By George Aluo, who was in Praia
Cape Verdean referees could pass as the biggest beneficiaries of the just concluded Africa Youth Cup tournament, which took place in Praia, the capital of the Portuguese-speaking tiny West African country.
Organisers of the tournament had in a bid to make officiating in the event top notch and opted to go for referees from Overseas. To achieve this, they went into partnership with Italy-based, Tournaments Abroad Referees.
Tournaments Abroad Referees, led by its director, Daniele Curcio, were in Cape Verde with three young arbiters, who took charge of proceedings. The three referees that handled most of the games with the assistance of Cape Verdean counterparts were 30-year-old Mathew Day (England), 18-year-old Gabe Billings (USA) and 20-year-old Portuguese, Ricardo Rodrigues.
Beyond handling the Africa Youth Cup games, Tournaments Abroad Referees Director, Daniele Curcio, invited the President of Portuguese Referees Association, Luciano Goncalves, who took the Cape Verdean referees to the classroom on a one-day seminar during the tournament’s match free day.
One thing that excited the Cape Verdean referees about the seminar was the fact that they listened to a man, who spoke the language they understand – Portuguese.
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The Nigerian Xpress Sports gathered that the referees in Cape Verde had always complained that they benefit little or nothing from similar seminars organised by CAF, no thanks to language challenge. They are usually invited to CAF referees seminars alongside English and French- speaking West African countries like Nigeria, Republic of Benin, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, a factor that makes it difficult for them to go home better than they came.
Luciano in the Africa Youth Cup Referees seminar spoke in Portuguese to the joy of the over 30 arbiters who attended the seminar.
Luciano in his presentation charged the referees to be confident on the pitch and to aim for greater heights. He also spoke on how to be firm and courageous.
The Portuguese referees boss, who is just 39 years old, disclosed that he had to stop officiating at a relatively young age because of health challenge but was quick to add that he has resolved to invest in making referees, who are still active better referees.
“I had to stop officiating because of ill health. Though I am no longer active, I will continue to work to make referees better and this informed my coming to Cape Verde,” Luciano told The Nigerian Xpress Sports.
At the end of his seminar, Luciano presented gift items to all the participants, even as he promised to sponsor two Cape Verdean referees to Portugal this summer, as a way of boosting their capacity.
He was also full of praise for the organisers of the Africa Youth Cup as well as their technical partners, Tournament Abroad Referees, for inviting him to the tournament, which he noted would impact positively on African football.
Director of Tournament Abroad Referees, Daniele Curcio, commended Luciano for finding time to come to Cape Verde with his lovely wife despite being a very busy person back home in Portugal.
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“Luciano coming has added value to the Africa Youth Cup tournament. The lecture he delivered was fantastic. We thank him for coming and we hope to collaborate more with him,” Daniele said.
Organisers of the Africa Youth Cup also gave kudos to Luciano, stating that his coming was a big plus for the tournament.
Godson Ekadi, a director of Serahanasports, noted that the Africa Youth Cup tournament had succeeded in raising the bar for African football on all fronts.
“We know that referees are major stakeholders in the game and that is why we engaged Tournaments Abroad Referees and their involvement has paid off very well. We thank Daniele and Luciano for the excellent job they have done here. We are happy the Cape Verdean referees have richly benefitted from the maiden edition of this tournament,” Ekadi said.
