Hradec Kralove to host Maltese match officials

Aleksandar Markovic and Anthony Micallef will be among the match officials representing the Malta Rugby League (MRL) with the financial backing of the European Union's Leadership Devolution Project.

Markovic, from Serbian Rugby League club Leskovac Cheetahs, has re-settled in Malta and will lead the officiating in the MRL Dove Men+Care Championship which commences its 2014 season in May.

Markovic, along with Micallef who doubles as the Malta national team head coach and has also officiated the last two Maltese championship grand finals, will spend four days in the Czech Republic.

The tutoring workshop comes off the back of the Rugby League European Federation (RLEF) launching its elite match officials squad last week in London.

The squad is made up of nine match officials from England, France, Serbia and the Ukraine, and will be seen in action when they officiate all of the fixtures of this year's European Championship B and C, where Malta will meet Greece and the Czech Republic in June and July.

The elite match officials squad includes head of French match officials, former Super League and World Cup referee Thierry Alibert, with the focus on strategies to improve knowledge and develop refereeing skills in order to provide an international pathway for all match officials within the federation.

Head of RLEF Match Officials, Tom Mather said the intention is that at least one more continental referee will join the squad this year, with Mather hopeful that half the squad will be drawn from across the region within four years.