Football: Indian assistant referee Riiohlang Dhar to supervise in FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup

New Delhi, Aug 17 : Riiohlang Dhar has become the second Indian woman assistant referee in history to be selected for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup 2024 to be played in the Dominican Republic, joining Uvena Fernandes as the first Indian to achieve this honour.

Riiohlang, the 34-year-old smart and articulate young lady from Meghalaya, has been named by FIFA among the elite list of FIFA 38 match officials, who will be on call in the Dominican Republic from October 10 to November 3. FIFA revealed the names of the match officials on Friday.

Uvena Fernandes is the first Indian woman assistant referee to get the honour of supervising in the World Cup. She did the duty in the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2016 in Jordan.

“My appointment for the World Cup has come as a great honour for me,” said Riiohlang, who works for the Meghalaya police department. “I have to work harder to live up to FIFA’s expectations. I will also keep in mind that I will be there as a representative of India. I will do everything to keep India’s flag high,” the assistant referee was quoted as saying by the AIFF media team.

Still a single, Riiohlang says refereeing has been a part of her life since 2009. “After I stopped playing football, I joined a referee course in my local town and found it interesting since it will keep me in touch with the game I love dearly. So, I decided to take up the whistle and the flag. I have come a long way since then. I have supervised in many international tournaments, but the World Cup is going to be a different experience,” she said.

The Chairperson of the AIFF Referees’ Committee, K Sankar, said Riiohlang’s fine performance in AFC and FIFA international matches remained one of the main reasons behind her appointment.

“In this year’s AFC U17 Women’s Asian Cup in Indonesia, Riiohlang officiated in one of the semifinals and also the third-place play-off. Her performance was excellent. Her appointment is a great honour for the AIFF too. On behalf of the Referees’ Committee, I wish her a great World Cup ahead,” Sankar said.

The AIFF Acting Secretary General, M. Satyanarayan, said: “FIFA’s announcement that Riiohlang is among the match officials for the U17 Women’s World Cup is like an Independence Day gift for us. Recently, we have started to focus on referees’ development. To build the base, we have appointed five zonal referees’ development officers. Our Elite Referees’ Development Programme is also doing very well for the match officials at the top of the pyramid. The nomination of Riiohlang Dhar will be a boost for the growing number of women officials in India.”

Riiohlang knows it is the teamwork that has taken her thus far. “Without the help of my state association, the AIFF and my employers, I wouldn’t have reached the World Cup. The AIFF is doing a tremendous job in the development of women’s referees. We have all been greatly benefitted,” she said.