Meet Amanpreet Singh: An Indian referee in Italy

Amanpreet Singh, an Indian referee in Italy

As a child playing cricket in Prem Pura in Punjab, Amanpreet Singh never thought he would one day become a football referee. He arrived in Capriano in Italy, twelve years ago with his parents, and came from a culture profoundly different from the Italian one. Amanpreet found to his pleasant surprise that football, the most popular game in Europe was actually interesting.

He said: "Until the age of sixteen years I had never seen a football game, then I became a fan of Brescia. The first time I went with a friend at the Rigamonti, in 2005, for a match against Bari. Thanks to another friend I went over to The Hague. At the beginning I knew that with the card you entered into the stadium ... free. "

However, refereeing has now become his great passion. He says, "I have sacrificed many weekends for this. I am now 25 years old. I can not make the jump to series D as I refused the role of assistant because I think it is boring. I like contact with the players, to relate with them. I am a tutor and I hold classes for new referees. It is an environment that I like and where I met so many people."

Basically, he believes that being a referee has helped him learn a lot. "I remember the first game, it finished 0-11. I did not know how to behave, because I came from a different culture. But slowly I exceeded my limits. Becoming the referee, I learned to behave, to manage critical situations, to keep self control."

He also talks about the difficulties he faced, “In the earlier days, I was not sure how to manage situations. People did not know I was Indian, but from the colour of my skin, they could have guessed. I got many racist insults, especially in the early days.”

When asked as to how happy his parents are and what he wants to do in the future, Singh said, ”I come from a very traditional, conservative family. My father supported me from the beginning, although he also feared that something could happen. My mother is still a bit skeptical. But my father is happy because he sees the hard-work that it takes. Now I'd like to do something for my country.”