FIFA to choose World Cup officials
Reuters - Thursday 04 February 2010, 18:55
JOHANNESBURG - The referees and linesmen to
officiate at the upcoming World Cup will be chosen by FIFA on
Friday at the end of a selection process lasting more than two
years.
A total of 37 referees and 74 linesmen are left on a
shortlist that has been whittled down from 54 refereeing teams
originally chosen in 2007.
FIFA had not decided on an exact number of referees for the
tournament in South Africa, an official told Reuters, but the
figure would be around 30.
The final selection will be done by the refereeing committee
in Zurich on Friday but a FIFA spokesman said they were not sure
whether the list would be announced the same day, over the
weekend or on Monday.
A raft of controversial decisions at the last World Cup
finals in Germany has led to FIFA drawing up an elaborate
programme to prepare prospective officials for the June-July
finals in South Africa.
The shortlist nevertheless includes several referees at the
centre of contentious incidents in recent years, including
Swedish firefighter Martin Hansson, who missed the handball that
allowed France to qualify for the World Cup, and Norwegian Tom
Ovrebo, who received death threats after turning down a raft of
legitimate-looking penalty appeals against Chelsea in last
season's Champions League semi-final tie against Barcelona.
Swiss referee Massimo Busacca, suspended last year after
giving a two-fingered salute to supporters chanting verbal
abuse, is also on the shortlist as is Englishman Howard Webb,
who changed his mind on a penalty decision during last year's
Confederations Cup.
TWO ASSISTANTS
In 2006, referees were accused of being pernickety and
ruining the tournament with several bizarre decisions, not least
Englishman Graham Poll giving one player three yellow cards in a
single match.
For the 2010 finals, there are 14 candidate referees from
Europe, seven from South America and five each from the Asian
and Concacaf confederations.
Africa had five but last weekend Benin's Bonaventure Coffi
Codjia was suspended indefinitely after failing to take action
against a player who headbutted him during the African Nations
Cup in Angola. Two referees from New Zealand represent Oceania.
Each referee has his own team of two assistants who have
worked with him consistently over the last two years. Should any
of the trio fail a physical or laws test, the whole team falls
out of contention.
Of the 37 candidate referees, eight officiated at the last
finals in Germany, including Mexican Benito Archundia, who
handled the semi-final between Germany and Italy.
The oldest on the list is Brazilian Carlos Simon, who turns
45 in September, and the youngest is 30-year-old Joel Aguilar of
El Salvador.