FUTURO-III -- a weeklong instructors' course for referees and assistant referees -- was inaugurated by Youth and Sports Secretary Syed Sujauddin Ahmed at the National Sports Council conference room yesterday.

Monilal Fernando, vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation and development officer of FIFA, was present as special guest. Top officials of Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) including president SA Sultan and general secretary Anwarul Haque Helal were also present.

"This is the first time we are organising the FUTURO-III in this part of Asia. Our plan is to give lessons about administration, rules and regulations, sports medicine and coaching to the instructors because they need more knowledge," Fernando told a press conference after the course was declared open.

A total of 20 referees from eight nations are taking part in the course, which will be run by FIFA instructors Merere Gonzales of Trinidad and Tobago and Fernando Tresaco Garcia of Spain.

BFF vice-president Sirajul Islam Bachchu and national team coach and former national footballer Golam Sarwar Tipu will also give lectures on administration and coaching.

The participants are: Sunil Senaweera, Nimal Wickramatunga, Abewansha Mahasena Yapa (Sri Lanka), Qazi Muhammad Asif, Salahuddin Awan (Pakistan), Ali Mubarak Husni (Oman), Muhammad Ameej (Maldives), Rajan Raj, Sangay Rinzin, Gagan Raj (Bhutan), Shree Ram Ranjitkar, Narendra Bahadur Shreshtha (Nepal), Hayatullah Lugarwall, Dad Mond Shazah, Abdul Baseer Bina (Afghanistan), Sheikh Badaruddin, Mansoor Azad, Ehsanul Haque, Rafiqul Islam and Mozaffar Hossain (Bangladesh).

There will be practical sessions

and live demonstrations during the programme including a football match between country's Under-17 booters.

"Good refereeing is one of the main pre-requisites for development of the game. A wrong decision can spark catastrophe on the football field and lead to strong violence. One of the main reasons behind poor judgement is lack of knowledge about rules and regulations. This programme is designed to build efficient instructors who will go out to teach the referees for a better future of the game," Fernando said.

The Sri Lankan football official also promised that he would help Bangladesh get their own Youth Football Academy very soon.

"Under the FIFA Goal Project, Bangladesh have already got their exclusive football building. I hope FIFA president Sepp Blatter will be in Dhaka between November 20-30 to open the building.

"On completion of the Goal-1 Project, Bangladesh can apply for a Goal-2 Project. It can be anything -- a stadium, turf or an academy. The BFF has decided to have an academy. I will try my best to convince the FIFA to approve the project by next year," Fernando added.