23 referees from 21 different countries will officiate at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™. This decision was reached by the FIFA Referees Committee in early May after closely evaluating and analysing the test results of 80 assistant referees at a workshop in Frankfurt/Neu-Isenburg between
18 and 21 April.
At a meeting on 31 March, the FIFA Referees Committee selected 23 referees from the 44 candidates who attended a workshop and completed a series of tests in Frankfurt/Neu-Isenburg from 21 to 25 March. 20 of these match officials will now be in charge of matches at the World Cup finals in Germany.
Unfortunately, Carlos Batres had to pull out of the fitness tests during the assistant referees’ workshop at the end of March. The Guatemalan official has been forced to admit defeat in his attempts to regain full fitness after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in December 2005 that has ended his 2006 World Cup ambitions. Batres will be replaced in Germany by Mexico’s Marco Rodriguez. Belgium’s Frank De Bleeckere, who failed to complete the fitness tests in March due to injury, successfully passed the tests in April and will now make his debut as a World Cup referee.
Greek referee Kyros Vassaras and his Spanish counterpart Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez had also been due to take part in the World Cup finals, but as some of their assistants failed to reach the required standards in Frankfurt/Neu-Isenburg, Vassaras and Mejuto Gonzalez have also been taken off the list. They will be replaced by two original members of the support and development group, Italy’s Roberto Rosetti and Spain’s Luis Medina Cantalejo.
The referees, who for the first time will have World Cup assistants from the same country or the same confederation, will be representing 21 different countries. Italy and Mexico will be the only countries to have two referees in action in Germany.
The support and development group – another World Cup first – will now consist of five referees and ten assistants who will only step into the fray in the event of another match official being unable to take part for whatever reason, such as injury or illness for example. These 15 match officials will be fully integrated into the team of referees for the World Cup. They will take part in all training sessions and meetings, and as such, they will be ready to spring into action at any time. They will thus also have the opportunity to gain crucial experience of a FIFA World Cup™.
The refereeing trios will arrive in Germany on 26 May, using the Hotel Kempinski Gravenbruch in Frankfurt/Neu-Isenburg as their headquarters for the duration of the tournament. All match officials will be required to undergo further tests before the World Cup gets underway.
FIFA will announce the identity of the refereeing trio for each of the 64 matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™ 48 hours in advance.
The 23 trios of match officials for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™:
Referee:
ABD EL FATAH Essam
Egypt
30.12.1965
Assistants:
DANTE Dramane
Mali
09.12.1961
NDOYE Mamadou
Senegal
27.12.1961
Referee:
AMARILLA Carlos
Paraguay
26.10.1970
Assistants:
ANDINO Amelio
Paraguay
24.12.1962
BERNAL Manuel
Paraguay
17.06.1963
Referee:
ARCHUNDIA Benito
Mexico
21.03.1966
Assistants:
RAMIREZ José
Mexico
27.11.1962
VERGARA Hector
Canada
15.12.1966
Referee:
BUSACCA Massimo
Switzerland
06.02.1969
Assistants:
BURAGINA Francesco
Switzerland
07.01.1966
ARNET Matthias
Switzerland
02.06.1968
Referee:
CODJIA Coffi
Benin
09.12.1967
Assistants:
NTAGUNGIRA Celestin
Rwanda
11.05.1966
ADERODJOU Aboudou
Benin
13.02.1961
Referee:
DE BLEECKERE Frank
Belgium
01.07.1966
Assistants:
HERMANS Peter
Belgium
27.06.1966
VROMANS Walter
Belgium
21.04.1968
Referee:
DE SANTIS Massimo
Italy
08.04.1962
Assistants:
GRISELLI Alessandro
Italy
31.05.1974
IVALDI Marco
Italy
04.07.1961
Referee:
ELIZONDO Horacio
Argentina
04.11.1963
Assistants:
GARCIA Dario
Argentina
29.10.1961
OTERO Rodolfo
Argentina
14.12.1962
Referee:
IVANOV Valentin
Russia
04.07.1961
Assistants:
GOLUBEV Nikolay
Russia
09.11.1970
VOLNIN Evgueni
Russia
27.06.1962
Referee:
KAMIKAWA Toru
Japan
08.06.1963
Assistants:
HIROSHIMA Yoshikazu
Japan
22.05.1962
KIM Dae Young
Korea Republic
15.08.1962
Referee:
LARRIONDA Jorge
Uruguay
09.03.1968
Assistants:
RIAL Walter
Uruguay
09.01.1964
FANDINO Pablo
Uruguay
11.10.1966
Referee:
MAIDIN Shamsul
Singapore
16.04.1966
Assistants:
PERMPANICH Prachya
Thailand
13.08.1962
GHULOUM Eisa
United Arab Emirates
01.03.1966
Referee:
MEDINA CANTALEJO Luis
Spain
01.03.1964
Assistants:
GIRALDEZ CARRASCO Victoriano
Spain
18.09.1964
MEDINA HERNANDEZ Pedro
Spain
17.12.1962
Referee:
MERK Markus
Germany
15.03.1962
Assistants:
SCHRAER Christian
Germany
15.03.1962
SALVER Jan-Hendrik
Germany
01.03.1969
Referee:
MICHEL Lubos
Slovakia
16.05.1968
Assistants:
SLYSKO Roman
Slovakia
04.08.1973
BALKO Martin
Slovakia
08.03.1972
Referee:
POLL Graham
England
29.07.1963
Assistants:
SHARP Philip
England
05.04.1964
TURNER Glenn
England
06.11.1964
Referee:
POULAT Eric
France
08.12.1963
Assistants:
DAGORNE Lionel
France
09.07.1961
TEXIER Vincent
France
25.11.1962
Referee:
PRENDERGAST Peter
Jamaica
23.09.1963
Assistants:
GARWOOD Anthony
Jamaica
15.12.1972
TAYLOR Joseph
Trinidad and Tobago
06.10.1964
Referee:
RODRIGUEZ Marco
Mexico
10.11.1973
Assistants:
CAMARGO José Luis
Mexico
25.09.1972
LEAL Leonel
Costa Rica
21.11.1976
Referee
ROSETTI Roberto
Italy
18.09.1967
Assistants:
COPELLI Cristiano
Italy
14.06.1967
STAGNOLI Alessandro
Italy
02.02.1965
Referee:
RUIZ Oscar
Colombia
01.11.1969
Assistants:
TAMAYO Fernando
Ecuador
17.12.1963
NAVIA José
Colombia
05.12.1963
Referee:
SHIELD Mark
Australia
02.09.1973
Assistants:
GIBSON Nathan
Australia
17.08.1972
WILSON Ben
Australia
26.06.1975
Referee:
SIMON Carlos
Brazil
03.09.1965
Assistants:
TAVARES Aristeu
Brazil
17.10.1962
CORONA Ednilson
Brazil
04.02.1965
The five refereeing trios for the support and development group:
Referee:
AL GHAMDI Khalil
Saudi Arabia
02.09.1970
Assistants:
AL KADRI Hamdi
Syria
12.04.1965
ARABATI Fathi
Jordan
05.02.1964
Referee:
CHANDIA Carlos
Chile
14.11.1964
Assistants:
JULIO Cristian
Chile
11.02.1964
GONZALEZ Rodrigo
Chile
21.12.1962
Referee:
DAMON Jerome
South Africa
04.04.1972
Assistants:
MOLEFE Enock
South Africa
04.06.1968
YEBOAH Justice
Ghana
23.04.1961
Referee:
GUEZZAZ Mohamed
Morocco
01.10.1962
Assistants:
DJEZZAR Brahim
Algeria
23.01.1963
ENDENG ZOGO Jean Marie
Cameroon
11.10.1962
Referee:
STOTT Kevin
USA
09.07.1967
Assistants:
STRICKLAND Chris
USA
29.11.1966
BARKEY Gregory
USA
20.08.1963
Further information from:
FIFA Media Department
Tel.: +41-43/222 7272
Fax: +41-43/ 222 7373
E-mail: media@fifa.org