KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Football League (MFL) plans to set up an investment fund to assist Malaysian referees turn professional.
While having full-time referees is still a long way off, MFL wants to lay the ground work to help improve officiating, including setting up a body along the lines of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) in England.
PGMOL was formed to provide match officials for all games played in the Premier League, Football League and cup competitions in England while also developing excellence in officiating at professional level.
MFL chief executive Kevin Ramalingam said that professional referees will have more time to identify and work on their weaknesses without the distraction of a full-time job.
"MFL will set up an investment fund to help referees turns professional and set up an association like PGMOL in England," he said.
"The association will ensure that referees get enough guidance, training and support. At the moment, no help is provided to referees to deal with the criticism that they get.
"When they referee their next match, they are not quite recovered yet so they continue to make mistakes."
The performance of referees in Malaysia has often been a subject of intense debate with their mistakes often highlighted on social media.
Kevin said the FA of Malaysia (FAM) will still have responsibility in developing refeerees for football although it is too soon for referees to turn professionals.
"The senior referees do not want to let go of their careers so they will not be turning pro," he said. "Our focus should be on the younger referees who do not have a career yet.
"They should be encouraged to take up refereeing full-time. FAM will have to help us with selecting those referees who can become professional.
"But it is still a bit of a journey and it's not going to happen overnight."