With a bright smile on his face, Kurt E.S. Okraku, the president of the Ghana Football Association (GFA), revealed that August will mark the first outdoor refereeing event for “Catch Them Young.”
The GFA initiated a policy in 2020 with the goal of finding and nurturing young, gifted referees to become the finest in the nation, as the president had always desired.
Retired FIFA referee Alex Kotey praised the GFA for the initiative when over 1,200 young referees across the country were trained in 2023.
In an interview with Max TV on Tuesday, July 30, Kurt Okraku verified that the figure had risen to about 2,000, with some of them slated to become professional referees.
“Over time, we have trained and invested in close to 2,000 young boys and girls from all the regions of our country. In the month of August, we will outdoor our first professional referees in this country, and all will come from the ‘Catch Them Young’ strategy, which will be a big step for Ghana.
Referees will only concentrate on the art of refereeing, and it will be their profession. We will be announcing the list, and I am happy to say they will come from the catch them young policy.”
The president said that an “enabling environment” had been established to support young referees’ passion development.
The Ghana Football Association’s commitment to enhancing refereeing in Ghanaian football is expected to pay off, as talented referees from the grassroots system will be named professionals in August.
