Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Jun 20 (IBNS): The All India Football Federation has decided to kick off a Professional Refereeing Project in 2012, officials said here on Wednesday, June 20.

The decision was taken in the recently concluded Referee’s Committee meeting which was held in Jamshedpur. The meeting was presided over by AIFF Senior Vice-President Subrata Dutta.
 
The AIFF has decided to employ professional referees under its payroll and offer a professional contract to three referees in the Referees department during the duration of I-League.

The AIFF believes the initiative will lay the foundation for professionalisation of refereeing as a career.
 
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu’s CR Srikrishna was declared the best referee of the Season 2011/12.

The Committee came to a conclusion after analysing the performance of the referees in the last edition of the I-League and other tournaments. Pratap Singh, MB Santosh Kumar, CR Srikrishna, Ajit Meetei and A Rowan also stayed in contention for the best referees award.
 
Delhi’s Mohd Kamil was adjudged the best assistant referee of the last season. Along with Kamil, AR Sasikumar, Khamba Singh, Shaji Kurian and Ratheesh Kumar also stayed in contention for the award.