Bangkok, Thailand, February 15, 2023 – The Referees Committee reviewed its roles and responsibilities at previous AVC tournaments and kept Members updated on key refereeing issues and upcoming volleyball events during its annual meeting in a hybrid format on Wednesday.
Shanrit, middle, presides over the opening of the meeting
AVC Referees Committee Chairman Mr Songsak Chareonpong from Thailand, himself Member of the FIVB Rules of the Game and Refereeing Commission, and Secretary Mr Takashi Shimoyama from Japan joined the meeting from the AVC Headquarters in Bangkok.
AVC Referees Committee holds its annual meeting
Other Members attended on Zoom consisting of Mr Ibrahim Mohd Al-Naama from Qatar, Mr Dean Edward Turner from Australia, Mr Santiago Beny Coonghe from India, Mr Chang Chin-Jong from Chinese Taipei, Mr Mohammad Shamiri from Iran, Mr Wang Ning from China, Mr Samuel Montalvo from American Samoa, Dr Khaled Al Zughaibi from Saudi Arabia, Dr Amur Humaid Abdullah Al Tuqi from Oman and Mr Jirachai Kasemsook, former TVA Referee Committee Chairman who has been working closely with AVC as Referee Sub-Committee in many AVC Championships.
Songsak, far left, Shanrit, middle, and Shimoyama, far right
Prior to the Wednesday’s meeting, AVC Honorary Life Vice President and AVC Executive Director Mr Shanrit Wongprasert delivered a welcome address to all participants.
“On behalf of AVC President Mrs Rita Subowo, I would like to welcome everyone to this meeting. I’m confident that from next year, the situation will return to normal and then we can conduct all the meetings onsite. This year, I’m very upbeat that AVC can organise all championships and absolutely, we need your kind cooperation to conduct all championships and we also hope that everything should be on schedule. The Sports Events Council completed its annual meeting yesterday and everything has already been fixed. Only a little bit modification is needed,” Mr Shanrit was quoted as saying.
From left, Songsak, Shanrit and Shimoyama
“This year, many multi-sports Games will be held in Asia including the Asian Games in China and the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Thailand. Therefore, all of us have good opportunities to work closely together and we need your contribution. Nowadays, many things have changed very fast, especially all FIVB events. There is no more line judge on duty. However, as far as I’m concerned, in Asia, our technology is not the same as FIVB and as a result, we still need dedicated referees and experienced line judges to help us under your guidance. I wish your meeting a great success,” he added.
Dr Eom, far left, joins the meeting as special guest
AVC Sports Events Council Chairman Dr Eom Han-Joo, invited as special guest by Mr Songsak, also attended the meeting from the AVC Headquarters on Wednesday. “As Mr Shanrit has mentioned earlier, there are many AVC events to be held this year. So, we are asking you to sit on the jury table in the competition site, not in your home. We have eight AVC competitions this year and I hope every single of you can have a chance to get out of your country, meet a lot of friends and work together somewhere, sometimes this year. I wish you a very successful meeting,” Dr Eom said.
Songsak and Shimoyama conduct the meeting
Mr Shanrit further informed the meeting that AVC has already completed its E-Scoresheet. “Our E-Scoresheet is very simple for the operators to conduct. The quotation for all the federations is very simple and takes no high cost. So, our E-Scoresheet can be applied for use in all the AVC Championships this year and therefore,we need no more electronic scoreboard because our E-scoresheet can present current points given and all the results on the LED Screen. Furthermore, Dr Eom and IT staff will finalise our VIS system, from which the outcome is not different from the FIVB, but will be easier for all the federations to use our VIS system. So, now we have our own E-scoresheet and we can conduct it onsite,” Mr Shanrit explained.
Beny
Also speaking ahead of the meeting, AVC Secretary General Mr Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai said, “We are very happy to work closely with all of you. I would like to thank you all for your hard work in the last few years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, there are many AVC events to be held and Dr Eom has already confirmed and set up all competitions. I strongly hope that all championships will be organised successfully this year not only for seniors, but also juniors, underage and beach volleyball events,” he said.
Wang Ning
Mr Shimoyama also greeted all participants, setting his sights on seeing all Members given opportunities to work together again in 2023 AVC competitions.
After that, the meeting acknowledged the Minutes of previous AVC RC Meeting on February 21, 2022 and relevant referee matters given during the 45th AVC BA Meeting on June 26, 2022.
Samuel
A number of important reports were presented by Mr Songsak including the annual AVC RC Meeting to FIVB RC for 2022 volleyball and beach volleyball events and the AVC Referee Coach for 2022 AVC events.
In terms of the AVC Referee Coach Reports for 2022 AVC events, it was informed that 10 volleyball championships were organised last year, with only 6 AVC beach volleyball events taking place on the same year.
Dr Khaled
In this occasion, Mr Songsak had asked those appointed as Referee Delegate/Referee Coach to comment on the referees’ duties and the problems they had faced, their performances as well as their English language level and use of the Video Challenge System in each tournament they officiated last year.
In summary, Mr Songsak informed that a total of 91 referees, 64 men and 27 women, had officiated in the 2022 AVC volleyball events, conducting 286 matches in total.
He added that it was a pity that Mr Turner, Mr Al Touqi, Mr Wang Ning, Mr Montalvo and Mr Adel Hussein did not get a chance to officiate in any tournament last year due to the strict COVID-19 prevention measures in their respective countries. Also, to save the AVC’s cost, only Members who live in a country neighbouring the host nation will be first considered to officiate in those tournaments.
Turner
Following signs of improving COVID-19 situation in Asia, Mr Turner said he was upbeat that he will be appointed as Referee Delegate and get back to work in some AVC tournaments this year.
Aside from the 2022 AVC events raised for consideration, reports on the 2022 Zonal activity for volleyball and beach volleyball were also taken for further discussion.
Shamiri
Regarding the information on the FIVB Rules of the Game and Refereeing Commission Meeting on December 14, 2022, the list of 2023 FIVB Volleyball Categorisation, the list of 2022-2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball Categorisation, the list of FIVB Referee Coaches & Instructor Volleyball & Beach Volleyball 2023, the list of FIVB Challenge Referees Volleyball and Beach Volleyball for 2023 were also informed to the meeting.
Importantly, Mr Songsak confirmed that the proposal for the exceptional access of 4 AVC IR Beach Volleyball to “C” has already got the go-ahead from FIVB. They comprise Mr Ahmad Abdulla from Qatar, Mr Hussain Mohamed from Maldives, Mr Khaled Alhantoubi from the UAE and Ms Tanya Kowald from Australia.
Ibrahim Mohd Al-Naama
Meanwhile, three AVC Refereeing Courses were hosted in 2022 comprising AIRCC Volleyball in Qatar from June 3 to 9, the AIRCC Beach Volleyball in Thailand between July 25 and 31 and the AVC Volleyball Referee Refresher Course in Thailand during November 30 and December 4, while four courses will be held in 2023.
Jirachai
Mr Songsak identified the four courses as the AIRCC Volleyball in Chinese Taipei from March 6 to 12, the AIRCC Volleyball in Baghdad, Iraq during May 1 and 7, the AIRCC Volleyball in Sri Lanka in May and the AIRCC Beach Volleyball in Kyrgyzstan in August.
“Various proposals will be submitted to the AVC Board of Administration 2023 for approval. They include the list of Asian Volleyball International Referee Candidate in Doha, Qatar in 2022, the list of Asian Beach Volleyball International Referee Candidate in Bangkok, Thailand in 2022, the Asian Volleyball Candidate Referee qualified to be the Asian International Referee, the list of AVC Beach Volleyball Completed Assessment for “two” events with “two” different years, the increase of the age limit of AVC Candidate Volleyball and Beach Volleyball Referee who passed the course in 2017, 2019 and 2019 for two more years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the new modification of the AVC Video Challenge Regulation 2023 and of the AVC Refereeing Course Regulation 2022,” he said.
Additionally, the AVC Template to be used for 2023, the AVC Referee Clinic Test, 2023 AVC Competition Calendar and Member availability for AVC events in 2023 were also taken into account during the meeting.
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