8 May 2009
With little more than a month to go before the kick-off of the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup in South Africa, the officials who will referee the tournament’s matches have been confirmed.
The 30 match officials, who represent all six Fifa confederations, were selected from a list of prospective candidates for the 2010 Fifa World Cup South Africa.
Referee training
Preparations for the match officials have been conducted under the guidance of Fifa’s Refereeing Assistance Programme, which was approved by the organisation at the end of 2007.
The programme includes practical and theoretical sessions to prepare match officials for the 2010 World Cup.
Festival of champions
The Fifa Confederations Cup, or “Festival of Continental Champions”, will be played at venues in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Rustenburg and Bloemfontein between 14 and 28 June 2009, and will be used as rehearsal to determine the country’s preparedness to host the World Cup a year later.
The tournament will feature Copa America winners Brazil, African champions Egypt, first-time Asian champions Iraq, World Champions Italy, Oceania champions New Zealand, 2010 hosts South Africa, European champions Spain, and Concacaf Gold Cup winners the USA.
Source: BuaNews
