Fancy a career as a tennis umpire? Then see El Khafief

Dubai: There are vacancies for tennis umpires, and anyone who fancies a career in the sport is free to apply.

That is the message from Hani El Khafief, the WTA referee who is more than willing to shoulder any initiative that would entice more locally-based officials to come in and help run the sport in the UAE — and the region.

Barring a handful of line umpires, who are registered under the banner of Tennis Emirates (TE), the bulk of the match officials travel from various parts of the world to ensure smooth running of the annual two-week Dubai Tennis Championships.

But if the tournament — sponsored, owned, organised and operated in-house by Dubai Duty Free — has to take the next step in economic sustenance, then it has to look at raising its own group of officials.

This year, at least 55 line umpires, representing 28 countries, have travelled to officiate here, while the remaining 16 are locally-based expatriates registered with TE. In addition, another six — four of them designated by the WTA and the remaining two, Ali Khatibi and Ahmad Abdul Karim — are invited by Dubai Duty Free.

El Khafief is all too familiar with the existing situation — starting as line umpire in 1993 and working his way up the pecking order to his appointment as WTA referee last year. But he now wants things to change.

“The ideal situation would be to hand-pick four or five UAE youngsters, who could be trained over a period of five years, during which time they are given all the facilities from hotels to travel and allowances so that they can achieve at least a bronze badge.

“The ideal situation is simple really. We pick up four or five youngsters who are nearly finishing their university studies and get the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare (GAYSW) to sponsor them. Alternately, we can find a sponsor, let’s say DDF, who will earmark an annual budget to back these youngsters over a five-year duration. I have 28 tennis associations and federations who will willingly accommodate these youngsters at the events, and at the end of five years we will have at least a bronze badge chair umpire,” El Khafief suggested.

However, therein lies the double-edged sword.

The UAE and the surrounding region do not exactly have a proper tennis structure that would make optimum use of these officials. “We trained and put line umpires for the Dubai Tennis Championships during those early years. But tennis in 1993 and 2016 is completely different. Things have changed and we cannot afford to put fresh officials with perhaps 10 hours of court experience in the middle,” El Khafief said.

“On the one hand, we really need people who will get involved and engaged in running tennis on a full-time basis. And on the other hand, we do not have a sufficient tournament structure to sustain these officials throughout the season. Just working from the middle of February till the end of February is not ideal. What about the remaining 50 weeks of the year?,” he asked.

“Salah Tahlak [Tournament Director] asked me why we are not developing line umpires locally. Well we can organise a 15-hour officiating programme and put them on court. And what do we do with them after this tournament is over? Let them go home and wait until next February? We will achieve nothing,” he added.

However, the veteran of many tournaments is willing to take up the challenge.

“First I need the talent. He or she needs to have a good knowledge of English and lastly, the person needs to be available to do some hard work, just like I did. In 1994, I invested in myself and today I am where I am,” El Khafief said.

“Now whether somebody is available out there is the question,” he added.