Local football governing body, Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) on Sunday held a physical fitness test for referees at the MTN Omondi Stadium, Lugogo.
The exercise involved both elite and national referees of both sexes.
According to Chairman Referees Committee – Ronnie Kalema, the exercise was a success and it is great plus to the federation’s refereeing department.
“I am very happy that we’ve done a physical fitness test for our referees (match officials). In 2020 We didn’t test this referees four times as recommend by FIFA due to COVID-19. But this year since we’ve opened up our season, we’re testing them for the first quarter to see if they are physically and medically fit in order to ascertain if they can ably be placed or assigned matches,” Kalema noted at Lugogo.
“We do this exercise because we want to be the number one footballing nation in Africa. We can’t achieve that if we don’t have top referees,” Kalema said adding that they will do three more tests this year.
Referees who passed the test will receive FIFA badges.
Elite referees are FIFA referees and those who were once FIFA referees but are still officiating, and can as well reclaim the FIFA badges.
National referees are being groomed to join the FIFA levels. They officiate FUFA Premier Competitions like Uganda Premier League, Big League, Regional Leagues, Women football, Uganda Cup, Women’s Cup and FUFA Junior League.
