The course’s program, approach and content are similar to those for the AFC’s men officials.
Speaking at the opening, Yoshimi Ogawa, Director of the AFC Referees Department advised the participants that they should always be aware of the latest trends in football, while remarking on the some of the difficulties faced by officials.
"Women’s football is also becoming very fast and you must be able to keep up with the pace. It is not always easy to anticipate movement of play to take up good positioning in order to be in the right place at the right time. In some situations, even a one second delay may be crucial,” he said.
"International standards in fitness are constantly being raised and speed and agility are therefore important qualities that referees and assistant referees must have. On the field age can never be an excuse.
"Team tactics are also an important area that referees and assistant referees need to master. Having a good knowledge of this will help match officials better understand the trends and patterns of play and also the development of the game,” he added.
Ogawa concluded by advising the participants to always prepare themselves for their assignments, saying that they must be technically and physically prepared and that their commitment to improve themselves will produce good performances on the field of play.
Refereeing Instructors handling the course are Ali Traifi (Saudi Arabia), John Chia (Singapore), Jacqui Hurford (Australia), Ganesan Maniam (Singapore) and Zhang Lingling (China).
The course ends on March 3, 2015.