CEBU, Philippines – Only four, among a pool of thirty referees, passed the recent FIFA National Referees Course held in Cebu.
Among the four, two are Cebuanos.
Veteran Randy Estremos and newbie Wilford Sabella joined Oliver Moreno and Grant Rojas of Negros Oriental Football Association (NORFA) as new FIFA referees.
Estremos was most impressive among the four passers. The 42-year-old topped younger referees during the grueling international standard fitness test.
Sabella, on the other hand, missed a couple of session as he had to attend to his ailing mother but still got the nod because of his exemplary performance.
Sabella, only 22 years old, is a varsity player of the University of Southern Philippines Foundation (USPF), who moonlights as a commercial referee.
He told The Freeman that he didn’t expect to pass the course because he has to leave before the conclusion of the training and be with his mother.
Sabella has only been into officiating for a year. He obtained national-level rating after passing an acceleration course in Malaysia before the school year started.
Aside from the four, other referees who participated in the four-day FIFA course are also being considered.
“We still have to review the result of their exams. Then we make the recommendations to FIFA,” Philippine Football Federation secretary-general Cyril Dofitas told The Freeman.
The Freeman learned that Estremos had already been given an assignment to officiate in a U-19 international tournament in Vietnam next month.