Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 17 Jun: Sangam Kayang cleared his final examination to become the first national-level football referee (Level 5) from Arunachal Pradesh.
The All India Football Federation had conducted the examination in Chhattisgarh in April this year, the result of which was declared on Monday.
Prior to it, seven state-level referees from Arunachal had attended the zonal-level test held earlier this year in Guwahati, Assam. Of them, six had qualified for the national-level fitness and written examination, which was held in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh from 14 to 17 April.
Kayang was the lone candidate out of the six from Arunachal to qualify for the final stage of the examination.
Kayang, who hails from Kayang village in East Kameng district, started refereeing in 2019 with a match in the state-level Tadar Tang Football Tournament, which was held in Pasighat, East Siang district.
Thereafter, he conducted matches as a referee in all top state-level football tournaments, including the Indrajit Namchoom Arunachal League, the Eagle Trophy, the Hangpan Dada Football Tournament, and the U-16 Dera Natung Football Tournament.
Kayang was also a referee in the last two editions of the North East Games, which were held in Meghalaya and Nagaland, respectively.
He is the son of late Tadak Kayang and late Kochi Kayang.
Meanwhile, the Arunachal Pradesh Football Association has congratulated Kayang on his achievement and wished him more success in the future.