Courtesy: Fiji Times


Dream comes true

by RODNEY DUTHIE

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

SINCE taking up refereeing as a 14-year-old, the dream of officiating at a FIFA event has fired Amitesh Behari's imagination.

Well, his dream has come true and now the 29-year-old is off to Brazil to officiate at the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Brazil.

He becomes the first referee from Fiji to officiate at an open world cup sanctioned by the governing body.

"I'm delighted. I hope to gain a lot of international exposure and learn a lot about refereeing at a higher level," he bubbled with excitement.

"Since this is the World Cup, I can't wait to officiate my first match.

"This is the first time that a Fiji referee will be officiating at an World Cup. Most refs have gone to age group events."

The World Cup will be held in from September 30 to October 19.

Amitesh is one of 32 referees chosen from around the world and is the only official from the Oceania Football Confederation.

He was selected after the OFC Futsal World Cup qualifiers held in Fiji in June.

While Fiji did not qualify, Amitesh impressed enough to picked ahead of two other referees from the Solomon Islands to represent the region.

"Behari's performance was gauged during the OFC Futsal play-offs this year by the OFC referees committee and he was nominated as the Oceania nominee for his superb performance," said Fiji referees director and OFC instructor Chandra Segran.

"The FIFA referees committee accepted our nomination, confirmed it and appointed Amitesh Behari for the World Cup in Brazil.

"This is the first time a Fiji referee has been considered for the Futsal FIFA World Cup.

"It is a great achievement for Fiji referees."

Futsal -- the five-a-side game -- is a relatively young sport compared to the 11-a-side game in Fiji.

The national team finished fifth while the Solomon Islands secured a berth for the tournament in Brazil.

Amitesh says when he returns from South America he hopes to spread the Futsal gospel and help it grow to another level.

"Futsal is normally played after the 11-a-side game.

"What I'm planning to do is with Fiji Football organise Futsal tournaments to run alongside the 11-a-side game," the former DAV Boys College student said.

"We need to have different sets of players playing both codes of the games. More emphasis is needed if we are to grow." Amitesh's love for the sport sprouts from a family affair.

His father, Suresh, is a former referee while his two brothers, Ravitesh and Kavitesh, are actively involved in officiating.

"It all started in 1994 when my dad introduced me to refereeing. My dad was a FIFA badge referee.In 1995, I was the youngest referee in the Inter-District Championship panel. That was a big break for me.

"Since then, I have officiated in many local and regional tournaments."

Amitesh said the tournament was special since he only received his FIFA Futsal badge this year.

"I think patience has driven me to what I have achieved today. I started in 1994 and now 15 years later I get my biggest break.

"I hope to get a FIFA badge for the 11-a-side game when I return and aim to officiate at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa."

He leaves on September 21.





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