A few months after Portugal’s 2014/15 football season kicked off for the first time with professional referees as opposed to amateurs, news has now surfaced that Estádio do Algarve will be home to the country’s first refereeing academy.
A protocol making the deal official was signed last week in a ceremony attended by the president of Portugal’s football association (FPF) Fernando Gomes, the president of the Algarve football association Alves Caetano, as well as the mayors of Loulé and Faro, Vítor Aleixo and Rogério Bacalhau, respectively.
In an official press release, the Algarve’s football association (AFA) said that the opening of a referee academy is “an extremely important step for football’s refereeing sector, which will have in our own region unmatched conditions to develop the quality and quantity of Portuguese referees”
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It was also revealed that the academy will have two bases at Estádio da Bela Vista in Parchal, Lagoa, and at the municipal sports complex of Vila Real de Santo António.
When the academy will open has not yet been revealed.
