TOKYO, Dec 15: FIFA set up a 40-million-dollar project on Saturday to train referees at both the highest level and grass roots of the game.

“The future of our game is intrinsically linked with the quality of refereeing,” FIFA President Sepp Blatter said after the body’s executive committee approved the plan at a meeting on the sidelines of the Club World Cup.

Of the sum, 35 million dollars will be directly invested in the grass-roots programme to educate referees at the level of national football associations, Blatter said.

“The rest of what is named the Refereeing Assistance Programme will be used to train referees for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa and promote professional refereeing at the highest level,” he said.

“Football is served by what we want, fair play,” he added. “What we want is education, discipline and respect. Football is also entertainment. Football is emotion, passion but always under control.”—AFP