Other than teaching referees the laws of the game, the academy will also teach them communication skills and personality development which would directly improve their personality and confidence level.
When Dutta was the secretary of the apex body of Bengal Football, he established a referee's academy which was eventually shut a year after his tenure got over. He wished the current IFA Secretary Joydeep Mukherjee all luck in reviving the academy.
"I had established an academy for referees when I was the IFA secretary, which was functional until one year after my tenure ended. I'm really happy that Joydeep Mukherjee, the new dynamic Secretary of IFA, has revived the same," he recalled.
Mukherjee also spoke about his long-cherished dream of reviving the once-functional referees' academy and said that having revived it now, the onus is on the IFA to run it successfully.
"There was a referee's academy when Subrata Dutta was the secretary IFA. To our utter dismay, the academy was closed after he completed his tenure. I had always wanted to revive the same and thankfully, it has been achieved now," Mukherjee said.
Sixty-five aspirants, including 14 women aspiring referees, have applied for admission of which 24 will be handpicked for the first batch of the academy. Classes will commence on February 2, 2020.
Mukherjee elaborated further that the referees won't only be taught the laws of the game, but also communication skills and personality development which directly improve their personality and confidence level.
( With inputs from IANS )