The International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) says it will conduct the final assessment of the 30 referees it has named for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in May.
A statement by FIFA said the selection was made at a meeting of the Referees Committees held in Zurich under the chairmanship of Spain’s Ángel María Villar Llon.
The 30 referees from 28 countries will take part in a training seminar in March as part of their preparations for the Mundial.
The statement said the selection was the implementation of a comprehensive programme aimed at ensuring the referees were at their peak before the World Cup kicks off on June 11.
FIFA said the selection process began with an initial group of 54 referees from all over the world in 2007 when the FIFA Executive Committee decided to create a Refereeing Assistance Programme (RAP).
“One of the key objectives was to prepare this group of prospective referees for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,” it said.
The soccer ruling body said its Refereeing Department – headed by Spanish former international referee José Maria García-Aranda – was responsible for coordinating and organising all of the activities involving the candidate referees.
“The RAP working group, a team of international experts in the fields of refereeing technique, fitness and psychology was set up by FIFA to monitor and analyse all of the information on the candidate referees, involving those responsible for refereeing in each confederation,” it said.
FIFA said the latest technology has been implemented in the preparation of the referees both within practical training, and interactive sessions.
“Theoretical tests undertaken exclusively in English – which has been the lingua franca for FIFAs referees for many years to ensure appropriate knowledge of the Laws of the Game, the regulations for FIFA competitions and the directives of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) were also a regular feature during the last three years,” it added.
(NAN)
