The FA’s Ray Olivier and Keith Hill will have their whistles at the ready as they deliver an advanced referees workshop in Ecuador this week.

This will be the fourth time in five years that The FA has been invited to Ecuador as part of the cooperation agreement signed with CONMEBOL, the South American Confederation, in 2003.

The Ecuadorian Football Federation has placed a firm focus on improving the standard of officiating and is reaping the benefits of expert help from Olivier and his colleagues from The FA’s Referees Department.

“This will be my fourth visit to Ecuador and each year I have seen a significant improvement in the quality of performances by their match officials,” said Olivier.

“They have shown a great willingness to learn and develop their skills in each year.  It was great to see one of the course participants, Fernando Tamayo, FIFA Assistant Referee, selected to officiate at the England v Brazil game at the official opening of the new Wembley Stadium. 

“I hope the previous workshops have helped in earning his selection to this most prestigious appointment. 

“Our next workshop is designed to build on these previous successful courses and further develop the referees for the new season ahead. 

“This year, Keith Hill, Regional Referees Manager for the East Region, will also be delivering a number of training and educational sessions, passing on his experience as a National List Referee. Keith and I are delighted to offer our support to the Ecuadorian Football Federation in developing their elite referees.”

Following the four-day workshop, and at the special request of the Ecuadorian Football Federation, Olivier will stay on for an additional three weeks to work and deliver training sessions with the country’s referee match inspectors.

He will be visiting the ten first division clubs in Ecuador in order to improve  awareness of their league’s referees’ training programmes with a view to changing players’ behaviour towards match officials.