Malta FA Director of Refereeing Kevin Azzopardi has been appointed by UEFA as Referee Coach at the Centre of Refereeing Excellence (CORE), aimed at establishing the next generation of Europe’s top referees over the next decade.

Azzopardi has been selected as one of 20 referee coaches from around Europe and will be responsible for refereeing trios from Montenegro and Faroe Islands.

CORE, now in its 39th edition with Alan Snoddy as the Senior Course Leader, includes a 10-day Introductory Course, being run at present until 3rd May and a Consolidation Course in early October. This will enable all involved to gauge the progress achieved between both courses through regular monitoring during the intermittent months.

The course includes both theoretical and practical sessions related to the technical aspects of refereeing as well as fitness tests and English proficiency tests.

Azzopardi will also observe his trios in two matches to be played in Switzerland and France.

Kevin Azzopardi himself was a participant himself as a referee at the inaugural CORE 1 held between September 2010 and April 2011, that also included the participation of now firmly established top referees Michael Oliver and Szymon Marciniak, prior to eventually becoming a FIFA Referee in 2013.