Report by Futsal Ref

Australian FIFA referee Lyle Hudson has been in action on the opening day of the AFC Futsal Cup qualifying tournament being held in Kuantan, Malaysia.

Hudson took charge as the referee on Turkmenistan's 8:0 Group A drubbing of Maldives, then acted as the timekeeper in a similarly one sided Group B fixture as Korea Republic demolished minnows Macau 8:1.

The only other game played on the opening day was a 4-all draw between group A combatants Vietnam and Cambodia.

Hosts Malaysia will open their Group A assault against Vietnam tomorrow with Cambodia facing Maldives. Turkmenistan have the rest day in the five team pool.

The Futsalroos will start their new life in Asia against Hong Kong in the only Group B fixture. Korea and Macau both have a day off after the late withdrawal of DPR Korea.

The top two teams from each group progress to the AFC Futsal Cup finals, to be played at Tashkent, Uzbekistan in May.

Eight referees have been appointed to the qualifying tournament. Hudson is the second most experienced referee at the event behind Jingdong Wang of China. Three referees attending are at their first international event.

At 44 years of age, Hudson also has the dubious distinction of being the oldest referee in attendance. The youngest referee is 32-year-old Akane Yagi of Japan.

The other officials in attendance hail from Iran, Kuwait, Malaysia, The Philippines and Thailand.



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com