The IHF Playing Rules and Referees Commission (PRC) is currently organizing another referee course as part of the Global Referee Training Programme (GRTP) in Kaduna, Nigeria. In total ten referee couples from Africa are participating in this course, which is taking place from 20 to 31 October. Seven of those couples – from Benin, Congo, DR Congo, Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal and Tunisia – are members of the GRTP; three more couples from Togo, Cameroon and Angola were nominated by the African Continental Confederation CAHB.

The course is conducted by Roland Bürgi (Switzerland, PRC member) and Roger Xhonneux (Belgium, IHF lecturer) on the fringes of the 33rd Men’s and Women’s African Club Championships in Kaduna.

The daily schedule is a mixture of practical performances of the referees at the in total 81 matches (51 men’s and 30 women’s games) and a theoretical part including match analysis. The GRTP course focuses on rules (especially rule 8, seven-metre rules), fitness (including shuttle run test), video analysis (provocations and incorrect goals) and expectations towards top referees.