Two PFRC members, Detective Police Constable (DPC) Liu Kwok-man and Police Constable Cheng Oi-cho, have made it to International Referee of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).

At the same time, retired FIFA International Referee, Sergeant (SGT) Fong Yau-fat, has been appointed a member of the Referee Task Force Committee of the Hong Kong Football Association (HKFA). Since this appointment, he has been playing an increasingly active role in matters concerning refereeing in Hong Kong.

A "high flyer referee" with the HKFA, DPC Liu has been presented with the "Best Referee of Hong Kong" Award this year. He also has attained the addition honour of being an "Elite Referee" in Asia, having refereed the qualifying football matches of the 2009 East Asian Games.

With Woman Detective Police Constable Siu Ming-wai being the only female International Referee in Hong Kong, and the fact that half of the four active male International Referees in Hong Kong are Force members, the PFRC can justifiably take pride in what its members have achieved.

However, their achievements have not come by easily. Besides the assistance and support of their club, these outstanding police referees have put in a lot of personal efforts.

After quitting the pitch at the compulsory age of 45, SGT Fong devoted more time to beefing up his knowledge and skills of refereeing. In 2006, he took a Referee Instructor Course in the UK, and after the course he was appointed to the HKFA's Referee Task Force Committee in the following year.

Last year, SGT Fong attended another Referee Instructor Course in Japan and an advanced Referee Instructor Course in the UK. This training has put him in a better position to make a contribution to local refereeing as Chairman of the Hong Kong Football Referees' Association.

At the same time, another PFRC member, Senior Police Constable Poon Ming-fai, is making a similar contribution as Chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Football Referees' Association. This year he has been presented with the "Best Assistant Referee of Hong Kong" Award by the HKFA.

Over the years, the PFRC has spared no efforts to raise the refereeing standard of its members. Said PFRC Chairman, Superintendent (SP) Chan Wing-leung: "Our goal is to help members attain a standard that qualifies them for international matches. Therefore, we've been encouraging and supporting them to reach such a standard, and work closely with the HKFA for providing the necessary training for our members."

For its part, SP Chan continued, the PFRC has been running a referee training course for Force members at the Police Sports and Recreation Club for many years. The latest one has just finished for about 30 trainees.

As the healthy lifestyle promotion within the Force gathers momentum, the PFRC has to train up more members to meet an increasing demand for its services. From September to June each year, PFRC members referee a total of 336 matches in various districts. To support the healthy lifestyle promotion, they also offer volunteer services at other Force sporting activities, such as activities organised by the Police Athletic Club, Dowman Road Race, Henry Shield Relay, New Territories South Fun Run and Regional Sports Day.

Despite this busy schedule, the PFRC still manages to squeeze time to offer their services for football matches outside the Force, such as those organised for the mentally handicapped, as well as matches designed to steer youngsters away from drugs. Outside the football pitches, one can always find PFRC members busily offering different volunteer services at other sporting events and community functions.

SP Chan hopes that more Force members would join his club so that it can provide more services both to the Force and society.

Police football referees are making contributions in the local refereeing field