An excited fan with his tickets for the
2009 Confederations Cup. (Image: Fifa)
Janine Erasmus
Fifa has named the group of 30 referees and assistant referees who will officiate in the 2009 Confederations Cup. The Fifa 2010 World Cup precursor kicks off on 14 June 2009 with the game between Asian champions Iraq and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana at Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg.
Ten groups of three, each comprising a referee and two assistants, have been selected from the list of prospective candidates for the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
The group represents all six confederations, namely the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF), the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf), the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (Conmebol), the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC), and the Union des Associations Européennes de Football (Uefa).
Further preparations
The officials will now undergo further preparations for the tournament under Fifa’s Refereeing Assistance Programme (RAP), which is a two-pronged approach to raising the standard of refereeing around the world, and ensuring uniformity in refereeing.
The two components of the RAP are firstly, to prepare and develop potential officials for the 2010 Fifa World Cup and to raise the level of professionalism of the environment in which they work; and secondly, to develop referees within the individual Fifa member countries.
To this end, Fifa has appointed referee development officers to work hand in hand with instructors around the world to ensure consistency in applying the rules of the Beautiful Game, no matter where it is played. Fifa’s investment in the RAP is estimated at some US$40-million (R340-million).
Referee preparations for the two tournaments take the form of practical and theoretical sessions that focus specifically on technical, physical, psychological, medical and energy-related issues.
Tournament of champions
The 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup features the six continental champions, the hosts and the current Fifa world champion. The eight teams are from Brazil, Egypt, Iraq, New Zealand, Spain, the US, world cup holder Italy, and host South Africa.
Games take place at four world-class venues around the country, in the cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Rustenburg and Bloemfontein.
Construction work is progressing smoothly and all stadiums will be ready for action on 14 June. Fifa has undertaken several inspection tours of the construction sites, and each time has pronounced itself fully satisfied.
Two of the recently renovated stadiums have already played host to football at the highest local level. In March 2009 Pretoria’s Loftus Versveld was the scene of a clash between reigning South African Premier League champions SuperSport United and the ever-popular Kaizer Chiefs.
Ellis Park had its trial run shortly thereafter with an exhilarating game between Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, and in early May it hosted the annual Soweto Derby, seeing long-time rivals Pirates and Chiefs facing off for the 135th time in almost forty years.
| 2009 CONFEDERATIONS CUP OFFICIALS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Confederation | Name, nationality | Position |
| AFC | Matthew Breeze, Australia | referee |
| Matthew Cream, Australia | assistant referee | |
| Ben Wilson, Australia | assistant referee | |
| CAF | Coffi Codjia, Benin | referee |
| Komi Konyoh, Togo | assistant referee | |
| Alexis Fassinou, Benin | assistant referee | |
| Concacaf | Carlos Batres, Guatemala | referee |
| Leonel Leal, Costa Rica | assistant referee | |
| Carlos Pastrana, Honduras | assistant referee | |
| Conmebol | Carlos Amarilla, Paraguay | referee |
| Emigdio Ruiz, Paraguay | assistant referee | |
| Nicolas Yegros, Paraguay | assistant referee | |
| Jorge Larrionda, Uruguay) | referee | |
| Pablo Fandino, Uruguay | assistant referee | |
| Mauricio Espinosa, Uruguay | assistant referee | |
| OFC | Michael Hester, New Zealand | referee |
| Jan-Hendrik Hintz, New Zealand | assistant referee | |
| Mark Rule, New Zealand | assistant referee | |
| Uefa | Massimo Busacca, Switzerland | referee |
| Matthias Arnet, Switzerland | assistant referee | |
| Francesco Buragina, Switzerland | assistant referee | |
| Martin Hansson, Sweden | referee | |
| Henrik Andren, Sweden | assistant referee | |
| Fredrik Nilsson, Sweden | assistant referee | |
| Howard Webb, England | referee | |
| Michael Mullarkey, England | assistant referee | |
| Peter Kirkup, England | assistant referee | |
| Reserve trio (from CAF) | Eddy Maillet, Seychelles | referee |
| Evarist Menkouande, Cameroon) | assistant referee | |
| Bechir Hassani, Tunisia | assistant referee | |
- Do you have queries or comments about this article? Contact Janine Erasmus at janinee@mediaclubsouthafrica.com.
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Useful links
- Confederations Cup 2009
- Asian Football Confederation
- Confederation Africaine de Football
- Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football
- Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol
- Oceania Football Confederation
- Union des Associations Européennes de Football
- South African Football Association
