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K. Shankar lauds Assam's female referee Uvena Fernandes

K. Shankar was the only Indian referee to officiate in the FIFA World Cup. He worked as an assistant referee at the FIFA World Cup 2002 in Japan/South Korea.

By Sujata Sarkar

Bengaluru, Feb 19: He is the only Indian referee to have officiated matches in all World Cups (from under 17 to senior) as an assistant referee.

The legendary Indian referee Komaleeswaran Shankar is now promoted to the referees' development officer to look after the improvement of referees throughout Asia.

K. Shankar (Image courtesy: Indian Football Team official Twitter handle)

Shankar is now appointed by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and posted at Kuala Lumpur for last three years.

Speaking from his office over the phone, Shankar said: “The standard of Indian refereeing has improved a lot.

"Especially, I want to mention names of FIFA referee Pranjal Banerjee of West Bengal and the female referee from Assam Uvena Fernandes.

"Both have been doing an excellent job. That is the reason Uvena and Pranjal is getting top assignments."

Incidentally, Uvena is the only Indian lady referee who has got a prize assignment to officiate the final match of women's under-17 World Cup in North Korea to be held in coming September this year.

Shankar also had a lot of praise for Maria Rebelo, the experienced female referee from Goa who has been recently promoted as the referee instructor.

Shankar further said: “Maria has been doing also a great job. She had officiated matches in I-League with perfect command and technique.

"It is not only me, the FIFA head of referees, Massimo Bussaka expressed satisfaction over the improvement of Indian referees when he came to Kuala Lumpur a couple of months ago."

According to the former international referee, Uvena's achievement seems to have inspired the fraternity of women's referees in India.

He added: “Uvena's achievement has even inspired the All Indian Football Federation also. They are trying conduct classes and workshops in all around the country.

"At the same time, we are also requesting former female referees to take up the job. I feel it has been a sociological challenge for us to bring more women referees and groom them for the international standard."

OneIndia News

Story first published: Thursday, August 3, 2017, 8:06 [IST]
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