Henry handball referee selected for South Africa
Reuters - Friday 05 February 2010, 21:07
JOHANNESBURG - Swede Martin Hansson, who
was at the centre of France's controversial World Cup
qualification, was named on Friday among the 30 referees for the
finals in South Africa in June.
Hansson failed to spot Thierry Henry's handball in the
play-off second leg against Ireland in Paris in November and was
widely criticised after the incident led to the goal which
allowed France to qualify.
He was however named after Friday's meeting in Zurich of the
refereeing committee of world football's governing body FIFA.
Among the other officials appointed were Englishman Howard
Webb and Swiss referee Massimo Busacca, who have also grabbed
headlines over the last year.
Eight officials return from the 2006 finals in Germany where
the refereeing was roundly condemned after a spate of
controversies.
It led to FIFA setting up a special referee's assistance
programme to better train top officials for the 2010 finals.
ARCHUNDIA CHOSEN
Among those returning is Benito Archundia of Mexico, who
handled the 2006 semi-final between Germany and Italy, and
Italian Roberto Rosetti, who also officiated the Euro 2008 final
in Vienna.
Norwegian Tom Henning Ovrebo, who turned down a raft of
penalty appeals by Chelsea in last season's Champions League
semi-final second leg against Barcelona, was overlooked.
The 30 referees are made up of 10 from Europe, six from
South America, four from the Asian, African and CONCACAF
confederations and two from New Zealand.
Each official has his team of two assistants who have worked
with him consistently over the last two years.
Only one of the two Swedish linesmen from the match between
France and Ireland made the selection. Stefan Wittberg was
included but Fredrik Nilsson missed out.
Busacca was suspended last year after giving a middle-finger
salute to supporters chanting verbal abuse in a Swiss Cup game
while Webb changed his mind over a penalty decision in last
year's Confederations Cup.
The following teams of officials were
named by FIFA on Friday for the World Cup finals from June
11-July 11 in South Africa:
ASIA
Khalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia, referee), Hassan
Kamranifar (Iran), Saleh Mohamed Al Marzouqi (United Arab
Emirates, assistants)
Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan, referee), Rafael Ilyasov
(Uzbekistan), Bahadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan, assistants)
Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia, referee), Mu Yuxin
(China), Jeffrey Goh Gek Pheng (Singapore, assistants)
Yuichi Nishimura (Japan, referee), Toru Sagara (Japan), Hae
Sang Jeong (South Korea, assistants)
- -
AFRICA
Mohamed Benouza (Algeria, referee), Nasser Abdel Nabi
(Egypt), Maamar Chabane (Algeria, assistants)
Koman Coulibaly (Mali, referee), Redouane Achik (Morocco),
Manuel Candido (Angola, assistants)
Jerome Damon (South Africa, referee), Celestin Ntagungira
(Rwanda), Enock Molefe (South Africa, assistants)
Eddy Maillet (Seychelles, referee), Evarist Menkouande
(Cameroon), Bechir Hassani (Tunisia, assistants)
- -
CONCACAF
Joel Aguilar (El Salvador, referee), William Torres,
Francisco Zumba (both El Salvador, assistants)
Benito Archundia (Mexico, referee), Hector Vergara (Canada),
Marvin Cesar Torrentera Rivera (Mexico, assistants)
Carlos Alberto Batres (Guatemala, referee), Leonel Leal
(Costa Rica), Carlos Pastrana (Honduras, assistants)
Marco Rodriquez (Mexico, referee), Jose Luis Camargo
Callado, Alberto Morin Mendez (both Mexico, assistants)
- -
EUROPE
Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal, referee), Jose Manuel Silva,
Bertino Miranda (both Portugal, assistants)
Massimo Busacca (Switzerland, referee), Matthias Arnet,
Francesco Buragina (both Switzerland, assistants)
Frank de Bleeckere (Belgium, referee), Peter Hermans, Walter
Vromans (both Belgium, assistants)
Martin Hansson (Sweden, referee), Henrik Andren, Stefan
Wittberg (both Sweden, assistants)
Viktor Kassai (Hungary, referee), Gabor Eros, Tibor Vamos
(both Hungary, assistants)
Stephane Lannoy (France, referee), Eric Dansault, Laurent
Ugo (both France, assistants)
Roberto Rosetti (Italy, referee), Paolo Calcagno, Stefano
Ayroldi (both Italy, assistants)
Wolfgang Stark (Germany, referee), Jan Salver, Mike Pickel
(both Germany, assistants)
Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain, referee), Fermin Martinez
Ibanez, Juan Carlos Yuste Jimenez (both Spain, assistants)
Howard Webb (England, referee), Darren Cann, Michael
Mullarkey (both England, assistants)
- -
OCEANIA
Michael Hester (New Zealand, referee), Jan-Hendrik Hintz
(New Zealand), Tevita Makasini (Tonga, assistants)
Peter O'Leary (New Zealand, referee), Brent Best (New
Zealand), Matthew Taro (Solomon Islands, assistants)
- -
SOUTH AMERICA
Carlos Amarilla Demarqui (Paraguay, referee), Emigdio Ruiz
Roa, Nicolas Yegros (both Paraguay, assistants)
Hector Baldassi (Argentina, referee), Ricardo Casas, Hernan
Maidana (both Argentina, assistants)
Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay, referee), Pablo Fandino, Mauricio
Espinosa (both Uruguay, assistants)
Pablo Pozo Quinteros (Chile, referee), Patricio Basualto,
Francisco Mondria (both Chile, assistants)
Oscar Ruiz Acosta (Colombia, referee), Abraham Gonzalez,
Humberto Clavijo (both Colombia, assistants)
Carlos Simon (Brazil, referee), Altemir Hausmann, Roberto
Braatz (both Brazil, assistants)