FIFA Referee Esther Azzopardi attending UEFA course for top referees

FIFA Referee Esther Azzopardi has been invited by UEFA to join other top international European referees for an important 3 day annual summer gathering staged by UEFA at its headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland between the 13th and the 15th of August in preparation for the 2014/2015 season.

This summer gathering follows the UEFA winter courses earlier in the year, and the match officials will be given detailed advice on various refereeing topics aimed at achieving uniformity in their decision-making in the coming season.

In addition to the 24 Elite Category referees (men), the 68 First Category referees (men) and the 12 Elite Category referees (women), Esther Azzopardi is one of 8 First Category referees (women) invited by the UEFA Referees’ Committee.

Female referees have joined their male counterparts at UEFA’s courses for the first time last year, outlining the importance placed by the Referees Committee on ensuring that women refereeing standards continually progress in line with the constant development of women’s football.

The main objectives of the gathering are to learn from the experience of the previous season’s UEFA matches, to emphasise the key refereeing topics for the new season and to test the fitness level of the participants.

Esther Azzopardi, currently inactive after giving birth to a baby boy in June, is expected to resume refereeing duties in the following weeks.