Parreira de Castro takes charge as new head of KFF Refereeing and Inspection Department

Nuno Alexandre Parreira de Castro is one of Europe's leading football refereeing specialists.

During his 34-year career, he has held key positions in the Portuguese Football Federation and the Belgian Football Association, including Head the Refereeing Department, where he was responsible for the appointment of referees, administration and implementation of VAR system. 

In addition, as Technical Director of the Portuguese Football Federation's Referee Academy, he developed and implemented a comprehensive referee training system including modern training methods, online programmes and the CORE project aimed at developing refereeing skills.

He has also worked with as an instructor for the UEFA CORE program, inspecting referees in leading tournaments and participating in referee development in England, Ireland, Ukraine and Sweden. 

He has officiated over 170 international matches as an inspector and over 100 games as a UEFA analyst.

He is currently a technical observer and UEFA inspector, a member of the UEFA referee convention committee and  the UEFA refereeing member.

''The appointment of Parreira de Castro to this post will open new opportunities for the development of refereeing in Kazakhstan. I am confident that his international experience, modern techniques and knowledge will bring the referee training system to a new level, improve the quality of refereeing in national competitions and strengthen Kazakhstan's position in the world football community. 

In addition, as part of these reforms doubled the financial conditions for referees, inspectors, TV inspectors and VAR operators, which will provide more equitable remuneration for their labour and increase motivation for high quality refereeing,'' - said the KFF president Marat Omarov.