The World Cup's less celebrated behind-the-scenes operators

By LILYANA RIZAL

01 Dec 2022 01:51am

Former FA of Malaysia Assistant General Secretary, Abang Zulkarnain Abang Abdurahman on Sinar Daily's Footy Forum

SHAH ALAM - Whenever match officials are mentioned, football fans would usually think of referees and their assistants, never the others whose work is equally as important towards ensuring matches, especially at mega events such as the FIFA World Cup, run smoothly.

One such official is the match commissioner, who plays a big role in ensuring preparations are on point before a match and for the duration of it, but their efforts are rarely highlighted.

In Sinar Daily’s Footy Forum, panelist and former Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Assistant General Secretary, Abang Zulkarnain Abang Abdurahman, told viewers that much of the success of a match as an event depends heavily on the match commissioner.

“A match commissioner is someone who is entrusted by the organiser to run and to manage the organisation at the venue,” he said.

This person must be able to command and be well-versed with the rules of the competition and the game.

However, the role of a match commissioner may differ between different events.

Abang Zulkarnain said: “In the case of the World Cup finals, the whole delegation of officials will be appointed by FIFA, in which there would be enough manpower to assist the match comissioner so the running and the organisation of the match will be up to the required standards.”

There are also instances when a match coordinator would have to act alone in managing the game which would be the case in matches like the World Cup qualifiers and Asian Cup qualifiers.

A match commissioner’s job is not constrained within the duration of the match but they have to make sure that everything runs smoothly pre-match and post-match as well.

Abang Zulkarnain highlighted that meetings held post-match would discuss things like problems that arose during the running of the match and how those problems could be avoided in the future.

In addition, other behind-the-scenes roles in the World Cup would include a match director, who is in charge of the match organisation and the venue manager, who is in charge of one particular venue in the World Cup.

The Footy Forum is a programme live-streamed on Sinar Daily's Facebook page that will run throughout the duration of the 2022 Qatar World Cup.