Stung by criticism of poor standard in refereeing in various tournaments, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is laying out plans to improve supervision of matches with special emphasis on grooming youngsters for the job.
Inconsistent refereeing has been a constant complaint of many teams participating in Asian tournaments, the latest instance being the China-Japan final of the Asian Cup played in Beijing.
Dissatisfied with the refereeing, China's Dutch coach Aarie Haan refused to attend the prize distribution ceremony. Refereeing was an eyesore even in the tournaments' Japan-Jordan quarterfinals.
Though the AFC chastised Haan for his unsporting behaviour, it did seriously take into account the problem of falling standards in refereeing in Asia.
The AFC's sub-committee for referees