Match officials for the
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
were nominated by the six confederations to
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
, who, after a series of tests in
Frankfurt/
Neu-Isenburg in March 2006, selected 23 referees and a support and development group of a further 5,
from a shortlist of 44.
Kyros Vassaras
Kyros Vassaras ( el, Κύρος Βασσάρας; born 1 February 1966) is a Greek former professional football referee. Vassaras is a polyglot, being able to speak Greek, German, English and Spanish.
Vassaras became a FIFA referee in 1998, an ...
of Greece and
Manuel Mejuto of Spain were selected to be on the panel, but the assistants who were to make up their teams were not deemed to have reached the required standards, and so they were replaced by
Roberto Rosetti and
Luis Medina.
Jamaican referee
Peter Prendergast was selected for the tournament panel, but suffered a knee injury and was removed from the list without replacement.
Massimo De Santis of Italy was also on the panel of 23 referees, but after he was implicated in the
Serie A match-fixing
allegations, he was withdrawn by the
Italian Football Federation
The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.
It ...
and not replaced.
The 21 referees, along with their assistants and the support group, are based in
Neu-Isenburg for the duration of the tournament. FIFA announces the referees selected for each fixture three days in advance of the match.
Horacio Elizondo was chosen to officiate the final match, which took place in
Berlin on July 9.
Refereeing teams
Below are the details of the 21 groups of match officials in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
For assistants, a flag is only shown if his nationality varies from that of the referee with whom he is grouped.
Most teams (consisting of a referee and two assistants) are drawn from the same nation, and all are made up of officials from the same confederation. In the first round of the tournament, officials other than from UEFA member associations only operate in groups that do not include a representative of their confederation.
Mexico is the only country with 2 referees on the panel.
For the first time at a World Cup, match officials will be equipped with microphones and earpieces so they can communicate better with each other during each game. Furthermore this World Cup sees the introduction of a
fifth official
In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the La ...
who can be called upon to replace an injured assistant referee. The
fourth official would replace the referee..
Support officials
Five teams of officials were named to be on standby in the case of injury to any of the officials nominated for a match. None of them were called upon, however, and from the quarter-finals onwards, referees from among the 12 retained for the latter stages of the tournament were given standby appointments to matches.
Final Match Officials
On Wednesday 28th of June, one day after the Second Round matches were completed and two days before the Quarterfinals, the FIFA announced the 12 referees that were retained for the remaining matches. This is the standard process, meant to ensure only the best referees are in charge of the final few games. The twelve are:
*
Toru Kamikawa (
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
)
*
Coffi Codjia (
Benin)
*
Benito Archundia (
Mexico)
*
Horacio Elizondo (
Argentina)
*
Jorge Larrionda (
Uruguay)
*
Mark Shield
Mark Shield (born 2 September 1973 in Fortitude Valley, Queensland) is a former Australian Football referee and national Director of Referees. He most recently refereed in Australia's A-League. He first played soccer for the Innisfail Tigers a ...
(
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
)
*
Massimo Busacca (
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
)
*
Frank De Bleeckere (
Belgium)
*
Luis Medina Cantalejo (
Spain)
*
Markus Merk (
Germany)
*
Ľuboš Micheľ (
Slovakia)
*
Roberto Rosetti (
Italy)
See also
*
2006 FIFA World Cup disciplinary record
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
*
2010 FIFA World Cup officials
External links
Referee Ratings for the 2006 FIFA World Cup
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Fifa World Cup Officials
Officials