Riiohlang Dhar, the 34-year-old FIFA assistant referee from Meghalaya, scales a new peak in the country’s football history on Friday, supervising the semi-final match between Spain and England at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in the Dominican Republic. Spain won the match 3-0. Riiohlang said: “I am fortunate to have been able to offer a Diwali gift to Indian football in my way.”

Riiohlang, along with Referee Asaka Koizumi (Japan) and Assistant Referee Amal Badhafari (UAE), were the three-member group, who were one of the busiest supervising officials in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup this time.

She added, “I am happy to have done four important matches.” Talking to the AIFF website, she described, “In the group stage, we started with Spain versus the USA and then the host team, the Dominican Republic’s match against New Zealand.

“I could impress, probably. After the group stage, we were retained and entrusted with one quarter-final (Nigeria vs USA) and the semi-final. The three FIFA Referee Assessors were from Spain and Sweden. I believe they were satisfied with the job I did on the pitch,” said Riiohlang.

A new technology, a simplified alternative to VAR was introduced in the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. That is the Football Video Support (VFS) system. 

This technology can be more challenging for the referees as under this system, the coaches (or a designated official) of the two participating teams can twice instantly challenge the referee’s decision in certain areas during a match. The referee will video review the particular incident and arrive at a decision.

Riiohlang expressed satisfaction explaining, that the technology was new to me. But I found it interesting and adapted quickly. The significant part was my offside decisions were never questioned.” However, her Referee Assessors gave her a few advice which helped her a lot.