importantly, for the member association
that he belongs to.

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 'To date how many (local) assessors have enough ability to assess me?
Especially most of the referee assessors are carrying the old understanding of
the Laws of the Game. This is why I expect Kuo (name of the Taiwanese FIFA
Referee) could pass the recruitment and become AFC Elite. You (the researcher)
and he will become our important newest information resources from the AFC
after I retire.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A3, October 2019, Taipei)

This interviewee did not want to suggest that the domestic referee assessors, here
meaning the Taiwanese assessors, are lacking in interest in learning the newest
knowledge about referee education. But they have few chances of receiving the
information about the newest methods at first hand. This situation does not only
happen in Taiwan but also in other football-developing countries in Asia, especially
some member associations that do not have qualified AFC Referee Instructors.

Thus, the AFC Elite Referees become an important window through which to receive
the latest referee education methods, resources and directions from FIFA and the AFC.
Therefore, their expectations for the AFC Elite Referee system are not only for
themselves. They expect the AFC Elite Referee system could temporarily close the
gap in the scope of referee education in their own countries, by officiating as many
AFC matches as possible, meeting as many AFC instructors as possible, and
sometimes by making mistakes and getting corrections for themselves.

General comments about the AFC Elite Referee system from the referees

Following the comments from the previous section, it is clear that the AFC Elite
Referee system plays an important role in the careers of most of the international
referees under the AFC. From the answers to the question 'Please evaluate the general
support from the AFC to your referee career.', it can be concluded that most of the
participants gave positive feedback to the support received from the AFC, but a few
negative opinions are also discussed.

Firstly, regarding positive feedback, the referees in general agree that the support
from the AFC is 'systematic (participant B24)', 'well organized (participant B14)' and
'very good (participant B15)'.
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 '(The) AFC has given systematically chances to me in different tournaments on
my performance and I'm happy. I hope this continues and get more
opportunities to perform better in other tournaments '
(participant B24, March 2021)

Most of the referees agree that they received good feedback, support or knowledge
from the instructors in the 'tournament' format competitions. As mentioned in chapter
3, the centralized tournament normally includes a preparatory course before the match
day. Then during the tournament referees can receive feedback and engage in
colleague discussions between each match day. Compared to home-and-away format
matches, match officials do receive better support when participating in tournaments.
This is clearly shown in the results, and the interviewees mentioned the support in the
tournament many times.

However, as was also mentioned in chapter 3, there is one annual important referee
seminar at the end of the season. Theoretically, the referee should receive good
support from the AFC's referee department directly because all the match officials
spend more than one week gathering together in the AFC's headquarters for training
and education. But several participants gave negative opinions about it instead of
showing high expectations about participating in the seminar.

'I think to spend only one week in Malaysia per year does not really help the
referees. Too many referees stay together but just listening to the instructors
talking. It's like a speech but not a course. I think the only reason they want us
to go to Malaysia is that they can monitor our fitness test directly.' (Original in
Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A5, October 2019, Taipei)

The same participant said that compared to the annual seminar, he received more
valuable referee education in the tournament and the single matches. According to his
opinion, it is better to have as few people as possible for a better discussion and match
analysis. Using the home-and-away format as an example, the instructor/assessor
could analyse the match together with only four match officials. This gives the
referees more opportunity to change their opinions with the assessors.
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However, not all the participants were satisfied with the support from the assessor or
instructors. With the question 'Are you satisfied with the general support to your
referee career from the AFC? Why?', some participants question the quality of
different referee instructors.

'difficult question. ha-ha…

I am really satisfied with their support. but it depends on the instructor. Some
instructors manage well, some instructors are no good.
I want AFC to manage more ... (ex time management at web meeting... etc.)'
(participant B12, January 2021)

Considering language differences and the different levels of football understanding, it

is understandable that referees might not always cooperate well with others, in this
case the instructors. Some slight criticisms of the quality of AFC instructors were
shown in the responses to the questionnaires, yet in general the participants still agree
that the instructors are the major communication and learning passage to the AFC's
referee education.

There were some negative opinions about the AFC Elite Referee system other than the
criticisms about the quality of the instructors. For example, considering the huge
geographic expanse of Asia, few referees think the AFC gives enough support to
reduce the difficulty of long time travel for the referees. The referees are provided
limited itinerary options to choose from, at the same time the itineraries sometimes
include long time transit because the AFC travel department chooses the lower price
options for air travel. The referees are only allowed to travel in economy class for
most of the competitions.

Secondly, the current system of the AFC might fulfil most of the needs of the referees,
but some participants said they need 'more' or 'extra supports (participant B11)' from
the AFC. For these participants, compared to their responses to the question 'Are you
satisfied with the general support to your referee career from your member
association? Why?', we can argue that these referees might not be satisfied with their
current referee education policies from their own member associations either. Before
they qualified for the AFC Elite Referee level, they may not know what the newest or
a well-organized referee training process should look like. But after they became part
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of the AFC Elite Referee, they began searching for more ways to improve themselves
and their countries as well.

Finally, some referees complained about the subjectiveness of the referee assessors.
Especially during the home-and-away format matches, there is only one referee
assessor appointed, rather than the two to five referee instructors/assessors that are
appointed in the centralized competitions, depending on the scale of the competition.
This means that in a single home-and-away match, one person's opinions might
influence the score, marks and appraisal of the whole referee team.

'I have met a referee assessor who is very subjective. I penalized a foul, which
was a difficult decision I must say, but I'm very sure it was a correct decision.
But the (referee) assessor had a completely contrary opinion with me, said that
it should be a penalty. The foul was the key incident of the match that changed
the result. I think that if a Japanese or Korean referee gave the same decision as
me, the assessor would agree with him rather than criticizing. This is because he
thinks the referees from (country name of interviewee) does not have enough
quality, so he believes himself but not me.' (Original in Chinese, translated by
the researcher)
(participant A3, October 2019, Taipei)

The referee assessor report after the match marked and signed by the referee assessor
can highly influence a referee's career. As mentioned previously, the AFC has an
unofficial AFC Elite Referee ranking list. If the referees get unsatisfactory
scores/marks, they will not have the chance to move upward in the ranking and be
chosen to officiate in the ACL or Asian Cup. But some interviewees agree that
sometimes the subjectiveness of the assessor might cause an 'unfair result (participant
A5)', and the starting point from both referee and the assessor are different. It can be
argued that it is not possible to eliminate subjectiveness between the assessor and the
one who is assessed completely but you can only reduce it. Imagine the different
scenario between the AFC appointing a referee assessor from Saudi Arabia to assess
the performance of a referee team from Cambodia and an assessor from Laos is
appointed to evaluate the match performance of a Japanese referee team. Although
they might all be qualified AFC representatives, there would likely be some contrary
football understanding between them. This issue is discussed more in the next section.
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Match experiences of AFC Elite Referees

This section focuses on the match experiences of the AFC Elite Referees. According
to the feedback from participants in the research, the interviewed referees described
their feeling about the AFC referee related activities, including match experiences, the
AFC Elite Referee recruitment process, and what they received after all as AFC
representatives. This section concludes with the following findings. Firstly, different
referees who come from different countries have various opinions about the extrinsic
outcomes such as salary, equipment or hotel hospitalities. The results broadly indicate
an inverse relationship between the satisfaction of the salary and how well developed
the football league is that the referee comes from. Secondly, rather than the extrinsic
and material consequences, the referees are by and large satisfied with the intrinsic
rewards they receive after becoming AFC Elite Referees. Yet the satisfaction pertains
to different aspects, such as honour, nationalism, friendship and enjoyment of travel,
and the interviewees gave positive responses after they passed the recruitment and
became part of the AFC Elite.

Extrinsic rewards

Firstly, the most obvious extrinsic reward or outcome from the AFC competitions is
the match allowance. Currently, the AFC gives match officials, including the match
commissioner, referee instructor/assessor and referees, salaries by daily allowances.
For referees, the current daily allowance is 300 USD per day from the date match
officials are requested to arrive at the match venue until the date they leave the venue.
For example, for home-and-away matches, normally the referee receives 1,200 USD
since he should arrive at the venue two days before the match date and is dismissed
the day after the match. The referee, assistant referee and fourth official receive the
same daily allowances, although they have different duties during the match.
Compared with FIFA appointments, where the referee receives higher payments than
the assistants and the fourth official, the AFC chooses to give equal salaries to all.

However, 300 USD per day is not a high salary, and according to the results of the
interviews, some of the referees admit that they are not satisfied with this level of
allowance.

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 'Honestly speaking, I am not satisfied with the allowance. I'm a professional
referee, so I need more matches. If I go to an AFC match, I spend 4 to 5 days. It
means I lost my (domestic league name) match 1 or 2 matches. It is very
difficult to keep my conditions when I go outside. So, I hope to get more
allowance.'
(participant B12, January 2021)

But some opposite opinions to the AFC level salary are also shown in the results.

'Personally, yes. Knowing that we don't receive much in our local league, so I
felt thankful whenever I had an appointment abroad.'
(participant B6, January 2021)

As mentioned above, I found that there seems to be an inverse relationship between

satisfaction with the match fee and how well the football league is developed where
the referee comes from. It is easy to understand this since, for example, a referee from
South Korea, may need to spend four days for one AFC match to earn 1,200 USD.
But in his domestic K League matches, he can receive around 2,000 USD per match
(Kim, 2021). On the other hand, a referee from Taiwan might feel very pleased to earn
1,200 USD in four days of travel, since the domestic match allowance is only around
100 USD per game (Chen, H. E., 2021).

There are huge differences and gaps in the development of football leagues in
different Asian countries. Some countries might already have well developed
professional leagues for years, but many leagues, such as those in Taiwan, the
Philippines, Laos and Bangladesh, are still at the semi-professional or amateur level.
The level of football development is reflected in the salary of the players, coaches,
and referees as well. Furthermore, countries in Asia such as Japan, Korea, Saudi
Arabia or Qatar are already hiring professional referees for their football leagues.
Referring to the Human Development Index of those countries, the daily allowances
of 300 USD from the AFC seems little to speak of.

Using Gross National Income (GNI) per capita (The World Bank, 2021) as another
example, we can see there are huge differences in Asian countries. The Qataris have
the highest GNI per capita of 63,410 USD in all Asia, and we can also find
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Afghanistan with 540 USD near the bottom of the list. It means that if an Afghanistan
referee goes to home-and-away matches for the AFC, he might earn 1,200 USD, more
than the average yearly income in four days. But for the Qataris the daily allowance
of 300 USD is very low and possibly will reduce his income if he also has to reject
domestic league match appointments in order to travel overseas on AFC business.
Table 6.1 shows the GNI per capita of all member associations under the AFC and
shows where these countries belong in different income categories.

Table 6.1

GNI per capita of all member associations under the AFC

Group Countries/member associations GNI per capita (USD)

Macau 78,640

Qatar 63,410

Singapore 59,590

Australia 54,910

Hong Kong 50,840

United Arab Emirates 43,470

Japan 41,710
High-income Group
Kuwait 34,290

Korea Rep. 33,720

Brunei 32,230

Taiwan 26,590

Saudi Arabia 22,850

Bahrain 22,110

Oman 15,330

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 Malaysia 11,230

China 10,390

Maldives 9,650

Lebanon 7,600

Thailand 7,260
Upper-middle-income Group
Turkmenistan 6,740

Iraq 5,740

Iran 5,420

Jordan 4,300

Indonesia 4,050

Philippines 3,851

Mongolia 3,780

Sri Lanka 3,741

Palestine 3,710

Bhutan 2,970

Laos 2,570

Vietnam 2,540

Lower-middle-income Group India 2,130

Bangladesh 1,940

Timor Leste 1,890

Uzbekistan 1,800

Pakistan 1,530

Cambodia 1,480

Kyrgyzstan 1,240

Nepal 1,090

Tajikistan 1,030
Low-income Group Yemen 940

Afghanistan 540

Guam (possibly high-income group)

Northern Mariana Island (possibly high-income group)

No data
Syria (possibly low-income group)

DPR Korea (possibly low-income group)

Sources: World Bank, 2021.

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Tajikistan and Yemen are together with Afghanistan in the definition of 'low-income'
countries according to the World Bank (2021). Several other Asian countries are in the
'lower-middle-income' group, such as the Philippines, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Palestine,
Bhutan, Laos, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Timor Leste, Uzbekistan, Pakistan,
Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan, and Nepal. In total 18 of the 47 member associations of the
AFC are under the level of the lower-middle or lower group, of which the GNI per
capita is no more than the Philippines (3,851 USD). Considering this fact of income
differences, the setting of the daily allowances from the AFC becomes more
reasonable and understandable. Although the referees from the higher income
countries, such as most countries from the Middle East or East Asia, might ignore or
be disinterested in the match fee paid by the AFC, based on their full participation in
the football match official activities, they are clearly motivated and attracted for other
reasons. The following section offers some suggestions to help explain this attraction.

Intrinsic rewards

As mentioned at the beginning of the previous section, the referees interviewed are
largely satisfied with the intrinsic rewards they receive after becoming AFC referees.
Although, according to the interview results, different referees have various
definitions of what the 'intrinsic rewards' are, it is suggested that in general the
interviewees are satisfied with these rewards and outcomes after they become part of
the AFC elite. Compared to different opinions about their satisfaction with the salary
for officiating, the interviewees were more likely to show positive responses for non-
material feedback or outcomes, as they are AFC representatives.

'When I officiated in the match in Manila, thanks to a good performance in the

match between Myanmar and Timor Leste, all players congratulated me about
my refereeing performance in the match. It was the most accomplished and
great feeling taking from the match as an elite referee.'
(participant B19, March 2021)

Firstly, the referees are happy with the sense of accomplishment after completing an
international match. Other answers such as 'Ovation from spectators (participant B5)',
'Respect from any official and players and team officials (participant B10)' and
'Achievement finish a good game (participant B20)' all point to the fact that
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recognition for their actions after the match is important for the referees, and they did
receive this sense of accomplishment because of the AFC matches.

'I think I received much more respect from the players when I officiated
international matches rather than the (Country name) matches. (Country name)
players don't respect the referee at all. But when I first time officiated a match
overseas at (Country name), it's the first time I realized that as a referee you
could be respected and having so much joy.' (Original in Chinese, translated by
the researcher)
(participant A6, October 2019, Taipei)

'(Following above dialogue) ...The most important part is when you referee
international matches the players and coaches respect you. In (Country name),
the players do not respect you even if you made the right decision. But after an
international match, I received truly handshakes with respect from the players.
This gave me very high accomplishment.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the
researcher)
(participant A6, October 2019, Taipei)

This interviewee points out the differences between domestic matches that he comes
from and the AFC competitions. Some similar opinions were also presented in the
questionnaire responses. Interestingly for some referees, they received the
accomplishment of completing a good match only when they refereed overseas rather
than domestic matches. It was not possible to find direct evidence of whether there is
a connection between how well the professional league is developed and the level of
respect from the players. But it can be argued that if the role of 'referee' or 'match
official' is acknowledged as a full-time professional job, the players might mentally
respect them more. That is also probably the reason why the AFC gives complete
authority to the referees in a game, but at the same time requires referees to show
professionalism in and off the field of play, such as the requests to dress smartly and
shave before a match.

Secondly, the interviewees seem to enjoy friendship with colleagues from all over
Asia and the ability to travel to different countries. Many of them mentioned these
kinds of joy as non-material rewards they received after becoming part of the AFC
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Elite.

'I have had many chances to participate in AFC matches and to visit so many
countries. I met so many referee/assistant referee friends who work very hard to
improve themselves. They are very important for me.
(participant B19, March 2020)

Other interviewees also said, 'I can travel the world for free (participant B16).', 'We
have a chance to go abroad. And I can see so many other countries & feel another
culture (participant B22).' and 'we get new friends and relations. (participant B14)'.
These answers proved positively that as AFC representatives they consider this is also
a good reward other than extrinsic things like salaries or hotel hospitality. For myself,
I have been to over 30 countries out of a total of 47 MAs under the AFC because of
match appointments or referee training courses (such as the AFC Project Future). I
fully agree with the interviewees that these kinds of travel experiences are important
and valuable outcomes after I became part of the AFC elite. Since the AFC only
appoints referees that pass their recruitment session, referees could not receive so
many appointments and travel chances if he/she is only registered on the FIFA list by
their member association but has not participated in the AFC Elite Referee recruiting
system. For confirmation of the friendship that was mentioned in the above
interviews, that nearly 30 individuals from different countries across Asia were
willing to help me finish this thesis during this difficult pandemic period also
demonstrates that the AFC Elite Referee community does have strong connections
between each other.

Thirdly, the interviewees considered representing their countries as an outcome or

reward after qualifying for the AFC elite.

'When every time I go to AFC tournament or courses, every instructor asks me

about Hsiu-Mei*. It makes me feel Chinese Taipei equals Liu Hsiu-Mei, and
you can promote your country with good refereeing performances. Not only
players or athletes can represent their country but also the referees.' (Original in
Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A6, October 2019, Taipei)

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 *Liu Hsiu Mei, former FIFA Assistant Referee from Chinese Taipei who has the highest

achievement of refereeing in FIFA World Cup, AFC Asian Cup and Olympic Games.

'(Following above quotes) ...Before every international match, the announcer

announces my name and country. Nobody will remember the name of the
referee, but they will remember where the referee comes from. This means I
represent Taiwan. I'm glad I could have this opportunity to represent my country
after I became an international referee.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the
researcher)
(participant A6, October 2019, Taipei)

Some interviewees mentioned their countries or member associations in the results.

Most of them appreciate the support from their MAs and indicate that to represent
their countries in the international matches is an 'Honor (participant B5, B12, B17)',
'Dream (participant B16, B22)' or 'best referee award (participant B18)'. In sports,
most of the time the public spectators perhaps only imagine that the athletes represent
their countries as flag bearers. But as participant A6 said at least in modern football
the public, media, players and even spectators do also focus on 'who' referees the
game. The 'who' does not mean that they really know or care about the name of the
one carrying the whistle. The public care that the one wearing black in the middle of
the pitch should have the ability to officiate the game fairly and smoothly. At this
time, their first impressions about the referee are from the nationality of the match
official, unless you are famous enough like Howard Webb, Pierluigi Collina or
Massimo Busacca. But even then, when Poland was defeated in the UEFA Euro
championships in 2008 with a crucial penalty decision, the coach and the public were
still criticizing the quality of the 'English Referee' but not against an individual
person, at least not with a direct name. When the Taiwanese were defeated by Nepal
in the World Cup Qualifiers 2022, the Taiwanese media blamed the 'Korean' referee
who gave a crucial penalty. It was all about the name of the nation that the referee
came from. In the AFC, teams from the West Asia region do not fully respect referees
that do not speak Arabic, and Chinese teams normally make things very difficult if the
referee comes from an ASEAN country. This is nothing new but an 'open secret' in the
AFC referee community. But as an AFC Elite Referee, this is the dilemma you also
need to face when you enjoy the rewards; you are a flag carrier for your nation, just
like any sports star. Another indication of the idea that the contemporary football
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referee is an 'atypical athlete'.

The uncontrollable 'variables'

As we have shown, referees can only receive these rewards, whether extrinsic or
intrinsic ones, after they have successfully passed the AFC Elite Referee recruitment
session and become part of the AFC Elite. But is it always fair or objective during the
recruiting process? I have mentioned that the referee assessor appointed to the
matches control the marks/grades of the referee teams, and this can highly influence
the referees' career in the future. Then what do the interviewees think about these
kinds of 'human factors'? Can they control all kinds of 'variables' during the year-long
recruiting period and at numerous matches cooperating with various referee assessors
from different countries? According to the research results, interviewees have
differing views.

Firstly, some referees think the AFC Elite Referee recruitment session provides a fair
balance, but some of them think it does not.

'There are no clear guidelines, requirements and standards' (participant B11,

January 2021)

I outlined the stages of AFC Elite Referee recruitment in chapter 1 (see Figure 1.1).
But for some interviewees, the requirements and passing standards in each stage are
not clear enough. However, it could be analysed in two ways. On the one hand, it is
the case that the AFC does not set a clear passing score or standard for the Laws of
the Game test, video test, or English-speaking test. During the selection course, the
candidates might know they got 19 correct decisions out of a total of 25 offside videos
and got 15 correct answers out of a total of 20 Laws of the Game trivia. But what is
the passing score? The AFC does not set a clear regulation during the course. The
candidates only know for sure that passing the fitness test is a must. But for other tests
that might influence their grades, they only get a comprehensive evaluation report
after they return back to their countries, and then discover if they have the chance of
the next stage of real match evaluation or not.

'I felt big pressure for the recruiting test at KL. That seminar has so many tests
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 to select referees. I had some concerns about language skills. I can explain
about the LOTG in (own language), but I couldn't explain well in English.'
(participant B12, March 2021)

What is the definition of 'good English' for the AFC? Did the candidate pass the
English requirement of the AFC referee department during the course? According to
the current system the candidate will not know immediately but only after returning
back to his or her own country and waiting for weeks.

But on the other hand, this policy might give the AFC referee department and the
course instructors some elasticity or space to select the actual one they want, even if
he or she unexpectedly performs badly during the test. The AFC could argue that they
are looking for the potential abilities of the candidates through every possible clue in
a week-long course and not only deciding on a referee's abilities by their grades or
score. Although the grades or marks are objective and clear, here the AFC gives more
discretion to the course instructors. They believe and request them to select the
potential AFC Elite Referees through every detail during the course as well as during
the match evaluation stage.

However, some referees still question the subjectiveness of the referee assessors not
only during the AFC Elite Referee recruitment process but also after every AFC
match. When I asked the interviewees whether they could control the variables in play
during AFC matches, the referees' answer is inconsistent.

'Yes, I can control all variables and match events, whether difficult or easy,
using my skills.'
(participant B9, January 2021)

'No. Different opinions from the referee assessors.'

(participant B10, March 2021)

'Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends on the assessor. Not all but many of
them are very good teachers, friends and navigators.'
(participant B5, December 2020)

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Referees said that they received different instructions from different referee assessors,
and some referees did admit that sometimes the opinions from the referee assessors
are 'subjective (participant B25)' or 'different with me (participant B20)'. These
provide evidence to suggest that football referees' careers sometimes are highly
influenced by one referee assessor, one single person, one crucial assessment report,
and simply good fortune. However, I also found that the interviewees do react
positively to this kind of difficulty.

'It is difficult to control them (variables), but I can control myself and I need to
adjust myself because it is one of the important skills as an international
assistant referee. These differences help me to improve myself. I think it is
always important to be flexible.'
(participant B19, March 2021)

'I try to do my level best every time I officiate. There may be some variables
which sometimes effect the game. As long as there is no key match incident,
there is always scope for improvement.'
(participant B20, March 2021)

According to these two answers from the participants, the AFC Elites are trying their
best to control what they can control, such as maintaining a high level of fitness
condition or applying the Laws of the Game always with correct procedures. These
can be understood as positive reactions from the referees. At the same time, some
referees also change their behaviour, such as 'style of refereeing', 'definition of the
severity of cautionable offence' or 'personality'.

'I think, there are big differences between (participant's country name) football
and AFC football. I don't think I could control other styles. I change my
personality when I'm on the field of AFC matches. I must adjust to other styles.'
(participant B12, March 2021)

This is similar to the finding of Webb (2017). According to his research, European
referees also react differently when they officiate international matches overseas (see
the discussion in chapter 2). We cannot speculate too much about the reasons,
especially without discussion of studies in sports psychology. But the following quote
155
from the interview with a senior AFC Elite Referee might explain this phenomenon in
a preliminary way.

'When I go to AFC matches it becomes simple. I do what I have to do. If I have

to show the card I will show the card. There is no grey area in international
matches. But we have to admit in (country name) matches there are many grey
areas. I can easily control the match through cards when officiating AFC
matches because the referee assessor will support me unless it is a clear and
obvious mistake. But do you receive this kind of support in (country name)?
The (country name) player remembers the card you have given him until the
season end. But after the AFC matches, I leave and go home the next day. I
might not meet him again in the future and in my life.' (Original in Chinese,
translated by the researcher)
(participant A3, October 2019, Taipei)

This provides a few further points to discuss. Firstly, the AFC and its representative
assessors give much more support to the referees than domestic MAs. Following that,
the AFC has the greater authoritativeness because it is the continental governance
body. And then most importantly, 'AFC football' is always different to domestic
football. The duties of officiating international matches can increase the pressure on
referees because the seriousness of international matches is usually higher than
domestic matches, especially when the game is played between national teams. The
wrong decisions from the referee can seriously influence the standing of the national
teams, and all different 'variables' the referee has to face when refereeing the match
overseas might push up the pressure and difficulties for the referees much more than
when he stays in his own country's 'comfort zone'. But after integrating the opinions
from the interviewees, there is one key and crucial variable which is the most
uncontrollable but also the one which could give the referees higher authority or full
support: the AFC Referee Assessor.

'Football Refereeing is a day performance – in some matches we do good

physical fitness and in some we fail. It especially depends on the match
situation even if we are fit enough our position or angle of view might be wrong
or the incident invisible to make the correct decision (correct decision making is
the most important in refereeing)'
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 (participant B2, November 2020)

'Referee assessors' analysis may correct after video analysis but as a referee we
need to decide within microseconds not easy so assessment must be based on
the reality of the game with atmosphere of the game and how could referee
manage and control the game with LOTG in fair manner.'
(participant B2, November 2020)

This interviewee describes the daily basis of football refereeing. Furthermore, he

pointed out a key difference between referee assessors and referees. It is not always
fair to judge or criticize the ability of a referee through slow motion or ten times video
replay. The referee is a human but has to make the decision in a 'microsecond' which
makes the job very difficult. The referee assessors, normally retired referees as well,
know this dilemma well. That is why when the AFC evaluates their referees they are
more supportive to the referees during AFC competitions. 'We are not here to kill the
referees', the referee assessors always say nowadays. Unless a clear or obvious
decision was not made, otherwise the trend of referee assessors to date is to support
the referees. Checking the video ten times is not for pointing out the referee's mistake
but for trying to find evidence to support the referee's decision. The points of
improvement of the referees should and will be discussed behind closed doors but not
public. These kinds of protective principles help the referees to mentally 'survive'
under the pressure of the media or spectators. Although some interviewees gave
negative opinions, as a short conclusion here I found that the most crucial and
decisive 'uncontrolled variable', which is the AFC Referee Assessor, still protects the
authority of the AFC Elite Referees and gives them the biggest support during AFC
competitions. This again helps to unite the internal cohesion of the AFC referee
community.

Self-actualization and AFC Elite Referees

According to the previous section, there is evidence that referees from Asia are
motivated by various reasons to participate in the AFC football activities. Different
referees who come from different countries described their multiple reasons,
motivations, expectations and the most valuable rewards they received after becoming
part of the AFC elite. By integrating the numerous considerations above it could be
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argued that the main motivation, expectation and experience as AFC elite referees
could be understood as them trying to fulfil their needs for 'self-actualization'.

The concept of 'self-actualization' comes from the well-known study by A. J. Maslow

(1954). He argued that the needs of human beings could be linked to several stages,
such as physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs
and finally the need for self-actualization. He also pointed out that the need for self-
actualization was at the highest position of the human needs pyramid. A human could
only fulfil their need for physiological or safety first then searching the need for self-
actualization (Maslow, 1954). Although there are debates about his theory and
criticisms whether the need for self-actualization is always higher than the other needs
or not, his concept indeed points out the difference of various human needs. Although
different AFC referees from Asia participate in AFC football activities for different
reasons, these multiple reasons are mostly trying to actualize the highest motivations
and expectations for all the referees themselves. In other words, each referee has their
own 'dream', 'honour', 'target' or 'future' that wants to be actualized, and these are the
major reasons for them to become an AFC Elite Referee. The AFC referee department
does not and could not set one target to fulfil all the referees' goals. However, the
current system at least convinces many of the referees under the system that they can
actualize their highest target in their life, or at least in their referee career, through the
AFC Elite Referee system.

'Self-satisfaction is the most valuable reward'

(participant B15, March 2021)

This interviewee gave one clear reason that he was motivated not only by the salary,
match appointments or travel experiences but by the reason that he was seeking 'self-
satisfaction'. Similar answers were also shown by other interviewees saying that they
felt 'Self-challenged (participant B22)', motivated by 'passion for ambition
(participant B6)', 'My target come true (participant B3)' or 'Dream and Future
(participant B26)'. These kinds of motivations are clearly not only on the stage of
physiological needs but with a higher dimension.

'I think best one is honour as a FIFA referee. It's big reward for me. It gives
me big self-confidence.
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 The confidence is not only referee but also my life.'
(participant B15, March 2021)

Conclusion

The quotations in this chapter convey the findings of the interviews and online
questionnaires conducted with 37 referees, assessors and senior advisers to the AFC.
They indicate that the AFC Elite Referee system does not and could not fulfil all
concrete and specific needs of all the referees from all the MAs in Asia. The match
allowances are occasional and whilst for some are not very satisfactory, offer a
reasonable balance across countries in the AFC with very different GDP levels. The
subjectivity of referee assessors does cause some complaints about fairness from the
referees. Some referees might need to sacrifice their domestic match chances and life
chances for AFC competitions. Then why do all the referees still want to join this
system positively?

The findings suggest that although there are disadvantages in the system, the current
system at least creates an environment within which all the referees can actualize
his/her highest target in their referees' life, whatever it is for each one. This
collaborative collective will creates a strong atmosphere in the AFC Elite Referee
community that the referees have for actualizing their dreams. The need for 'self-
actualization' becomes one intrinsic, abstract, and perhaps most important reason for
referees to seek to join AFC football activities. Although in the end there might be
multiple answers about what is 'self-actualization' for referees, this concept binds all
the referees from Asia together, including the researcher myself.

In conclusion, this chapter has discussed the motivations and the experiences of a
sample of AFC Elite Referees. Firstly, various kinds of motivations and expectations
of the interviewees were analysed. Why they want to join the AFC Elite Referee Panel
and how they feel after they became part of the AFC elite were discussed. Secondly,
the match experiences of the interviewees as AFC representatives were discussed. The
participants provide positive feedback about the rewards they receive and at the same
time provide some negative feedback about the outcomes after they have officiated
AFC matches. The human factor - in the shape of the AFC Referee Assessor - can be
seen as one uncontrollable variable during AFC matches. However, most of the
159
interviewees still remain positive about this variable considering that the AFC tries to
support their referees overall. Finally, the findings suggest that the major and most
important reason for the international referees from different countries from Asia
choosing to become part of the AFC Elite can be understood as 'self-actualization'. Yet
the current AFC Elite system does not provide a clear and concrete future for the
referees, although the referees do somehow find their own and individual goals or
targets through the system. These goals or targets are intrinsic and non-material, and
the internal cohesion of the AFC referee community is continually strengthened by
the notion that 'self-actualization' could really happen if and only if a referee
successfully becomes part of the refereeing elite in Asia.

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Chapter 7 The Referee Training Systems of the Asian Football Confederation
and the Chinese Taipei Football Association

This chapter describes, compares and contrasts the referee training systems of the
Asian Football Confederation and the Chinese Taipei Football Association. For the
referee training system of the AFC, this chapter focuses on how a continental football
governance body created its unique referee education programs, what referee training
programs the AFC designed for their AFC Elite Referees, and how the AFC decided
to provide specific referee education programs for young non-FIFA prospects from
Asia. As for the referee training system of the CTFA, the research in this chapter
shows how this national member association trains their referees through a program
designed on their own, and how they try to interact with referee education policies
under the direction of the AFC. By analysing the referee training and education that
an AFC Elite Referee receives from both a continental football federation and a
national football member association this chapter contributes to answering, in part,
one of the research questions of the thesis: how can a critical assessment of existing
systems, help the future development and management of Taiwanese football
referees?

Compared to the previous chapter, in which most of the references and resources were
from the AFC Elite Referees representing the lower levels of the AFC referee
development pyramid, the bulk of interview results in this chapter are from AFC
referee directors, who are at the top of the AFC pyramid. As mentioned in chapter 4,
group C of the interviewees were AFC referee directors. They are or were once in a
high position in the referee department of the AFC and at least directly in charge of or
participated in the design of one of the referee training programs of the AFC: the AFC
Project Future, AFC Referee Academy or the AFC Elite Referee Panel. Through
detailed written communications and emails, which asked slightly different questions
to the online questionnaires used to interview the AFC referees, the AFC referee
directors provide more concrete and specific opinions about the program they were
responsible for. At the same time, considering their higher position in the AFC
pyramid, their responses provide the thesis with another new dimension by which to
analyse and assess the effectiveness of the AFC Elite Referee system.

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The Referee Training Systems of the AFC

This section describes the referee training system of the AFC, which includes the
following three major aspects. The first is the AFC Elite Referee Panel system, also
discussed in chapter 6. The original idea of the creation of AFC Elite Referee, the aim
of the system and the general achievement of the system evaluated by the directors
are discussed in this section. Secondly, as was also mentioned in the previous chapter,
the AFC pays great attention to the next generation of young prospects. The AFC
Project Future and the AFC Referee Academy are unique programs for developing the
next generation of potential elite referees. The design and the aim of these
programmes are also discussed through the interview results from the programme
directors. Finally, and thirdly, the new AFC STAR Programme is also discussed in this
section. The programme started at the same time as the Covid-19 pandemic reached
its peak. Although the original design of the programme was using an online
education format, the pandemic in a way accelerated and promoted this online 'new
normal' of referee education from the AFC.

The AFC Elite Referee Panel

'The idea of creating an Elite Referee system was initiated by former AFC
president Mohammed bin Hammam in 2007. The model was the UEFA's referee
development policy.'
(participant C3, May 2021)

One interviewee described the creation of the AFC Elite Referee system. According to
him, the system aimed to improve the level of Asian football referees to 'follow the
level of the UEFA (participant C3)'. Following that, the titles 'AFC Elite Referee',
'AFC Referee instructor', 'AFC Referee Recruiter' and 'AFC Referee Assessor' were
created and endowed with their different responsibilities and authority. At the
beginning, a total of 12 AFC Elite inspectors were chosen to build the AFC Elite
Referee system and to select the recruiters, instructors and assessors from all over
Asia (participant C3, 2021). At the same time, a marking/scoring standard was also
settled. For example, the difficulty level of matches was defined in three levels: Easy,
Medium and High. And the referees' performance would be marked according to their
performance level as Excellent, Good, Unsatisfactory or Poor. Combining these two
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standards, the referee instructors/assessors could evaluate the referees' performances
more objectively (participant C3, 2021). But to build a system to fulfil all
expectations from all referees from Asia, I asked the directors what was the key factor
or element?

'There is a great saying – can you turn your dreams into reality?'
(participant C2, March 2021)

'The referees have to have a desire and reason to want to be an AFC Elite
Referee. They must show ambition and motivation that they want to succeed.
Those who work hard, who continue to want to learn and improve, will give
themselves the best chance of being successful. This includes being resourceful,
taking education seriously, have the right attitude to coaching and being
coached. For some it may require a change in lifestyle but ultimately, it is down
to every individual referee. The referees need to be realistic with their targets,
learn from their mistakes and successes both on and off the field of play.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

The interviewee explained his opinion, which is very much consistent with the results
found in the previous chapter from the referees. Referees largely join AFC refereeing
because of non-material, intrinsic and 'self-actualization' reasons. The referee
directors involved in the AFC Elite Referee Panel emphasized that ambitions, dreams
or successes are the key factors for motivating the referees, rather than other material
reasons. This finding is consistent with the results obtained from the participants in
this system. Compared to money, a regular salary or comfortable hospitality, the AFC
Elite Referee system focuses on internal cohesion rather than other external factors.
This coincides with my own personal experience. During two years of training
sessions in the AFC Project Future and the recruitment period of AFC Elite Referee, I
felt the AFC referee department continually emphasized dreams or targets such as
'going to the World Cup', 'becoming the best in Asia' or 'proving you are the greatest
from your country'.

From 2007 to the present date, the recruitment process and the evaluation system for
the AFC Elite Referee system has changed gradually with the times. For example,
there was a period when the AFC referee department sent the referee assessor only to
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the ACL but not the AFC Cup. Perhaps again for financial considerations, at that time,
the AFC department sent the match commissioner with a background of refereeing
experience to monitor the referees' performance together with his original duties.
Another example is that previously the daily allowances for the AFC Cup, AFC U-
series Championships and the ACL were different. The ACL match officials always
received the highest payment suggesting that the AFC competition department indeed
gave most of its attention to the ACL as its major competition. This is consistent with
the fact that the ACL 2020 was the only competition that successfully restarted in the
2020 Covid-19 pandemic (see chapter 5).

But what did the interviewed directors think about the AFC Elite Referee system to
date?

'The recruitment process is only as good as the performance measurements and

training programs that you have in place to check the referees against an agreed
criteria which every referee must be aware of.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

'I am well aware that a great deal of effort, and a considerable amount of money
is invested in this programme.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

In general, the AFC referee directors gave positive feedback about the AFC Elite
Referee system. Yet at the same time, the referee directors also pointed out that the
referees who participated in the recruitment process should understand what the AFC
wants from the referees and for what the referees should be prepared before the
recruitment session. This means the AFC Project Future and the AFC Referee
Academy which provide these kinds of concepts or skills before the recruitment
process to the potential AFC Elites candidates were well-designed programs that
connect appropriately with the AFC Elite Referee system. At the same time, several
revisions from the beginning of the AFC Elite Referee system from 2007 till now
have taken place. There was a time when the AFC Elite Referee recruitment session
was different to the current one (shown in Figure 1.1). Previously, the AFC referee
department sent recruiters to the member associations to analyse the match
performances of the candidates directly, rather than arranged a selection course before
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the real match stage. But then the AFC decided that there should be a recruitment
course at the very beginning. According to one response from a referee who had
participated in the previous type of selection format, we can understand the
differences between the two kinds of methods and why the AFC wanted to change.

'The previous method (of recruitment) gave you the chance to officiate the
match in front of the AFC Recruiter right away. I thought it was good to show
my referee abilities in real matches directly to the recruiter. But on the other
hand, I did not know that my English ability was not even close to the criteria
that the AFC wanted. If I had followed the current (recruitment) method, surely
I would have been eliminated at the first stage of the recruitment course. I think
this is the reason that the AFC changed the recruitment session to the current
format.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A4, Taipei, October 2019)

Yet no matter in the current or previous format of recruitment, the interviewees (both
referee directors and AFC referees themselves) all agreed that during the whole
recruitment progress, the AFC Referee Recruiter plays the most important role. The
interviewee described the principle of how the AFC referee department selects or
trains their referee recruiter.

'I was involved in the very early days of training the AFC Referee Recruiters.
The selection of these recruiters, those retired referees or assistant referees who
have officiated at the highest level of the game, they have great experience and
are very much respected in the referee world. Therefore, they have a high
degree of credibility in identifying our next generation of top referees. When a
recruiter is appointed by the AFC to watch any referee, they must remain
impartial, have high integrity and give objective, but balanced, feedback to the
AFC on the potential of every referee they see.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

This interviewee pointed out that the recruiters were veteran retired referees that had
many high-level competition match experiences. This in a way indicates that the AFC
was searching for referees that have some specific abilities, skills or personality for
the high-level international matches but not just for domestic level. Then what should
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the ideal AFC Elite Referee looks like, and how did the referee directors evaluate the
AFC Elite Referee system?

'A large number of high-quality teaching resources have been prepared over
recent years and I consider the quality to be at least on the same level as those
produced by FIFA and UEFA. Innovations have been introduced such as the
preparation of teaching materials in different languages to cater for the great
diversity in Asia. AFC Referee Instructors can conduct courses in China, India,
Uzbekistan, UAE and Japan using the same pictures and match incidents but
with commentary in the local language. This is a major achievement by the
AFC.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

'……the support by the AFC is considered as one of the leading Confederations

in the world for Elite Referees training. Even in this (Covid-19) pandemic, the
level of online remote activities continues to take place and I have been
impressed with the support that has been offered.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

The three major training systems opportunities for when the AFC referee department
can educate their referees has already been described at length in chapter 3 (through
an annual referee seminar, centralized tournaments and single AFC matches). The
interviewed directors also mentioned these training programs in their responses. They
agreed that the annual AFC Elite Referee Seminar is very important to all referees,
about which the referees might have opposite opinions (see the discussions in the
previous chapter 6). Following that, they agreed that the AFC Referee Instructors
were the key factors that influenced the quality of referee training.

'I believe the support from the AFC Referee Department for Elite Referees is
outstanding. Yoshimi Ogawa and his successor, Shamsul Maidin was and is
heavily committed to referee development. The AFC has excellent Referee
Instructors who provide high quality courses although there can be budget
limitations at times to bring a large number of officials together from different
parts of Asia. UEFA and AFC are, I believe, the top confederations for referee
education and training. Each has to function in different environments with
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 different budgetary constraints but the work they do is highly commendable'
(participant C1, February 2021)

Again, the interviewee compared the AFC referees' abilities with those in UEFA.
Considering the interviewee's (participant C1) multiple experiences, including
refereeing in Europe and taking charge of FIFA World Cup referee affairs, I believe
his comparison between the UEFA and the AFC is a valid one. The AFC does put
more effort into referee education and considering the output of the high-level match
officials as kinds of a demonstration to show the world that really 'the Future is Asia'
(the previous slogan of the AFC). But at the same time, the interviewee pointed out
the political problem of refereeing in Asia.

'Preparing a list of AFC Elite Referees can also be very political. Every national
federation wants to have representation on this list. There are a limited number
of places, and it may mean that a country with a strong development and
support programme, like Japan, has the best referees in Asia but because of the
politics of football not all are admitted to the Elite List. This is not a problem
unique to Asia, but a worldwide problem.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

According to another of my interviewee's descriptions, the original design of the AFC

Elite Referee Panel in 2007 was to include 'around 50 referees and 100 assistant
referees' (participant C3). But because of the increase in the competitions under the
AFC, the introduction of the additional assistant referee (AAR) and the video assistant
referee (VAR), and the policy or trend that the referee teams today work in a trio of
the same nationality, now the members in the AFC Elite Referee Panel are nearly
'double than its original scale' (participant C3). However, there is still an upper limit
of the list, and the interviewees admitted that sometimes the choice could be very
political. At the same time, the cooperation between MAs and the AFC, or even with
FIFA, could also cause difficulties.

'The difficulties are trying to balance between domestic, AFC and FIFA
competitions, referee availability, travel and timing of seminars.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

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In the previous chapter, some interviewees already mentioned they might need to
sacrifice or compromise domestic refereeing duties to coordinate with the AFC
competition calendar in order to keep the visibility of his nation in Asian football.
This is the kind of difficulty that the AFC referees can face: having to choose between
their domestic and international appointments. Another interviewee tried to describe
the above-mentioned political phenomenon.

'For us (country name) because we have no ''backing'' in the AFC, you need to
keep very good relationships with all instructors/assessors from all the
countries. But for example, for (country name) referees, the only thing they
have to do is focusing on the match. They can ignore the human relationships
and focus only on refereeing. But I don't think we can act with the same
attitude.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A7, Taipei, October 2019)

I recognize that this political phenomenon may have given me better chances to
become part of the AFC Elite than others, especially compared to referees from well-
developed football countries. Because of the adoption of a form of 'political
correctness' that it should be equal and fair to all MAs and at the same time protecting
the rights for all the MAs to participate in AFC referee affairs, I believe I might have
received some benefits during my AFC Elite Referee recruitment process. One
scenario illustrates this. South Korea already has six AFC Elite Referees and has been
trying to promote a seventh representative into the Elite Panel. They possibly have a
higher risk of facing some 'political resistance' or obstructions, compared to Chinese
Taipei which is still struggling to promote their first ever AFC Elite Referee into the
Panel.

The interviewed directors did not discuss this political issue in depth, perhaps because
of their positions and characters, but they did mention that this happens not only in
the AFC but is a worldwide problem. Looking closely at the responses from the
interviewees, they preferred to discuss the character of member associations more and
emphasized the equal status that the AFC gives to each MA.

'The nomination process by Member Associations can be difficult to regulate

and we have to rely on the trust and integrity of each Member Association in
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 selecting the right candidates to be assessed.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

'AFC's Referee recruitment provides every referee who has been nominated by
each member association, an equal opportunity to be successful irrespective of
which country the referee represents.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

These responses can be analysed in two aspects. Firstly, the standpoint and the
position of the AFC referee department is to provide an equal platform for all member
associations to participate in the refereeing affairs in Asia. This policy appears in
different ways. For example, the AFC referee department would not consider the
football development level of each MA at the very beginning of the Elite Referee
recruitment process (at least not professedly). But the policy that each MA can
nominate two candidates for recruitment each year may delay or obstruct some better
level referees from joining the AFC Elite Referee Panel, the AFC Project Future or the
AFC Referee Academy. It means that the Qatari or Japanese FA, that has a large
foundation of domestic referees, could easily provide numbers of candidates that fulfil
the criteria of the AFC Elite. But at the same time, countries like Taiwan, Indonesia or
Nepal would be facing difficulties of how to choose proper candidates to participate
in the annual AFC Elite Referee recruitment or AFC referee activities.

This issue then leads to a second feature of the responses from the AFC directors. The
AFC indeed provides equal chances at the very beginning of each refereeing activities
for all MAs, such as AFC Elite Referees' recruitment, the AFC PF or the AFC Referee
Academy. But after opening the door for all, political resistance, background and
backing of the referees and the international relationships between each country can
become key factors in determining outcomes. Of course, even if the abilities of the
referees are still the most important thing that the AFC is looking for, when several
referees are all in the same condition or have the same level of refereeing skills, then
the above-mentioned factors can affect the actions of the AFC. One senior referee
made a clear remark about this issue:

'Honestly speaking, I think there will be a long period that the CTFA has no
AFC Elite Referee after you and I retired. Yes, of course every year we can send
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 someone to be recruited. But do you see anyone in the young generation who is
or will be at the AFC level?' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)

He continued:

'Can you imagine a date when Japan faces Korea in the Asian Cup and the
referees are from ''Chinese Taipei''? I don't think so. I did have the chance to go
to the ACL years ago, but because of (referee instructor name) and we are from
the (football) weakest country, you can see now I'm still at the AFC Cup or
some matches that people don't want to go to.' (Original in Chinese, translated
by the researcher)
(participant A4, Taipei, October 2019)

This is the reality that a less well-developed football country can face. But the
interviewed AFC referee directors still gave positive assent to the AFC Elite Referee
system in general. In chapter 6, different referees gave various motivations and
expectations for them to become an AFC Elite. Then from the referee directors' side,
what should the motivations be according to the design of the system?

'The aim of all top referees should be to reach the maximum of their ability. For
some this will be involvement as a national referee, for some it will be as a FIFA
Referee and for a limited few it will be to an AFC Elite Referee. Only one
person can referee a cup final, be it the FIFA World Cup Final of the national
final but that must be a target for all referees. The motto is 'Be the best you can
be'.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

'There will be a number of reasons why referees want to become an elite

referee. All will have different motivations, some good and some not so good.
The most obvious ones are the status of representing your country on the world
stage; an opportunity to experience different football cultures; recognition as
one of the top referees in the world; refereeing top AFC and FIFA matches;
selected for an AFC or FIFA Tournaments are some of the driving factors. Other
factors like financial reward which may seem like the wrong reason in some
people's eyes but refereeing internationally may be financially better than what
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 the referee earns in their job.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

'The motto is ''Be the best you can be''.', the referee director said. I would further
argue that the design of the AFC Elite Referee system indeed puts intrinsic
motivations much further to the fore than extrinsic motivations. The general salary
and responses about the material rewards from the referees in chapter 6 revealed this.
However, setting abstract reasons and targets for the referees happens not only in Asia
but also in leading confederations such as UEFA and even FIFA.

'I was in charge of referees at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan. It was
very clear that the 36 referees appointed came with different ambitions. Some
came to referee one match successfully and controversially. Others such as
Pierluigi Collina of Italy or Ali Bujsaim of UAE came to referee the final'
(participant C1, February 2021)

Using the highest competition, the FIFA men's World Cup, as an example, the best of
the best referees came for the final to achieve their dreams. I believe this is the most
important motivation for the design of all elite referee systems around the world.

The AFC Project Future and the AFC Referee Academy

The AFC Project Future was created and initiated by the former AFC president
Mohammed bin Hammam in 2007. As we mentioned previously in chapter 3, the
design of the project was not only for young referees but also for young coaches. The
candidates must be under 25 years old at the beginning of the selection. However, the
Project Future coaches faced some problems because 'it was most unlikely that
players of 25 would have given up playing and would wish to become coaches at such
a young age (participant C1)'. But for the referees, since FIFA set the regulations that
the candidates can be nominated at the age of 25, the trend of modern referee
education has become to choose and select referees with interests and potentials as
early as possible. The beginning of each batch of Project Future candidates were the
AFC Festivals of Football, which were held in different parts of Asia. The festivals
were a kind of U-14 championship for national teams. Yet since the AFC recognized
that the U-14 matches should be at grassroots level for encouragement but not for
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competition, they named it a 'festival' rather than a 'championship'. Every year there
were seven festivals for male players and two for female players. Male and female
referees were nominated by the member association participating in each festival to
accompany the squad of players. At each Festival there was a comprehensive training
course prepared by experienced AFC Referee Instructors.

'The aim of the project was to develop the next generation of top Asian referees
and results show the AFC Project Future has delivered.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

Participant C1 described the aim of the project. At every festival, the knowledge of
the young referees was examined together with their English ability. At every match
between U-14 national representatives, the referee would have the chance to show
their referee ability or potential. Their performance was observed by AFC Referee
Instructors and at the end of the festival, the top referees were selected to attend an
AFC Project Future Selection Course in Kuala Lumpur. In total around 25 young
referees would take part in the selection course. At the selection course in Kuala
Lumpur, which involved them refereeing matches in a competition involving local
teams, around 16 referees of each batch were selected by the AFC Referee Instructors
to become participants in Project Future. In the end, around only 8 to 10 participants
of each batch could successfully graduate and five of the best ones would be invited
to England to learn from the English referees in the PGMOL (see chapter 3 for a
detailed description of the AFC Project Future).

'I believe that the concept of the AFC Project Future was unique in world
football. Firstly, it was a comprehensive program to train referees. Most
development programs were to develop players or coaches. The catchment area
for AFC Project Future was the whole of Asia since all member associations
took part in the AFC Festivals which were the beginning of the development
process.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

The interviewee described the AFC PF as unique and comprehensive. But what area
did the project focus on of refereeing skills or abilities that made it 'unique' or
valuable?
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 'The content of the training is not just about passing a fitness test or being able
to recognize fouls or offside on video clips. Top referees need to know about
game management, player and coach management and be tactically aware.
These were all important aspects of the courses. Referees were introduced to
football in different environments outside their comfort zone.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

The interviewed AFC referee directors mentioned two aspects that made the project
unique and valuable. Firstly, the AFC referee director identified that a referee should
be familiar with some additional skills or knowledge beyond only the lawbook. For
example, football-playing tactics, human (players, coaches or even team staffs)
management skills or body language were all included in the topics that the Project
Future focused on. Secondly, the project provided the young participants with chances
to leave their 'comfort zone' for refereeing. As mentioned in the last chapter, this is
usually a new challenge or predicament for the new AFC Elite Referee when they first
receive an overseas appointment. The project provided trainee referees with these
kinds of opportunities when they were young, non-FIFA listed and had only limited
refereeing experiences. As a participant, I personally travelled to China, Malaysia, the
Maldives, Japan and England through the AFC Project Future. In 2011 when I joined
the project, I was still a level B referee of CTFA and had not then had the chance to
officiate in top league matches in Taiwan. By participating in the project, I had the
chance to referee 'national matches' between China and Korea, despite the fact that it
was only at the U-14 level, and also a semi-final of the Maldives FA Cup, which
would affect the teams' opportunities to participate in the AFC Cup the following
year. I also went to Fukuoka, Japan for the annual SANIX Cup which included the U-
17 Japanese national team and trained together with England Premier League referees
in the UK, so that I realized what the life of a professional referee is and could be.
These training and match experiences were very difficult, high-pressured and unique
for myself at that time. But on the other hand, they provided very valuable chances for
me to leave my comfort zone and understand what football looks like in different
places from Asia. As the C2 participant emphasized, this was why the project focused
on providing the young prospects with these kinds of 'soft skills' of refereeing.

'Instead, our referees are offered educational programs that clearly develop their
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 soft skills, help them improve qualities like reading the game, player interaction,
communication or personal-management both by theoretical input and by
practical activities in the form of practical training, video analysis etc.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

At that time in Taipei, no one would have thought to teach a level B youth what 'game
reading', 'tactical awareness' or 'referee's personality' are. But the AFC referee
department identified that these are important skills for a referee. Through the project,
they tried to give these ideas to the participants as early as possible. It provided two
aspects of benefits for the AFC referee department. Firstly, they could monitor, train
and educate their potential future AFC Elite Referees. Secondly, participants from all
the different member associations could bring the concept and probably some training
methods back to their own country. This is another chance to maintain the consistency
and uniformity of refereeing in Asia. Therefore, my interviewee also mentioned the
connection between the Project Future and the Member Associations under the AFC.

'The contact was not only confined to courses since I had regular contact with
both the referees and their national associations.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

And the referee director emphasized the importance of how the Member Associations
choose their Project Future candidates.

'Credit must be given also to the national federation who initially recognised
their best young referees to attend the Festivals and as they benefitted from the
training and exposure they received appointed them to matches in their national
leagues and later nominated them for inclusion on the FIFA List of International
Referees.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

As previously discussed in chapter 3, the first stage of the selection of FIFA referees
was organized by the member associations themselves. The Project Future has the
same concept that all member associations had the authority to nominate two
candidates to participate in the Festival every year, but the AFC was much more
focused on the second stage of the selection course. However, if the member
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associations acknowledged the importance and opportunities to help their young
referees being selected into the project, they would cooperate with the candidates and
the AFC referee department together. That was why after graduation from the project
each year, there were always referees who became FIFA referees or assistants
representing their countries.

'The overall results of AFC Project Future were very successful. Over 50
graduates have been appointed to the FIFA List of International Referees. Casey
Reibelt from Australia was appointed to the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in
France while Abdulrahman Al Jassim of Qatar refereed the 2019 FIFA World
Club Cup Final between Liverpool and CR Flamenco. A number of other
graduates are now involved at top FIFA competitions.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

There have been a total of eight batches of graduates from the AFC Project Future
since its beginning in 2007. Before the project changed to the new AFC Referee
Academy in 2017, the 2016 and 2017 AFC Champions Leagues Finals were officiated
by Adham Mohammed (Jordan) and Ahmed Al Kaf (Oman), who are both alumni of
the project. Together with Casey Reibelt (Australia), Abdulrahman Al Jassim (Qatar),
and others who became AFC Elites, their achievements can be seen as successes of
the AFC Project Future.

The AFC changed their young referee education training system from the AFC Project
Future to the AFC Referee Academy in 2017. There were different designs in the two
programs, but the core concept for educating the next generation of AFC Elite
Referees was the same.

'The new AFC Referee Academy has been introduced to replace AFC Project
Future but the aims of both projects are similar, namely, to develop Asian
refereeing.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

A comparison of the two programs is outlined in chapter 1 (see especially Table 1.2).
In general, the concept and the direction of the two programs are consistent: 'namely
to develop Asian refereeing', especially young Asian referees. But the AFC Referee
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Academy provides a longer training and evaluation period for both the candidates and
the instructors. The frequency of gathering all the referees in one venue for courses or
simulated matches is basically the same (2 to 3 times per year), and the total
evaluation period of the Referee Academy longer, providing the candidates more
chances to show their improvements. One Taiwanese interviewee now participating in
the academy described his opinions about this to me.

'(comparing the training period of the two programs) The course instructors said
that the academy gives us four years to learn, and it would be divided into
different stages. For the first two years, they would not eliminate the candidates
easily. They want to see your improvements in the first two years. But in the
third year, you should be at least upgraded to the highest referee level of your
nation and show your large improvements. And for those who could pass the
full selection process of the academy, in the fourth year, they should be
physically and mentally ready to become international referees and also AFC
Elite Referees.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A8, Taipei, October 2019)

Considering the AFC Project Future had to select and eliminate the candidates at the
very beginning of the U-14 regional Football Festivals, the AFC Referee Academy
provides more chances and more time for the young prospects to show their potential
in the first two years. At the same time, the AFC Referee Instructors have more
chances to evaluate and educate the candidates too. Every member association still
has equal chances to send two candidates to attend the annual batch of the academy,
which took place all together in Kuala Lumpur, but at least now all the youngest have
the chance to show themselves for at least two or three courses before they face the
pressure of being eliminated. This is very different to that of the AFC PF, where
candidates would face this decision very soon, in only one week during the AFC
Football Festival. This major change in the AFC's young referee training policy can
be understood from the following opinion of one of the referee directors.

'The difficulty in evaluating is quite unique in that the level and standard of
football, including the ability and experience of referees varies in such a large
Confederation. Like other football continents, you will always have those
Member Associations with a strong football background and those where
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 football is not seen as one of their top sports.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

Again, the interviewed AFC referee director described the large geographic feature
and the football level differences of the AFC. Every nation might have its own
football culture and football understanding, and the referees' abilities from different
countries are definitely different. So, it would be much fairer for each candidate
participating in the Referee Academy to have the chances to learn from the instructors
for a period of time and improve rather than just being evaluated with their original
abilities just at a week-long Football Festival. Again, taking myself as an example, I
was the only Taiwanese participant selected in Project Future from its beginning in
2007 to the end of the project. Although each year the Chinese Taipei Football
Association did send two young referees to the festivals, it was hard to impress the
AFC instructors due to the generally low football development level in Taiwan. But
when the programme was changed to the Referee Academy, neither the first nor
second batch of participants from Taiwan have been eliminated (to date). Of course, it
might be the reason that the abilities of Taiwanese young football referee are
improving. But at least the policy that keeps the young candidates continuing to be
trained and educated so that their potential can be observed more accurately is the
new direction of the AFC Referee Academy for young referee training in Asia.

Although the AFC Referee Academy has not yet had any graduates, this new direction
of the young referee training system from the AFC has received positive feedback
from the participants.

'I think the Referee Academy helps me a lot. ...The most important part I think
is to realize what the AFC really wants from their future referee at the very
beginning. I can prepare what they want now, although I know it probably will
take me another 3 to 4 years to become a FIFA referee. But It's good to know
my target clearly now better than after I become an international referee.'
(Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A8, Taipei, October 2019)

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The AFC STAR Programme

The previous section mentioned the potential for young candidates from each member
association to act as conduits to bring back the latest referee education information to
all MAs. To improve training connections between the AFC and the MAs even more,
the AFC referee department initiated the AFC STAR Programme in late 2020.

'With the changes in the travel restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic and
less opportunity to meet face to face, the Refereeing STAR Programme is a new
AFC initiative with the aim of offering unique, customisable online education
sessions to Member Associations.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

The interviewed referee director in charge of the programme described the features of
the STAR Program. It is an online education program customized for the member
associations. The interviewees in charge of the programme then described the aims,
reason for the name of the programme, and four major aspects of the programme as
follow.

'The innovative education system was created on the pillars of the acronym
'STAR':
· Support MAs with access to high-quality education and expert advice;
· Transform learning into an engaging and customisable experience;
· Adapt to the rapidly changing environment with sustainable solutions and
· Rise by building resilience and turning challenges into opportunities.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

The programme led by the AFC Referee Instructors tries to communicate the newest
refereeing education topics in the world, including categories of technical, fitness,
teaching resources and administration, to all the member associations through a new
online format. The programme plans to organize regular online meetings between the
AFC referee department and representatives from the MAs. The participants invited to
join the programmes from the MAs are retired referees or active referees nearly ready
to transform their role from referee to instructor, often due to the age limits. It means
that if the programme operates smoothly and effectively, all the member associations
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under the AFC will have at least one new 'seed referee coach' or instructor that
frequently connects with the AFC referee department.

'From mid-December 2020 to the end of February 2021, we took the

opportunity to train our selected coaches in the skills of coaching and invited
them to submit their ideas on the training sessions we identified. They worked
excellently together devising imaginative presentations which will I am sure
prove to be very popular with our Member Associations.'
(participant C2, March 2021)

Although the programme has relatively recently been initiated, the quotation above
explains the core concept of the STAR programme. The selected coaches from the
MAs become kinds of AFC representatives to help the AFC to coach the domestic
referees in all MAs. It is easy to understand that compared to sending AFC instructors
to all MAs one time per year with a week-long course, helping all member
associations to have at least an above average level referee coach is more efficient and
reasonable. Most importantly, the AFC can now consolidate a 'window' for all MAs to
make sure the latest referee training methods, administration information, fitness
knowledge or competition information that the referees in Asia need to know are
delivered to MAs. Furthermore, if the local referee coaches are well trained by the
programme, they can be more localized, closer to the domestic football of their
nations and have fewer linguistic barriers. The local referee coaches from the MAs
arguably understand the domestic league better than those in the AFC department.
They can be closer to the problems or predicaments that local referees face. Then the
programme can improve the abilities of the AFC Elite Referees from all MAs through
close monitoring from the selected coaches, at the same time asking or helping the
coaches to build and improve the referee education system for their own country. One
veteran referee that was invited to participate in the STAR programme described the
benefit of the programme to me.

'I now have more direct communication with the AFC. I don't need to ask the
(country name) football association for the newest teaching materials or
question if there is anything new from the AFC. And I could realize how other
countries train their referees since now I have the chance to know more referee
coaches from various countries. And most importantly the programme is online.
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 I can attend anywhere anytime. Compared to flying to Kuala Lumpur, this
method is very efficient.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A3, Taipei, May 2021)

Although the AFC STAR Programme has only just started, again, as a part of the 'new
normal', it's highly possible these kinds of training methods will become a major trend
in the AFC referee training system.

The Referee Training Systems of the CTFA

This section describes the referee training system of the Chinese Taipei Football
Association. Although some of the training system, predicaments and competition
environment have already been introduced in chapter 3, we have not yet heard the
responses or opinions of CTFA referees and members of the CTFA referee
department. The following is mainly based on face-to-face interviewees with
Taiwanese referees and referee activities-related participants. The discussions are
organized into three aspects. Firstly, an overview of the CTFA referee training system
is discussed from the views of the CTFA referee directors and referee department
members. Following that, the opinions of CTFA referees under this system are
discussed. Finally, considering that the football competition environment in Taiwan is
still developing, what the CTFA can do to improve referees' abilities and skills in a
difficult environment and how they might connect better with developments in the
AFC are discussed.

The regular referee training system of the CTFA

'Even I do not know how many ''phantom'' referees we have in the CTFA. There
are so many listed or qualified A-level referees. Today their licenses are
theoretically still valid even though they have stopped their referee activities for
so many years. That is why we are trying to promote the new online referee
registration system.'(Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(Participant A1, Taipei, October 2019)

This quotation from an interviewee who currently works in the CTFA referee
department points out a major problem facing football referee organization in Taiwan.
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The CTFA referee department itself finds it difficult to grasp or control the status,
conditions or even the numbers of qualified referees. As previously discussed in
chapter 3, the validity of CTFA referee licenses can remain lifelong as long as the
referee attends a refreshment course for a few hours each year (48 hours in four years,
see the discussion in chapter 3). But the definition of a refreshment course or seminar
has been unclear. The CTFA can hold an official referee training course, but
additionally the County FAs, Chinese Taipei University Sports Federation and even
the Ministry of Education in Taiwan also have the right to arrange a series of training
seminars. There has been no one platform for the CTFA referee department to confirm
and count how many hours the referees have attended these courses. The CTFA relies
on the referees to report back themselves about their situation. This is one reason why,
since early 2021, the CTFA has started to build an online registration system for
referees.

'In the Future, we (the CTFA) will only recognize the referee courses that we
approved. Referee courses from other organizations should be approved by us
first and we will put them online. All referees need to register their activities
through the system. In the future, all match appointments and referee training
schedule will be published through this system, not by phone calls, WhatsApp
or Line, like we do now.'(Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(Participant A1, Taipei, October 2019)

This describes the newest vision of the CTFA referee department. In May 2021, there
were a total of 56 level A (including 3 FIFA Referees, 5 FIFA Assistants Referees, 2
FIFA Futsal Referees, 2 Women FIFA Referees and 2 Women FIFA Assistant
Referees), 26 level B and 148 level C referees registered on the list. These numbers
can be seen as the 'active' referees that really keep themselves involved in match
official activities in the CTFA. But these numbers show a unique phenomenon. For
example, the number of level B referees is considerably less than level A and level C
ones. In a normal or healthy pyramid of football development, the shape of the
triangle should be obvious and the highest level should be fewer but with higher
abilities. So how can the CTFA have 56 level A but only 26 level B referees? In
addition, if the CTFA does have this number of A level referees, why does the CTFA
still face difficulties in finding qualified referees to officiate in its top leagues? Why is
it still difficult to ask referees to participate in the regular fitness test if there are many
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referees that the CTFA can choose? Two CTFA interviewees' responses help explain
this strange phenomenon.

'There is actually no license of ''referee instructor'' in Taiwan now. I know you

(the referees) all call them ''instructors'' or ''assessors''. But theoretically, they
are at the same level as you are. The current number of level-A referee includes
the retired referees who become assessors or instructors now. And of course, it
includes some ''old men'' like me. We retired a long time ago but still keep an
interest in refereeing or working closely with football. That is why we are
willing to register to the system.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the
researcher)
(Participant A1, Taipei, October 2019)

'(talking about the gap between level C and level B referees) ...from the
standpoint of the CTFA referee department, I think we try our best to encourage
youngsters to join. But I feel most of them still want to play football. They want
to become a player but not a referee. And teaching football (as club coaches)
earns much more payment than refereeing. For them, teaching football is a
better part-time job.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(Participant A1, Taipei, October 2019)

If we look at the detail of the composition of CTFA level C referees, the majority of
them are college students. This is a unique phenomenon in Taiwan. Some of the
specific departments in the college, such as physical education or sports industry
management, require their students to get several 'licenses' as one of the criteria for
graduation. These licenses could be any kind of referee, umpire or judge licenses of
different sports or lifeguard licenses. That is why some of the level C referees have
'no concept of football (participant A2)'. But because of the very low requirements for
passing the tests of the level C referee course (see the discussion in Chapter 3), these
participants are still theoretically qualified referees of the CTFA. And for the others
that have football backgrounds, they prefer to choose to become a football coach but
not a referee as their career option. For them, the reason why they came to participate
in the referee course is 'understand the basic football law (participant A1)', 'make my
resume good looking (participant A2)' or 'some senior tell me to come (participant
A4)'.
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Then how does the CTFA react to this phenomenon? Does the CTFA referee
department try to attract more potential participants to become referees? According to
the following responses from the CTFA interviewee, we might not see a very positive
prospect.

'It's difficult. We (the CTFA referee department) try to increase the match fees
for the referees to motivate the youngsters. But it is still a large difference
between teaching football and refereeing. For example the Shuei-Tun Cup*, you
might receive 1,000 NTD after refereeing all day. But as a grassroots club
coach, you can earn more than 2,000 to 3,000 in 2 hours.' (Original in Chinese,
translated by the researcher)
(participant A1, Taipei, October 2019)

*one of the biggest annual national U-12 football competitions in Taiwan

The interviewees from the CTFA referee department indeed admitted that currently in
Taiwan most of the referees choose to become match officials because of 'interest in
football (participant A1)', 'ambition (participant A1)', 'passion for football (participant
A2)' or as 'one of the career options after retiring from being a player (participant
A2)'. This is not a particularly healthy environment, but during the interviews, I could
not hear any solutions provided by the referee department of CTFA. Furthermore,
again it seems that the CTFA referee department provided a pessimistic or negative
attitude about the current relationship between referees and the clubs, players and
coaches from the top league. For example, the CTFA interviewees considered it not
suitable for the teams and the referee department to have a pre- and post-season
discussion about match incidents that occurred during the season. This surprised me
since it is normal in a well-developed football country. I asked should there be a pre-
season, mid-season and post-season discussion with the teams:

'No, I don't think it works. This would only cause confrontation between the
referees and the teams. Do you think the teams would accept our explanations
about some crucial decisions? Do they really want to understand the laws or just
want to abuse the referee? How many times did you see the teams post videos
and criticize the referees on Facebook? Our competition environment is
immature. I don't want my referee to have to fight with other teams.' (Original
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 in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A1, Taipei, October 2019)

The interviewee tries to protect referees. This is a good and understandable reason.
But how can the environment in Taiwan be improved without both promotion from
the team and the referee?

Responses from the CTFA referees

My research results, responses from the CTFA referees, and personal experience,
suggest that to date the atmosphere and cohesion of the CTFA referees' community
can be best described as 'defeatist'. For the current support from the CTFA referee
department, the interviewed referees show negative responses and several criticisms.
The results show that most of the referees do not think the future for Taiwanese
referees having careers as international referees is a bright one.

'We (CTFA FIFA listed referees) will be far away from the AFC competitions
soon. ...our competition environment in Taiwan does not provide enough
challenges for the referees to improve. I don't see any young referees that have
the potential to become AFC Elite. Yes, some young referees might have good
abilities. But considering their English ability, I don't see anyone could pass the
AFC Elite recruitment.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A3, Taipei, October 2019)

This senior CTFA referee pointed out the difficulty that there is an obvious gap about
the young generation of referees in Taiwan. Most of the referees are not well
organized or educated because of a lack of training from the CTFA referee
department. For some individuals that have the potential (probably improved by
training by themselves but not being helped by the CTFA), they might face another
crucial threshold in that their English language ability is far below the standard
expected by the AFC.

'Another issue is about the VAR (Video Assistant Referee). To date more and
more AFC competitions would be played with the VAR. Without the license of
video match officials, we cannot go to any high-level competitions of the AFC
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 in the future.'(Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A3, Taipei, October 2019)

In the 2021 season, the third round of the World Cup Qualifiers and the knockout
stage of the ACL are using VARs. This means many Asian referees, even if they are
part of the AFC Elite Referees, are not able to join the competitions because they have
not trained in cooperating with video match officials. The AFC referee department has
arranged VAR courses for listed AFC Elite Referees every year, but the seminar only
invited those referees that already had some VAR experience in their own countries.
This meant that in some countries, such as Taiwan, Laos, Indonesia or Kyrgyzstan
that do not have the capability to use VAR domestically, their AFC Elite Referees
could not have the chance to go to the AFC VAR Seminar and thus officiate in high-
level competitions in the AFC. For CTFA referees to participate in AFC competitions
in the future it would appear they would only be involved at the lower levels
tournaments or fixtures, such as the AFC Cup or U-series AFC Championships.
Furthermore, the use of VAR is a major new trend in elite professional football and
the system and protocol of how to use VAR have been promoted rapidly in the world.
I believe in the near future the AFC Cup and possibly all of the AFC competitions will
be played with VAR. At this time, Taiwanese referees will be eliminated from the
AFC Elite Referee Panel if there is no change in the football environment in Taiwan.
But are there any changes in the football environment in Taiwan? Or what are the
opinions from the CTFA referees about the support they received from the CTFA
referee department? Disappointedly, the results again were largely negative.

'(asking about the VAR) ...No, I don't see any possibility of using VAR in our
(Taiwan) near future. It's all about money. As long as we don't have a
professional league, it is not possible that the FA start to think about the VAR.'
(Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A5, Taipei, October 2019)

'(asking the support from the CTFA referee department) ...None. I always train
individually. I manage my training schedule on my own. ...Of course, I want to
have a quarterly, monthly or even weekly training schedule. But who can help
me?' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A6, Taipei, October 2019)
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Unfortunately, all the interviewed CTFA referees were not satisfied with the general
support from the CTFA. Specifically speaking, the referees were not satisfied with the
training or education policy provided by the CTFA although not the attitude the CTFA
had with support for their FIFA referees. For example, the referees described the
training schedules or programs from the CTFA as 'None (participant A6)', 'could be
improved (participant A3)', 'without organizing (participant A4)' and 'seems not
having a clear target (participant A7)'. But the referees I interviewed on the FIFA list
admitted that the CTFA always supports FIFA referees for their international
refereeing duties.

'If there is a collision between Taiwan Premier League and the AFC
appointment, (name of chairman of the CTFA referee department) always
encourage us to accept the appointments. I think it is because the international
match experiences are valuable for us, and also the allowance is better than
domestic. I missed the key rivalries in the league several times in my referee
career, but the FA still supports me to go overseas. I'm grateful for that.'
(Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A4, Taipei, October 2019)

However, the most important part of the CTFA referee department that needs to
improve is to organize serious 'effective' training programs for the referees. As
mentioned in chapter 3, the regular referee education activities held by the CTFA are
largely theoretical and indoor courses. But according to the interviewed CTFA
referees, they all agreed that practical training in the field is more important for
improving.

'In Taiwan we all train to be a referee during real matches. But this is wrong and
unfair to the teams. We should be ready and then go on to the pitch. But how
many referees learn how to blow their first whistle penalizing a foul at a real
game but not at a simulated game?' (Original in Chinese, translated by the
researcher)
(participant A4, Taipei, October 2019)

Even for myself, I have to admit that when I received my level C referee license and
first appointment for a U-12 match in 2009, on reflection I was obviously not ready
186
and had lots of doubts during the game. The level C referee course did not provide me
with enough experience to understand the Laws of the Game or even how to carry the
flag. But the CTFA still gave me the license because I passed the written course.
Following that, I was sent to the matches directly without any further education. But
what does the CTFA referee department think about this problem?

'It's difficult both to the referees and to the teams. But what else can we do? We
don't have enough referees. Actually, it is good to train referees in real matches.
The simulated matches are different to real matches. You will gain more
experience through real matches, despite it only being a children's game.'
(Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A1, Taipei, October 2019)

The CTFA referee department admitted that 'training the referees during real matches'
is a normal and long-time phenomenon in Taiwan. Most of the level C referees really
gain referee knowledge during youth competitions or children's games. But this
phenomenon causes lots of confrontations between teams and match officials, and it
leads to the result that most of the players in Taiwan do not respect the referees'
abilities from a very young age. Then when the players become older and participate
in the higher leagues, they do not respect the referees because confidence and reliance
on the referees has never been built through their career. Even though the quality of
referees in the top league is much better than at the youth level, the relationship
between players and match officials are strained in Taiwan.

It is not fair to put all the criticisms at the door of the CTFA referee department. One
interviewed CTFA referee department member pointed out two things that indicated
there is a need to look at the whole picture of Taiwanese football environment.

'The County or City FAs do not work well. There is a lack of cooperation
between the local FA and the central FA. Some County FAs do not even operate
well I must say. Another thing is that we don't cooperate well with the
University Sports Federation and the High School Sports Federation. Most of
the referees from CTFA will participate in the annual High School League or the
University League. But their chairman of referee affairs does not work closely
with us.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
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 (participant A1, Taipei, October 2019)

Firstly, the County and City FA in Taiwan are not well organized. In an ideal model of
a football development environment, the bottom level of the FA should be responsible
for the training and education of entry-level referees. But in Taiwan, some County FA
only 'hold the courses to prove they exist but do not control the quality of the results
(participant A1)'. The CTFA itself has to search very carefully for new entry-level
referees who 'really have an interest in refereeing (participant A2)' but cannot rely on
the cooperation with the County FA. This is one predicament mentioned by the CTFA
referee department interviewee.

Secondly, the CTFA has a lack of cooperation with important organizations in sports
in Taiwan: the University Sports Federation and the High School Sports Federation.
In Taiwan, the highest governance body of sports is Sports Administration within the
Ministry of Education. This shows the direction of sports policy in Taiwan. It is
important for education purposes and the government gives the sports organizations
financial support if they are related to educational affairs. That is why even the CTFA
has its own Youth League, but the high school teams treat the annual league held by
the High School Sports Federation more seriously. At the same time, the High School
Sports Federation league results can affect whether players can enter good or sports
specific colleges. The competition level and the seriousness of the High School
League is much higher than the CTFA Youth League. The situation is the same at the
university level since the University Sports Federation controls the annual University
League in Taiwan. 'We have to train our referees through these more competitive
matches (participant A1)', one interviewee said. But at the same time, the chairman of
the CTFA referee department can not interfere with the appointments or even the post-
match analyses of those matches. People in charge of referee affairs in the CTFA
Youth League, High School League and University League have not cooperated well
together for many years in Taiwan. One response from a CTFA referee described the
situation.

'It is difficult to please every teacher*. If we accept the appointment from the
High School League first then there is another appointment scheduled at the
same time from CTFA coming, we always offend either one side. We need
match experiences from high school or university games but finally the CTFA
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 decides if you can become a FIFA referee or not. I don't know what I should do.'
(Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A7, Taipei, October 2019)

*In Taiwan seniors are called 'teacher' out of respect.

It is a crucial dilemma that has existed in Taiwan for years, but still without a real
solution. It might be explained as a kind of 'human factor' again that has existed in the
Taiwanese sports environment (and not only football) for a long time, but without
good connections and cooperation between the above mentioned sports organizations
in Taiwan, referees cannot receive a good and properly organized education.

The competition environment in Taiwan and its connection with the AFC

Another factor to take into account is the football competition environment in Taiwan
and how this issue affects the Taiwanese referees' connection with the AFC and FIFA.
In general, from my experience and understanding, I argue that if the football
competition environment in Taiwan does not change or improve quickly enough,
Taiwanese Football will be eliminated soon from the international stage together with
our referees. I already mentioned the difficulty of the use of VAR. Although it is very
difficult for the Taiwanese football competition to start to use VAR for financial
reasons, without the introduction of the VAR system into Taiwan, CTFA referees will
soon face challenges that we cannot adapt to the requirements of AFC or FIFA
competitions. Another difficulty football referees face is that the league matches in
Taiwan are not competitive enough and far from the AFC standard.

'Without the regular practical training, we need to gain experience in our league
matches. But how many matches do you think are competitive? Yes these years
might become better. Previously, Only Tai-Dian playing against Ta-Tung* is
competitive. But they played twice per year only. How many referees can
improve with so few chances?' (Original in Chinese, translated by the
researcher)
(participant A5, Taipei, October 2019)

*Tai-Dian and Ta-Tung are two traditional strong teams in Taiwan Premier League

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This CTFA referee pointed out the crucial difficulty of the development and training
environment of Taiwanese football referees: we don't have enough tough matches for
referees (and for the players, too). I officiated matches between Tai-Dian and Ta-Tung
twice as part of my AFC Elite Referee recruitment process. The reason that the CTFA
arranged those matches for me was they wanted the AFC Referee Recruiters to watch
my performances when I was officiating competitive matches, and not 'easy matches',
with, for example, 8 to 0 score lines. And the match between those two traditional
rivalries was the only option. This means some of (or most of) the CTFA top league
matches are still considered as an 'easy' level according to the AFC or FIFA standard.
This raises the question of how can CTFA referees gain enough match experience
before they start to face challenges overseas?

'It's difficult. I still remember my first international match in Korea. The game
was much faster than I imagined. Honestly I can say I spent more than 70 per
cent of my stamina after only the first half. You could not imagine this if you
did not really go outside.' (Original in Chinese, translated by the researcher)
(participant A1, Taipei, October 2019)

Although this interviewee retired as a FIFA Referee a long time ago, I believe his
experience about the differences between matches in Taiwan and at the AFC level is
still very common and pertinent. As mentioned several times in this thesis, the
referees who come from well-developed football countries (such as Japan, Qatar, and
the UAE for example) would feel that AFC Cup matches are easy because their
domestic matches are much stronger than the AFC Cup teams. But for CTFA
colleagues, they are often struggling when they officiate abroad. New challenges and
new match incidents come very often even if they officiate matches at the very lowest
level, such as in an AFC Cup playoff in Timor-Leste.

Although the football environment in Taiwan has indeed improved in recent years, the
speed and extent are arguably not enough, especially compared to other neighbouring
countries. Whilst the Taiwanese were celebrating a first historic win of a club in AFC
Cup history in June 2021, Hong Kong clubs had already started to participate in the
ACL in 2017 together with the Malaysian club Johor Darul Ta'zim. The Vietnamese
clubs also successfully made their first-ever ACL debut in 2021. At the same time,
Philippines club United City received their first ACL win in the 2021 season.
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Tampines Rovers from Singapore also made the Singaporean club's debut in the 2021
season. Not to mention the Thailand sides which started to join the ACL years ago and
have the most sound and complete professional league in the ASEAN region.
Compared to these countries, the progress of football development in Taiwan is
arguably not fast enough. The government of Taiwan started to consider how to
support the professionalisation of football in Taiwan as long ago as 2002 when the
World Cup was co-hosted by Japan and Korea. But to date, the Taiwanese league
remains as, at best, a semi-professional level. The Ministry of Education in Taiwan is
currently involved in unrolling a 'Six Year Football Development Program' (MOE,
2018) hoping to establish a professional league no later than 2024. As a referee I look
forward to seeing a large improvement in football in Taiwan, but the fact is that we
are still far away from this goal.

Conclusion

This chapter has described and compared the referee training systems of the Asian
Football Confederation and the Chinese Taipei Football Association based largely on
responses from AFC referee directors and CTFA interviewees. Through the chapter,
the reader should now better understand the creation of the AFC Elite Referee system
and the two unique programs that the AFC has designed for potential future elite
referees in Asia. The new AFC STAR Programme can be seen as the new direction of
online referee education policy, a method of delivering training which has progressed
rapidly since the Covid-19 pandemic period began in 2020.

In general, the interviewed AFC referee directors gave positive evaluations about the
AFC Elite Referee system, the AFC Project Future and the AFC Referee Academy.
Although there might be some political debate, the overall referee training and
education policy in the AFC are highly regarded by the referee directors who also
have plenty of experience outside Asia, especially in European football. But at the
same time, trends in modern football development in Asia and the rest of the world
are likely to enlarge the disparities between high and low developed football
countries. The use of VARs and the different competition intensity in each country,
may have the result that some FIFA-listed referees from lesser developed Asian
countries might not be able to join the AFC Elite Referee Panel in the very near
future. The 'defeatist' atmosphere from the CTFA referees identified through my
191
interviewees indicated the concerns that match officials have. Without a fairly rapid
improvement in the Taiwanese football environment, CTFA referees may be
eliminated soon from the highest stages of international football. The resolution of
this dilemma not only relies on an improvement in the quality of match officials but
also on the advancement of the competition level of football in Taiwan.

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Chapter 8 Conclusion

The thesis overall provides novel findings about the motivations, experiences and
training systems of football referees in the Asian Football Confederation. It discusses
recent developments and challenges, especially since the impact of the Covid-19
pandemic, and future possibilities for the development and training of AFC Elite
Referees and those in less well-developed football nations, such as Taiwan (Chinese
Taipei). This chapter will briefly rehearse the findings of each chapter, identify two
significant headline findings from the research project, and finally reflect on the scope
of the thesis and the possibilities for research in the future.

Summary of the thesis

Chapter 1 provided a general understanding of the highest governing authority of

Asian Football, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the general policies and
programs the AFC uses to manage and educate referees throughout the continent. The
history and the creation of the AFC were introduced together with the appearance of
modern football and match officials. The AFC Elite Referee Panel, the AFC Project
Future and the AFC Referee Academy were also discussed. The research aims and
questions were outlined in this chapter indicating that the thesis was a novel
investigation into the motivations, experiences and training systems of referees in the
AFC.

In Chapter 2 previous academic research and studies of association football and

football referees was discussed. This included a brief history of association football
and the football referee, and a discussion of how certain European football
associations train their referees, drawing on Webb's pioneering work (Webb, 2017). It
was noted that although some researchers have started to focus on Asian football
referees as a subject of study, there have to date been no investigations of how the
AFC trains their elite match officials using ethnographic methods and a qualitative
research approach.

Chapter 3 explained how the global, regional and national football governance bodies
select and recruit their referees. It examines how the FIFA and continental football
federations, such as the AFC, cooperate to develop an elite referee selection,
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recruitment, training and development system by decentralizing authority to each
other and then downward to national football associations or member associations
(MA). Details about how AFC Elite Referees are recruited, three major regular
training programs from the AFC for elite referees, and how the AFC Project Future
and AFC Referee Academy were designed are described. The basic shape of the
training and development system of referees in the CTFA was also described in this
chapter as representative of a national football association.

The research approach adopted and the methods used in the thesis are explained in
chapter 4. All the participants, interviewees and official documents that were analysed
are listed. A variety of semi-structured interviews were the major research methods
used, but these were supplemented by desk-based research of the literature and
various official documents on football match officials, and, as an AFC accredited
referee, my own first-person observations and analysis of a personal research diary
and documents associated with the role. Information about the interviewed referees
and instructors was anonymized, but details of the questionnaires are presented to
demonstrate how I communicated with the research participants. Alterations to the
research approach and methods used, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, are explained in
the final section of the chapter.

Using verbatim quotations from the participants, translated from Chinese language in
the case of CTFA respondents, who have all been highly involved in AFC referee
activities, chapters 5, 6 and 7 provide findings from the research about the
motivations of referees, their recent and previous experiences and the training systems
developed in the AFC. Chapter 5 identifies three developments - the 'uncertainty',
'adjustment' and 'new normal' phases over the course of the year 2020 and into the
first half of 2021 - as the Covid-19 pandemic developed and spread. The Covid-19
pandemic overlapped with over two-thirds of the period during which the research
project was undertaken (commencing in April 2019) and created special difficulties
with accessing and interviewing AFC referees. These difficulties were overcome by
adopting a flexible research approach to the design of research instruments, as
discussed in chapter 4. The actions the AFC took to adjust its referee affairs during the
various phases are discussed in this chapter. By participating as a match official at the
restart of AFC football activities in 2021, I was able to record and critically assess at
first-hand the experience, challenges and opportunities presented by the pandemic.
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In chapter 6, referees from numerous countries that make up the AFC describe their
motivations and experiences of being an AFC Elite Referee. Intrinsic, non-material
and non-functional reasons are revealed as the main motivations and expectations of
the AFC elite referee community. 'Self-actualization' appears as a key and essential
aspect of reward for referees around Asia who seek to join the AFC Elite Referee
Panel. This factor helped some interviewees to overcome negative experiences, such
as personal problems or dissatisfaction with the extrinsic rewards offered by the AFC
and remain positive to continue with their international referee careers.

The final findings chapter, chapter 7, discussed the training systems used by the AFC
and the CTFA. Three major AFC referees’ education programmes (the AFC Elite
Referee Panel, the AFC Project Future and the AFC Referee Academy) are outlined,
and then evaluated from the perspective of senior AFC referee directors. The AFC
referee department feels satisfied with the level of the performance of its elite referees
by comparing them with leading European match officials. The AFC also prides itself
on its unique referee education programme for promoting young non-FIFA listed
prospects. The chapter also notes however, that as a national member association
under the AFC, the current referee training system of the CTFA is not yet ready to
produce many exceptional referees that could reach the AFC or FIFA level. If the
football competition environment in Taiwan does not improve, with more games held
and more training provided, referees will lack the opportunity to grow and keep
abreast of contemporary developments. Taiwanese match officials might soon be
eliminated altogether from the stage of world-class football.

Two headline research findings, and a qualification

This second part of the conclusion will identify and discuss two headline findings
from the project overall and issue a qualification about the scope of the thesis. Firstly,
following investigation of the training systems and the actors involved in them and
the direction of travel of the continental football federations, football match officials
today need to be understood as 'atypical athletes'. Secondly, the current development
of football referees in Asia is an 'ongoing' process. The AFC referee department itself
has full confidence in promoting high-level referees onto the world stage. But at the
same time, the large geographic difficulties, the huge disparities of football
development levels and political considerations in Asia bring great challenges for
195
international referees from the less developed football MAs, such as Chinese Taipei.
In addition, as was discussed in chapter 5, the Covid-19 pandemic has created new
developments in the training and education of referees that will continue to make an
impact on this process. Thirdly, although breaking new ground in referee research in
terms of the focus on match officials in the AFC the thesis has several research
limitations: its focus only on male match official affairs in Asia being one of these. A
transnational and comparative study of the motivations, experiences and trainings
systems of both male and female football referees would be a large contribution to
referee studies. Limitations on time, resources and the onset of the pandemic have
meant the scope of the project has necessarily had to be limited. Furthermore,
investigation of the experience of participants and effectiveness of referee education
programmes, such as the AFC Referee Academy and the AFC STAR Programme, has
not been able to be completed because these remain ongoing programmes. Further
researcher results can be expected after batches of participants in these programmes
have graduated.

The football referee as an 'atypical athlete'

As noted in the studies reviewed in chapter 2, since the 2000s football match officials
are trained using increasingly scientific methods and have become more like a sports
person or athlete. Football referees today should be seen as 'atypical athletes'. From
the research reviewed and the responses from AFC referee colleagues, it becomes
clear that football match officials today are indeed required to be highly trained
physically. Evidence shows for example that in high-level matches, such as at the
World Cup or Asian Cup, referees need to run more than 10 kilometres in 90 minutes,
reaching over 85% of HRmax. Not many referees or umpires in other sports are
required to do so. Thus a unique and special fitness test was invented to measure the
fitness level of football referees in 2006 and has been revised continuously for more
simulated real match scenarios (see discussion in chapter 2).

Fitness checks must be conducted before every major tournament arranged by FIFA or
AFC, and the interviewed AFC referees also admitted that during their referee career,
fitness maintenance and physical challenges had had a great influence on their
performance and careers (see discussion in chapter 6). As we found out, in the newest
guidelines and criteria of how the AFC referee department will select, recruit and train
196
their AFC Elite Referees and future potential candidates, the physical requirements
for football referees are the same as for all elite athletes. In other words, in modern
football to date, we need a football referee that can run as much as a midfield player
and as fast as a winger. The referee's aerobic ability and stamina endurance must be
maintained for as long as 90 or even 120 minutes, just like players, and at the same
time the referee has to make more than 100 decisions, all in split seconds. These
extremely high and difficult physical and mental requirements make the scenario
special in today's football. We argue that the FIFA and the AFC are asking an 'athlete'
to determine the sporting results for another group of athletes, that is, the two teams of
players. Although these referee athletes do not receive any credit through match
results, as the 'third team' that must be on the field of a game, they indeed are a group
of special sports people and athletes that may not often gain much attention (unless
something goes wrong) but are, precisely, 'atypical'.

The ongoing development of Asian match officials

This second argument or key finding of the research was well summed up in the
words of an AFC referee director who defined football refereeing in Asia as 'on an
ongoing process':

'I consider the development of refereeing in the AFC as an ongoing process,

building bricks on the top of a strong foundation.'
(participant C1, February 2021)

Throughout all the interviews and email communications, the interviewed AFC
referee directors always compared AFC match officials with those in the UEFA (see
discussion of this in chapter 7). The two interviewed AFC referee directors
(participants C1 and C2) all had plenty of experience in Europe and other Asian
countries before they joined the AFC, and they all made this comparison. According
to their experiences, the AFC Project Future, AFC Referee Academy and the AFC
STAR Programme are unique in the world. Indeed, compared to the performance of
national teams from Asian countries, referees from Asia do perform way better in
continental competitions. As previously mentioned in chapter 1, Ravshan Irmatov and
Alireza Faghani had already created history in Asian refereeing at the FIFA men's
World Cup while the Asian teams were still struggling to get through the qualifying
197
group stages. According to the responses to my questions from the AFC referee
directors, they have put much effort into the training and development of Asian
football refereeing.

At the other extreme, compared to the well-regarded top level of the football referee
development pyramid in the AFC, some countries that are currently at the bottom
level of football referee development could soon be removed from the centre of the
Asian refereeing altogether. The gap between the apex of referees and the elementary
referees, even though they are all qualified AFC Elites, could become larger and
larger. Using Taiwanese football as an example, I suggest that the risk is that if the
progress of Taiwanese football development cannot follow up wider trends in Asian
football, Taiwanese referees will face the prospect of being eliminated from
officiating at major international competitions in the near future (see discussion in
chapter 7). I suggest that the first priority should be the establishment of a
professional league in Taiwan, but additionally the whole development of Taiwanese
football must be promoted better and faster. The connection between the CTFA and
the AFC will become weaker if the football competition environment in Taiwan does
not follow the trend of Asia football, let alone world football. The only connection
between the CTFA and the AFC might remain only the yearly recruitment session and
participation at the AFC Referee Academy because of the AFC 'equality' policy to all
MAs. The fact that the football environment is not well developed means that CTFA
referees could be left outside the centre of AFC match officials' lists and of wider
Asian refereeing opportunities.

Scope of the thesis and the possibilities for further research

As described in chapter 4, this research project relied for its methodology primarily
on semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observations and my own personal
experience as one of the elite referees in the AFC. As an active AFC Elite Referee I
could draw upon first-hand connections with other referees and referee trainers that
had knowledge and experience of AFC affairs. This positive benefit gave the research
project many valuable, direct and straightforward resources for analysis and subjects
with whom to have discussions. In the end the research for the thesis was limited to
male Asian match officials and does not include many references to other continental
federations. Yet Webb (2017) in his book, based on his PhD which also only focused
198
on one confederation (UEFA), points out that at present most studies of football
refereeing have focused on European football. Hence the distinctiveness and
contribution of this thesis is that it provides a broad review and investigation of how
the Asian Football Confederation has tried to create and improve the abilities and
skills of their referees. As Webb suggested, the further development of football match
official studies can only come about by researchers in different countries asking, what
are the situations 'beyond UEFA' (Webb, 2017). Now this is what I have tried to start
to do in this thesis. It provides a primary overview of contemporary Asian referees'
motivations, experiences and the training systems in the AFC to develop them.

I look forward to conducting more research into several topics. Some of these
possibilities are listed below. As mentioned repeatedly in the thesis, the AFC is very
unique for it is a very large continental federation, not only in geographic scale but
also with huge differences in language, religion, race, culture, economy, and even the
composition of nations. I believe it will be interesting and valuable to have further
studies focusing on specific topics such as regional comparisons or how religious and
cultural differences influence football in Asia. Furthermore, it should be possible in
future to develop multi-national studies of match officials that go 'beyond UEFA' and
'beyond AFC'. Since this thesis has found some peculiarities and specifics of Asian
football refereeing, I believe that there are more valuable comparative discussions to
be had about match officials in other confederations, such CONMEBAL, CAF and
CONCACAF. Not only would this research look at the motivations and experiences
of referees but also the challenges and opportunities they face at work and in
establishing themselves in the global game. Conducting the research under pandemic
conditions meant that changes had to be made to the original research approach and
methods adopted. One notable feature of the restrictions this imposed is there is a
focus on male referees in this study. It is hoped, for example, that future research can
be undertaken in person that will investigate the opportunities and challenges for both
male and female referees in well-developed and less well-developed football nations.

Additionally, as described in chapter 7, there are two new AFC referee education
programmes, the AFC Referee Academy and the AFC STAR Programme, which are
an ongoing progress. Although with the completion of this thesis there is still not yet
any graduate from these projects, the AFC does appear to have full confidence in the
success of this newest direction of referee education policy in Asia. Therefore, I look
199
forward to conducting further research about the results of the new AFC Referee
Academy, and also receiving feedback from the AFC STAR Programme participants.
Furthermore, as a researcher and also a match official, I very much look forward to
seeing the positive development of these two programmes and expect different
research to be conducted by other scholars specifically on these topics.

Coda

Finally, I would like to conclude the thesis by mentioning two slogans – one
previously used and one currently used by the AFC. Again, as both an academic
researcher and an AFC Elite Referee, I am proud of the internal cohesion of the Asian
referee community: as we always say, 'One Asia, One Goal'. The results of this
research project, which included the participation of members coming from more than
18 countries in Asia, successfully proves this positive consociation. And for the
development in the following decades of world refereeing, I sincerely believe that
top-level Asian referees will remain consistent with and linked with world-class
standards if we follow the instructions of the AFC referee department. Together with
my Asian referee colleagues, I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if
nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made
by the AFC, we shall prove to ourselves once again that Asian football can shine in
the World Cup. Thus demonstrating in certain respects, and at least for football
refereeing, 'the Future is Asia'.

200
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211
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施計畫. Taipei: CTFA.

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106-b.html

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travel-restrictions

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referees-appointed-as-russia-2018-match-officials

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January 22nd 2021 https://www.hkfa.com/ch/load_page/189/ (in Chinese)

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the Game: Towards Fair Play (1970-1980). Accessed 22nd February 2021
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214
Japan Football Association, JFA. (2021a). プロフェッショナルレフェリー制度.
Accessed 19th February 2021 https://www.jfa.jp/referee/profile/ (in Japanese)

Japan Football Association, JFA. (2021b). 國際審判員紹介. Accessed 19th February

2021 https://www.jfa.jp/referee/profile/international_referee.html (in Japanese)

Japan Football Association, JFA. (2021c). 審判制度概要. Accessed 19th 2021

https://www.jfa.jp/referee/system/ (in Japanese)

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13th 2018 http://www.jfa.jp/referee/college/ (in Japanese)

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產業年報. Accessed 19th February 2021 https://www.sa.gov.tw/PageContent?n=160

Personal Correspondence & Communications via Email

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STAR Programme Coach Webinar. Personal correspondence to the author, January
2021, Taipei, Taiwan.

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& Referee Assessors for Visa matters'. Personal correspondence to the author,
February 2020, Taipei, Taiwan.

Personal Communication (2020b). Chinese Taipei Football Association,

Postponement of Matches in March and April 2020. Personal correspondence to the
215
author, March 2020, Taipei, Taiwan.

Personal Communication (2020c). Chinese Taipei Football Association, Further

Postponement of Competitions/Matches in May and June 2020. Personal
correspondence to the author, March 2020, Taipei, Taiwan.

Personal Communication (2020d). Asian Football Confederation, AFC Champions

League 2020 (East) – Centralised Matches Venue and Match Schedule. Personal
correspondence to the author, October 2020, Taipei, Taiwan.

Personal Communication (2020e). Asian Football Confederation, Match operation

protocol during COVID-19 pandemic. Personal correspondence to the author, July
2020, Taipei, Taiwan.

Personal Communication (2020f). Asian Football Confederation, Indoor exercises

with body weight for strength and power. Personal correspondence to the author, April
2020, Taipei, Taiwan.

Personal Communication (2020g). Asian Football Confederation, Indoor exercises

with body weight for strength and power. Personal correspondence to the author, April
2020, Taipei, Taiwan.

Personal Correspondence & Communications via oral interviews

Chen, H. E. (2021). Personal communication to the author May 2021, Taipei, Taiwan.

Chen, J. H. (2018). Personal communication to the author October 2018, Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia.

Chuang, C. F. (2019). Personal interview by the author September 2019, Taipei,

Taiwan.

Cumming, G. (2021). Personal interview via email by the author March 2021,
England, Great Britain.

216
Cumming, G. (2014). Personal communication to the author February 2014, England,
Great Britain.

Fok, P. S. (2017). Personal communication to the author August, 2017, Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia.

Hsu, M. Y. (2019). Personal interview by the author October 2019, Taipei, Taiwan.

Kao, J. F. (2019). Personal interview by the author October 2019, Taipei, Taiwan.

Kim, W. S. (2021). Personal communication to the author May 2021, Amman, Jordan.

Kim, W. S. (2018). Personal communication to the author December 2018, Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia.

Kuo, C. H. (2019). Personal interview by the author September 2019, Taipei, Taiwan.

Matsuda, T. & Tawara, G. (2013). Personal communication to the author February

2013, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Liu, S. H. (2019). Personal interview by the author, September 2019, Taipei, Taiwan.

Lim, I. (2019). Personal communication to the author, October 2019, Dushanbe,

Tajikistan.

217
218
 Appendices

Appendix 1 Official invitation letter to the research participants

Before each interview, an official letter was sent to the interviewees to confirm their
willingness to participate in the research project.
Appendix 1 shows the original invitation letter sent to the participants.

219
A Critical Examination of the Motivation, Experiences and Training Systems of
Elite Football Referees in the Asian Football Confederation
Questionnaire and Description

Dear Participant:

Greetings. It is truly appreciated that you will participate in my research project

and agree to be interviewed.

This is a part of my research project 'A Critical Examination of the Motivation,

Experiences and Training Systems of Elite Football Referees in the Asian Football
Confederation'. In addition to interviews, I am undertaking desk-based research and
document analysis. I will include the information as a part of a doctoral thesis supervised
by Professor John Horne in the Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, Tokyo,
Japan.

Please note that all data and information collected in this project will be for
academic use only and your personal details will not be published. All personal
information will be protected strictly following the 'Personal Information Protection
Act' and according to the research ethics procedures of Waseda University. During data
collection you may stop or question me for any reason at any time.

Once again thank you for your assistance and support in this research project.

Sincerely yours,

Chen Hsin Chuan 陳信全

Doctoral Program

Graduate School of Sport Sciences

Waseda University 早稻田大學

+886-917528750 / chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp

220
 Participant Details

1. Age:_____
2. Sex:_____
3. Occupation (other than referee, if any):_____
4. Referee experience:_____ years
5. International referee experience:_____ years
6. AFC Elite Referee experience:_____ years
7. Referee instructors experience:_____ years
8. International referee instructors experience:_____ years
9. AFC Referee Instructor/Assessor/Recruiter experience:_____ years

Follow-up Feedback
If, after completing the interview, you wish to add anything to the information
you give me, please feel free to send it or contact me at any time.

Name:____________________
Interview date:_____________

You may send me information with following methods:

1. via e-mail: chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp
2. mail to: Waseda University, 75-2-204, 3-4-1, Higashifushimi, Nishitokyoshi,
Tokyo, 202-0021, Japan
〒202-0021 東京都西東京市東伏見 3-4-1 早稻田大學 75-2 號館 204 室

contact number: +886917528750

221
222
Appendix 2 Official invitation to the AFC Referee directors

As mentioned in chapter 4, customized questionnaires were designed to fulfil the

needs of investigating the creation of AFC referee education and training systems.
Appendix 2 shows one example of how I contacted an AFC Referee director with an
invitation to participate in the research project.

Email 1
Dear Mr. (Name of the AFC referee director),

Greetings from Taiwan (Chinese Taipei) and hope this mail finds you well.

This is Chen Hsin Chuan, who graduated from the AFC Project Future Batch 2012 several years

ago.

Not sure if you remember me or not, but I'm still very missing the time I participated in the

programme and be grateful to all the education I received through the PF project.

I became FIFA referee since 2015, and become AFC Elite since 2017, and I believe this is

because I was trained and educated through the PF project and improve a lot.

Really thank you very much and to all the AFC instructors.

Second thing is that I'm currently studying in PhD programme in Waseda University, Tokyo,

Japan in sport sciences, and conducting a research project titled 'A Critical Examination of the

Motivations, Experiences and Training Systems of Elite Football Referees in the Asian Football

Confederation'.

This is why I write this mail to disturb you.

I am wondering whether you are interested in participated in this research or not.

An online questionnaire or interview will be conducted by me, supervised by Professor John

Horne of Waseda university. (https://researchmap.jp/horne55/?lang=english)

Basically I want to understand the original design and target for the PF, what do you think the

general outcome of the PF, and what do you think about the AFC Elite Referee system...etc.

If you are interested in, then I will explain more and give you the online questionnaire for

reference.

223
 Anyway very happy to received your Christmas greetings every year, and truly I miss the time

that all young referees meet together to learn from each other and had very good time.

Thank you for your time and consideration. I really look forward to hearing from you.

Once again sorry to disturb you with this mail.

I am very appreciating to you and the AFC PF project.

It made the FIFA referee dreams come true for me.

Thank you and with best regards,

Chen

Email 2
Hello Chen and greetings from (Country name).

It is great to hear from you and I hope you are well.

I get great satisfaction from seeing my referees from Project Future developing into

international referees.

It was a great privilege to work with you all.

I will be delighted to give you whatever help you need with your research project and look

forward to hearing from you,

Best wishes,

(Name of the AFC referee director)

Email 3
Dear Mr. (Name of the AFC referee director),

Greetings from Taiwan and really happy to received your reply!

I believe the best and polite way to doing this research is to fly to (Country name) to visit you

and perhaps having a short interview.

However since the Covid-19 issue it seems not possible to do that.

I feel sorry that we cannot meet.

So I am wondering if I list some questions and make a Word document,

and then send it to you via email,

and you can write some responses or opinions and send back to me, will be a good idea?

224
 And of course all the answers will be anonymous and for academic use only

Sorry to trouble you but this is one simple way I could only find out.

If you think this is okay, then I will prepare and send it to you.

I'm so thankful I can still have your help and support after years.

Truly appreciate it and really thank you very much for your help.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

And after the pandemic if you have chance to visit Taiwan PLEASE do let me know.

So happy for the good memories during PF.

Thank you and with best regards,

Chen

Email 4
Hello Again Chen,

That will be fine.

I also have a number of presentations I made to different groups – Project Future Referees, AFC

Executive, AFC Referee Committee, FIFA etc – which you might be able to use.

There is no problem about anonymity and I am perfectly content to be mentioned as a source of

information if required.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Best wishes,

(Name of the AFC referee director)

Email 5
Dear Mr. (Name of the AFC referee director),

Greetings from Taiwan again and apologize for the late reply.

I list some questions and build a questionnaire with Word format, please see the attached.

You can directly type in the Word documents and while finish please send back to me at

anytime.

225
The questionnaire can be divided into two parts,

part one is about your opinion and experiences to the Project Future,

part two is about your opinion to the AFC Elite Referee system.

For now I believe your opinions about these 2 parts will be very useful and valuable for the

research project, and with the further study other opinions from your other presentations I

believe will be also very professional and helpful.

Looking forward to having more discussions with you when the further research started.

Anyway very appreciate for your kind support and help to answer the questionnaire.

There is no hurry to finish so many questions in a short time, and if there's any questions

(probably because of my poor English) please do let me know.

Once again very appreciate for your help.

Your participation make the research project more convincible and valuable.

Looking forward to receiving your feedback.

Thank you, stay safe and with best regards,

Chen

226
Appendix 3 Examples of the questionnaires designed for the participants from the
Japan Football Association

According to the original design of the research project, there should be a group of
interviewees who were members of the Japan Football Association. But unfortunately,
because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the visit to the JFA House and some face-to-face
interviews with the JFA referees were cancelled. Appendix 3 shows some examples of
the original documents prepared for the visit to the JFA House and the interviews.
Please note that during that time the working title of the research project was slightly
different from the final title.

227
AFC におけるサッカーエリートレフェリーの選抜、採用、トレーニング、育成に関する調査

早稲田大学スポーツ科学学術院 博士後期課程

陳信全 Chen Hsin Chuan

JFA 審判委員会 委員長 黛 俊行 様

はじめまして、この度は私の研究プロジェクトについて JFA の皆様にご協力いただけること、そして

JFA メンバーがアンケートに答えることに同意していただき、大変感謝しております。

JFA メンバーに対するアンケートは、早稲田大学スポーツ科学部の研究プロジェクト「アジアサッカー

連盟におけるサッカーエリートレフェリーの選抜、採用、トレーニング、育成に関する調査」に供される

ことを目的にしています。 入手したアンケート結果は、早稲田大学スポーツ科学部のジョン・ホーン

教授が監修した博士論文の一部として掲載します。

なお、このプロジェクトで収集されたすべてのデータと情報は学術目的でのみ使用され、すべての個

人情報は公開されないことご理解ください。 すべての個人情報は、「個人情報保護法」に従い、早稲

田大学の研究倫理規定に従って厳重に保護されます。

私の視点で AFC エリートレフェリーシステムを理解した内容について、発行される博士論文を JFA

に提供することで少しでもお役に立てることができれば大変光栄に存じます。

重ねまして、この研究プロジェクトに対する多大な支援をいただきますことを心から感謝いたします。

お忙しいところ大変申し訳ありませんが、参加者の方々から回答して頂く期限を 4 月 15 日とお伝え

頂ければ有難いです。よろしくお願い致します。

連絡先： 早稲田大学スポーツ科学学術院 博士後期課程

Chen Hsin Chuan 陳信全

+886-917528750 / chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp

228
研究の狙い

今日では、AFC などの大規模なサッカーガバナンス機関から、JFA や CTFA などの単一のサッカー

協会に至るまでのすべてが、レフェリーの改善のためにより良い環境と条件を促進することに注意を

払い始めました。そこで、この研究プロジェクトと博士論文は、アジアの審判員や AFC エリートレフェリ

ーパネルの 1 人として参加を経験した人々に対してアンケートを実施し、「サッカーエリートレフェリー

の選択、採用、トレーニング、開発戦略」に関する緊要な分析をアジアサッカー連盟に提供することを

目的としています。

日本サッカー協会を AFC の中でも「よく組織化された」加盟国と見なして、審判教育システムのレベ

ルを向上させるために、各加盟国が何をどのようにすべきかを理解することが重要です。JFA が AFC

レフェリーの育成方針とのつながりを深めるためにどのように、そして何をしたか、そしてトップレベル

の AFC レフェリーが卓越したパフォーマンスでトップレベルの大会に出場することは、参照すべき非

常に良い例です。 調査結果によって、台湾サッカー協会にさらなる提案を提供できることを願ってい

ます。

研究目的

研究プロジェクトは、4 つの研究目的を調査します。

1. アジアサッカー連盟が使用するエリートレフェリーの選考と採用のシステムと方針を調査します。

2. AFC が使用するエリートレフェリーの実践的なトレーニングと能力開発プログラムを重点的に評

価します。

3. アジアのサッカーエリートレフェリーの能力と資質を向上させるために、他の大陸連盟とは異なる

AFC が設定している戦略を検討します。

4. 台湾（CTFA）のサッカー審判員の将来の発展とマネジメントのための実用的な提案を作成しま

す。

方法

調査では、AFC エリートレフェリーシステムに深く関わっている、または関与した JFA の参加者に対

する質問に文章で答えて頂くアンケートを主な方法として使用する予定です。 アンケート対象者から

の回答は、個人的な意見としてのみ考慮され、代表者としての公式声明を表すものではありません。

参加者とその回答は匿名であり、論文の中で提供するコードを使用することによってのみ識別されま

す。

JFA の対象者

可能であれば、私が本当にアンケートにお答え頂きたい JFA のメンバーには 3 つのカテゴリーがあり

ます。

229
 1. JFA 審判委員会のメンバー

2. JFA 審判インストラクター

3. JFA レフェリー

ご意見を伺いたい具体的な対象者を以下に示します。

JFA 審判委員会のメンバー： 黛俊行 様、小川佳実 様、石山昇 様

JFA 審判インストラクター: 上川徹 様、石山昇 様、岡田正義 様、山岸佐知子 様、深野悦子 様

JFA レフェリー: 西村雄一 様、佐藤隆治 様、木村博之 様、飯田淳平 様、岡部拓人 様、荒木友

輔 様、山下良美 様、坊薗真琴 様、手代木直美 様、俵元希 様、松田卓磨 様

参加者全員がアンケートに答えて頂くことは非常に難しいと思います。 ただし、参加者が質問に答え

るのに約 15〜20 分を費やすことに同意していただければ幸いです。 彼らの意見は、研究を非常に

価値があり、非常に説得力のあるものにするでしょう。 上記のアンケート対象者には答えて頂きたい

と考えていますが、本研究への参加に関心のある JFA の方が他にいらっしゃいましたら、よろしくお

願いいたします。

アンケートの方法

各参加者は、各々にカスタマイズされた Word 形式のアンケートを受け取ります。 リストには約 9 から

12 の自由に答えられる質問（オープンクエッション）があります。 参加者は、Word 文書に自分の意

見を直接入力して、以下に送り返して頂けると有難いです；

chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp または hsinchuan21@gmail.com

回答は日本語または英語のどちらで回答して頂いて結構です。 書かれたテキストはすべて学術的

にのみ使用され、匿名で提示されます。 すべての回答は個人的な観点からであり、JFA または AFC

からの公式な見解ではないことを理解しています。

アンケートを記入する際に、もし不明な点がございましたら、ご連絡いただけますよう、宜しくお願いい

たします。

+886917528750 または chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp 陳信全

JFA からの多大なるご支援に改めて感謝申し上げます。 貴重なフィードバックをお待ちしておりま

す。 この度は本研究プロジェクトにご協力いただきましたこと、重ねて御礼申し上げます。 心から感

謝します。

Chen Hsin Chuan 陳信全 2021.3.21

230
An Investigation into the Selection, Recruitment, Training and Development of
Elite Football Referees in the Asian Football Confederation

Dear Sir,

Greetings. It is truly appreciated that the JFA are willing to help in my research
project and the JFA members agree to be interviewed.

The reason I want to interview the JFA is because of the research project 'An
Investigation into the Selection, Recruitment, Training and Development of Elite
Football Referees in the Asian Football Confederation' from the Faculty of Sport
Sciences, Waseda University. I will include the interview results as a part of a doctoral
thesis supervised by Professor John Horne in the Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda
University.

Please note that all data and information collected in this project will be for
academic use only and all personal details will not be published. All personal
information will be protected strictly following the 'Personal Information Protection
Act' and according to the research ethics procedures of Waseda University.

I will be more than happy to provide my doctoral thesis to the JFA while it
publishes, if it can provide some understanding of the AFC Elite Referee system from
my point of view.

Once again truly appreciate to the JFA for great assistance and support in this
research project.

Sorry for the inconvenience, but I would appreciate it if you can tell them that the
deadline for answering responses from the participants is the end of March.

Sincerely yours,
Chen Hsin Chuan 陳信全
Doctoral Candidate, Graduate School of Sport Sciences
Waseda University 早稲田大学

+886-917528750 / chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp

231
Research Aims
In current days, from the large football governance bodies, such as the AFC to
single football associations such as JFA or CTFA, they all started to pay attention to
promote some better environment and conditions for referees to improve. Therefore,
this research project and doctoral thesis, based on interviews with Asian referees and
personal experience as one of the participants of AFC Elite Referee Panels, aims to
provide a critical analysis of the selection, recruitment, training and development
strategies for elite football referees in the Asian Football Confederation.

Considering the Japanese Football Association as a ‘well-organized’ national

member association under the AFC, it is important to understand how and what
should the national MA do, to improve the level of referee education systems. How
and what have the JFA done to have a great connection to the AFC referee
development policies and having top level AFC Referees officiating in top level
competitions with outstanding performances, is a very good example to be referred.
For the research findings, I hope it can provide the Chinese Taipei Football
Association with further suggestions.

Research Objectives
The research project explores 4 research objectives.
1. Investigate the selection and recruitment system and policy for elite referees used
by the Asian Football Confederation.
2. Critically assess the practical training and development program for elite referees
used by the AFC.
3. Examine the strategies used by the AFC that differ from other continental
federations, if any, to promote the abilities and qualities of Asian elite football
referees
4. Develop practical suggestions for the future development and management of
Taiwanese (CTFA) football referees.

Methods
The research plans to use semi-structured interviews with JFA participants who
are/were highly involved in AFC Elite Referee systems as the main method. The
responses from the interviewees will be considered as only his/her personal opinions,
but not stand for the official statement from any representative. The participants and
232
his/her responses will be anonymous and only be identified by using a code which
provides limited but necessary information in the thesis.

Target Personnel from the JFA

If possible, there are three categories of members from the JFA I would really like
to interview:
1. Members from the JFA Referees Committee
2. JFA Referee Instructors
3. JFA Referees
Here are the target personnel whom I would really like to receive his/her opinions.

JFA 審判委員会のメンバー： 黛俊行 様、小川佳実 様、石山昇 様

JFA 審判インストラクター: 上川徹 様、石山昇 様、岡田正義 様、山岸佐知子 様、深野悦子 様

JFA レフェリー: 西村雄一 様、佐藤隆治 様、木村博之 様、飯田淳平 様、岡部拓人 様、荒木友

輔 様、山下良美 様、坊薗真琴 様、手代木直美 様、俵元希 様、松田卓磨 様

I know it’s very difficult to have all the participants willing to receive the
interviews. However, it would be very appreciated if the participants agree to spend
around 15-20 minutes answering the questions. Their opinions will make the research
very valuable and much convincible. The above-mentioned interviewees are the target
personnel, however if there is any from the JFA interested in participating in this
research, I would be more than happy to receive more responses.

Method of Interview
Each participant will receive a customized questionnaire in Word format. There
will be around 9 to 12 open questions on the list. The participant can directly type
his/her opinions in the Word documents, and send back to:
chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp or hsinchuan21@gmail.com

The responses can be answered in either Japanese or English. All written text
will be academic used only and will be anonymously presented. All responses will
only stand from his/her personal point of view, but not the official statement from the
JFA or the AFC.

Should you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact me any time at:
233
+886917528750 or chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp 陳信全

Thank you very much again for the great support from the JFA. Looking forward
to receiving some valuable feedback. Sincerely appreciate.
Chen Hsin Chuan 陳信全 2021.3.11

234
 An Investigation into the Selection, Recruitment, Training and Development of
Elite Football Referees in the Asian Football Confederation
AFC におけるサッカーエリートレフェリーの選抜、採用、トレーニング、育成に関する
調査
Questionnaire and Description、アンケートと説明

JFA Referee Department 様

お世話になっております。

私の研究プロジェクトにご参加いただき、誠にありがとうございます。

この度、私の研究プロジェクト「アジアサッカー連盟におけるサッカーエリートレフェリーの選抜、採

用、トレーニング、育成に関する調査」に関する調査として，アンケートを実施させていただきます。今

回の調査で得た情報は、早稲田大学スポーツ科学学術院のジョン・ホーン教授の指導の下の、博士

論文の作成に利用させていただきます。

このプロジェクトで得られたすべてのデータと情報は学術目的でのみ使用されるため、個人情報は公

表することはございません。すべての個人情報は、「個人情報保護法」、及び早稲田大学の研究倫理

規定に基づき、厳重に管理いたします。アンケートを記入する際に、もし不明な点がございましたら、

ご連絡いただけますよう、宜しくお願いいたします。

この度は本研究プロジェクトにご協力いただきましたこと、重ねて御礼申し上げます。

今後ともよろしくお願いいたします。

Chen Hsin Chuan 陳信全

博士後期課程

早稲田大学スポーツ科学学術院

Waseda University 早稲田大学

+886-917528750 / chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp

235
 Referee Education Experiences from the JFA

1. What are the priority targets/objects of the referee education policies from the JFA, especially

against the top level or international level referees in Japan? Please describe in examples and

reasons if possible.

あなたは、JFA が日本のトップレベルまたは国際レベルのレフェリーに対する育成の方針におい

て、何を最重要視していると考えますか？可能であればその一例と，そのように考えた理由を記

載願います。

2. Please evaluate the ‘regular training/education program’ organized by the JFA, especially against

to the top level or international level referees in Japan. From your position as a director of JFA

referee department, do you consider the routine program can fulfil all the needs from the referees?

日本の一級審判員または國際審判員に対して、JFA が主催する「定期的なトレーニング/教育プ

ログラム」に対する評価を記載願います。JFA のレフェリー部門のメンバーとしての立場から、上

記プログラムはレフェリーとして習得すべきのすべての事項を網羅できると考えますか？

3. What do you think the basic abilities or concepts the young referees should have, before they

become the ‘national representative’ or ‘flag carrier’ as registering as FIFA referees representing

their countries? Are there or should there be any differences for referee education policies between

potential FIFA referee candidates and domestic top-level referees? Why?

あなたの考える若手レフェリーが FIFA 國際審判員になる前に習得すべき基本的な能力、または

概念は何ですか？潜在的な國際審判員候補者と国内の一級審判員との間で、育成の方針に違

いはありますか？また，違いはあるべきですか？

4. Please describe the overall outcomes, results or achievements of the ‘JFA referee caravan’ and the

previous ‘JFA referee college’ from JFA; Furthermore, how will you compare the JFA referee

caravan or JFA referee college to the AFC project future or the new AFC Referee Academy, both

could be seen as designed for the young prospects?

JFA の「JFA レフェリーキャラバンプロジェクト」と「JFA レフェリーカレッジ」制度の全体的な成果、

結果に対する評価を記載願います。（JFA の「レフェリーキャラバンプロジェクト」または「JFA レフ

ェリーカレッジ」と、AFC Project Future または新しい AFC レフェリーアカデミーとを比較した場

合、両者とも若手レフェリーに適した制度と考えますか？）

5. Please describe the overall outcomes, results or achievements of the ‘Professional Referee System

(PR)’ from the JFA. What are the benefits for having professional referee in Japan? From the other

236
 side, what are the benefits for the referees that can choose ‘football referee’ as their full-time

profession?

JFA の「プロフェッショナルレフェリー（PR）」制度の全体的な成果、結果に対する評価を記載願

います。あなたの考える、日本サッカーのレベルを向上させるために「プロフェッショナルレフェリ

ー（PR）」制度を導入することの利点とは何ですか？

6. What are your main expectations of the Japanese AFC elite referees, when they represent the JFA

or Japan in the AFC competitions? In general, are you satisfied with their performances during

your stay in the JFA? Is there anything you think should be improved? Why?

日本の AFC エリートレフェリーが AFC 主催の大会でレフェリーを担当する際、あなたの彼らに対

する主な期待とは何ですか？あなたの経験から、彼らのパフォーマンスに満足していますか？改

善すべき点とその理由をご教示願います。

7. How will you evaluate the AFC Elite Referee recruiting process for selecting the elite match

officials in Asia? Would you say it is always fair or objective when they recruiting AFC Elite

candidates? Please describe with the previous experiences as you are the AFC recruiter, or as you

are the JFA referee department member when there were Japanese candidates were being recruited.

あなたは、アジアのエリートレフェリーを選考するための AFC エリートレフェリーの選考プロセスを

どのように評価しますか？上記選考プロセスは常に公正である、または客観的であると考えます

か？あなたの AFC 選考プロセスの担当者、または JFA のレフェリー部門のメンバーとしてのこれ

までの経験から、上記質問にお答えください。

8. How will you evaluate or describe the general support for the AFC Elite Referees from the AFC

referee department during a year-long season? For example the frequency and quality of training

or courses provided by the AFC. If possible, please describe some extra supports to the Japanese

AFC Elites from the JFA, if there’s any.

1 年間のシーズンを通して、AFC レフェリー部門の AFC エリートレフェリーに対するサポートの全

体を、あなたはどのように評価しますか？例えば、AFC が提供するトレーニングやコースの頻度

とクオリティー等。可能であれば、日本の AFC レフェリーに対する JFA からの追加サポートにつ

いて、ご教示願います。

9. From your position as a higher director in the referee department, what do you think is the main

motivation for the referees from Japan to join the recruitment to become AFC Elite? Can you

describe both some material and non-material reasons? Do you think the AFC Elite Referee

recruitment system can fulfil all different motivations from the different countries in Asia?

237
 JFA 審判委員会のメンバーの立場から、日本のレフェリーが AFC Elite Referee の選考試験に参

加する主な動機（キャリアアップ、給料、達成感等）は何だと考えますか？あなたは、AFC エリー

トレフェリーの選考システムは、アジア各国からの参加者のさまざまな動機をすべて満たすことが

できると思いますか？

10. How will you evaluate the referee education system in Japan today, comparing experiences when

you were referee? Will you say the referee education system now in Japan fulfil the direction of

the AFC referee department? Why?

あなたがレフェリーであったときの経験から、現在の日本におけるレフェリー育成システムをどの

ように評価しますか？現在日本にあるレフェリー育成システムは、AFC レフェリー部門の方針に

合致していると考えますか？

11. Over all, are there any differences about the development of the referees, between the beginning

when you join the AFC and today? Can you describe in some specific examples if possible?

全体として、AFC に加入した当初と現在を比較した場合、レフェリーの育成に違いはあります

か？可能であれば、実例挙げてご説明願います。

238
 An Investigation into the Selection, Recruitment, Training and Development of
Elite Football Referees in the Asian Football Confederation
AFC におけるサッカーエリートレフェリーの選抜、採用、トレーニング、育成に関する
調査
Questionnaire and Description、アンケートと説明

JFA Referee 様

お世話になっております。

私の研究プロジェクトにご参加いただき、誠にありがとうございます。

この度、私の研究プロジェクト「アジアサッカー連盟におけるサッカーエリートレフェリーの選抜、採

用、トレーニング、育成に関する調査」に関する調査として，アンケートを実施させていただきます。今

回の調査で得た情報は、早稲田大学スポーツ科学学術院のジョン・ホーン教授の指導の下の、博士

論文の作成に利用させていただきます。

このプロジェクトで得られたすべてのデータと情報は学術目的でのみ使用されるため、個人情報は公

表することはございません。すべての個人情報は、「個人情報保護法」、及び早稲田大学の研究倫理

規定に基づき、厳重に管理いたします。アンケートを記入する際に、もし不明な点がございましたら、

ご連絡いただけますよう、宜しくお願いいたします。

この度は本研究プロジェクトにご協力いただきましたこと、重ねて御礼申し上げます。

今後ともよろしくお願いいたします。

Chen Hsin Chuan 陳信全

博士後期課程

早稲田大学スポーツ科学学術院

Waseda University 早稲田大学

+886-917528750 / chen.hsinchuan@fuji.waseda.jp

239
 Part I: Referee Education Policies from the JFA

1. What was the main motivation for you to become a football referee at the beginning? After that,

why did you choose to become a FIFA referee? Can you describe the key motivations? (both

material and non-material reasons)

あなたが当初サッカーの審判になろうとした主な動機は何ですか？その後、なぜ國際審判員に

なることを選んだのですか？主な動機（キャリアアップ、給料、達成感等）について説明願いま

す。

2. Please describe the ‘regular training/education program’ organized by the JFA, especially against

to the top level or international level referees in Japan. From your position as a professional

referee, do you consider the routine program can fulfil all the needs from different referees?

日本の一級審判員または國際審判員に対して、JFA が主催する「定期的なトレーニング/教育プ

ログラム」に対する評価を記載願います。プロフェッショナルレフェリーとしての立場から、上記プ

ログラムはレフェリーとして習得すべきのすべての事項を網羅できると考えますか？

3. What do you think the basic abilities or concepts the young referees should have, before they

become the ‘national representative’ or ‘flag carrier’ as registering as FIFA referees representing

Japan? Are there or should there be any differences for referee education policies between

potential FIFA referee candidates and domestic top-level referees? Why?

あなたの考える若手レフェリーが FIFA 國際審判員になる前に習得すべき基本的な能力、または

概念は何ですか？潜在的な國際審判員候補者と国内の一級審判員との間で、育成の方針に違

いはありますか？また，違いはあるべきですか？

4. Please evaluate the overall outcomes, results or achievements of the ‘professional referee system

(PR)’ from the JFA. What are the benefits for having professional referees to improve the level of

football in Japan? Why?

JFA の「プロフェッショナルレフェリー（PR）」制度の全体的な成果、結果に対する評価を記載願

います。あなたの考える、日本サッカーのレベルを向上させるために「プロフェッショナルレフェリ

ー（PR）」制度を導入することの利点とは何ですか？

5. Please describe the overall outcomes, results or achievements of the ‘JFA referee caravan’ and the

previous ‘JFA referee college’ from JFA; Furthermore, how will you compare the JFA referee

caravan or JFA referee college to the AFC project future or the new AFC Referee Academy, both

could be seen as designed for the young prospects?

240
 JFA の「JFA レフェリーキャラバンプロジェクト」と「JFA レフェリーカレッジ」制度の全体的な成果、

結果に対する評価を記載願います。（JFA の「レフェリーキャラバンプロジェクト」または「JFA レフ

ェリーカレッジ」と、AFC Project Future または新しい AFC レフェリーアカデミーとを比較した場

合、両者とも若手レフェリーに適した制度と考えますか？）

6. Please evaluate the AFC Elite Referee recruiting process/system, from the beginning when you

participated the recruiting process until finally you became into the AFC Elite Referee Panel? If

possible, please provide both some positive and negative opinions.

選考試験に参加し、AFC エリートレフェリーになるまでの一連の過程を経験したことから、AFC エ

リートレフェリー選考のプロセス/システムを評価してください。肯定的、及び否定的な評価を記載

願います。

7. How will you evaluate or describe the general support for the AFC Elite Referees from the AFC

referee department during a year-long season? For example, the frequency and quality of training

or courses provided by the AFC. If possible, please describe some extra supports from the JFA, if

there’s any.

1 年間のシーズンを通して、AFC レフェリー部門の AFC エリートレフェリーに対するサポートの全

体を、あなたはどのように評価しますか？例えば、AFC が提供するトレーニングやコースの頻度

とクオリティー等。可能であれば、日本の AFC レフェリーに対する JFA からの追加サポートにつ

いて、ご教示願います。

8. Are there any differences between you officiating the AFC competitions and the JFA domestic

matches? If yes, which one is more challenging or difficult for you? Why?

AFC 大会と JFA 国内試合を担当することに違いはありますか？違いがある場合、どちらがあな

たにとってより挑戦的、または困難と感じますか？

9. From your position as an AFC referee, what do you think is the main motivation for the referees

from all the Asia to join the recruitment to become AFC Elite? Can you describe both some

material and non-material reasons? Do you think the AFC Elite Referee recruitment system can

fulfil all different motivations?

AFC レフェリーの立場から、アジア各国からのレフェリーが AFC エリートレフェリーの選考試験に

参加する主な動機（キャリアアップ、給料、達成感等）は何だと考えますか？あなたは、AFC エリ

ートレフェリーの選考システムは、アジア各国からの参加者のさまざまな動機をすべて満たすこと

ができると思いますか？

241
10. With your plentiful experiences in top level competitions (Asian Cup, World Cup), how would you
evaluate the Asian referees’ abilities, comparing to other referees from different continent? Do you

consider that the AFC representatives were well trained and educated because of the AFC referee

education programs? （アジアカップ、ワールドカップレフェリーを担当された方のみ回答をお願

いいたします。）

あなたのワールドカップまたはアジアカップレフェリーとしての豊富な経験から、アジア以外のレフ

ェリーと比較して、AFC のレフェリーの能力をどのように評価しますか？AFC のレフェリーは、

AFC レフェリー育成プログラムによって十分に訓練・育成されていると思いますか？ （アジアカッ

プ、ワールドカップレフェリーを担当された方のみ回答をお願いいたします。）

11. How will you evaluate the referee education system in Japan today? Will you say the referee

education system now in Japan fulfil the direction of the AFC referee department? Why?

あなたがレフェリーであったときの経験から、現在の日本におけるレフェリー育成システムをどの

ように評価しますか？現在日本にあるレフェリー育成システムは、AFC レフェリー部門の方針に

合致していると考えますか？

12. Overall, are there any differences about the development of the referees, between the beginning

when you join the AFC and today? Can you describe in some specific examples if possible?

全体として、AFC に加入した当初と現在を比較した場合、レフェリーの育成に違いはあります

か？可能であれば、実例挙げてご説明願います。

13. Are there any differences when you officiated the symbolic men’s AFC Cup match in Myanmar?

What was the main reason do you think the AFC made this appointment? In general, would you

say there are no differences for female referee officiating in male’s competitions? （山下良美、坊

薗真琴、手代木直美様のみ回答をお願いいたします。）

ミャンマーで象徴的な男子 AFC カップ試合の審判を務めたとき、何か違いを感じましたか？

AFC があなたを任命をした主な理由は何だと思いますか？全体的に，女性審判が男性の競技

で審判を務めることに違いを感じますか？（山下良美、坊薗真琴、手代木直美様のみ回答をお

願いいたします。）

(Following are for Project Future Participants only)

1. Please evaluate the AFC Project Future, from the beginning when you participated the AFC

football festival until the selection course? If possible, please provide both some positive and

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 negative opinions.

Ans:

2. At the period when you participated in the Project Future, were you satisfied with the support from

the JFA? What do you think the national MA (for example JFA or CTFA) can help the referees

when they attend the AFC non-elite prospect courses, such as Project Future or AFC Referee

Academy?

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3. What do you think is the main motivation for the referees from all the Asia to join the AFC Project

Future? Can you describe both some material and non-material reasons? Do you think the project

future selection system can fulfil all different motivations?

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4. Over all, were you said the AFC Project Future was a well-organized referee education program?

Why? Please compare it with the referee education you received from the JFA if possible.

Ans:

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