Meghalaya, 25th October: Riiohlang Dhar, a young budding referee hailing from Jowai Town West Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya is one of the 18 Indian referees who have qualified for the 2020 FIFA Refereeing International List.
A majority of the people of Meghalaya are football enthusiasts who either play or watch football. Some Meghalayans also go for refereeing, but all football lovers of Meghalaya are feeling proud as a woman police constable of the Meghalaya Police has made it to the elite list of the FIFA International Referees.
Out of the 18 referees who made the cut, only four are women who qualified again after the conduct of various qualification tests by FIFA. The various tests were conducted in Chennai on 10 October, last.
By profession, Dhar is a police personnel but her passion is football and she toiled hard and managed time to make a balance between the two.
Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma took to Twitter to wish Dhar on her achievement. He wrote:
“Big congratulations to WC Riiohlang Dhar, 1st MLP, for qualifying as a #FIFA International Referee. She is among 4 #women selected from India. Wishing her good luck and many more success!
@KirenRijiju @IndiaSports @IndianFootball @MeghalayaPolice“
Big congratulations to WC Riiohlang Dhar, 1st MLP, for qualifying as a #FIFA International Referee. She is among 4 #women selected from India.
Wishing her good luck and many more success!@KirenRijiju @IndiaSports @IndianFootball @MeghalayaPolice pic.twitter.com/reZHr09fAj
— Conrad Sangma (@SangmaConrad) October 24, 2020
Dhar wants to continue her association with the game as well as train meghalayan youth who aspire to become footballers someday.
Manipur’s Ranjita Devi Tekcham has also been selected in this list of referees along with Riiohlang Dhar. The other two women referee selected from India for the 2020 FIFA Refereeing International List are Barman Kanika and Uvena Fernandes.