World Cup 2010 Candidates

[Englishref]

AFC

Abdullah Mohamed Al Hilali, Oman
Khalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi, Saudi Arabia
Matthew Breeze, Australia
Ravshan Irmatov, Uzbekistan
Subkhiddin Modh Saleh, Malaysia
Masoud Moradi, Iran
Yuichi Nishimura, Japan
Mark Shield, Australia

CAF

Mohamed Benouza, Algeria
Coffi Codjia, Benin
Koman Coulibaly, Mali
Jerome Damon, South Africa
Badara Diatta, Senegal
Eddy Allen Maillet, Seychelles

CONCACAF

Joel Antonio Aguilar Chicas, El Salvador
Benito Armando Archundia Tellez, Mexico
Carlos Alberto Batres Gonzalez, Guatemala
Jair Marrufo, USA
Roberto Moreno Salazar, Panama
Marco Antonio Rodriguez Moreno, Mexico
Enrico John Wijngaarde, Surinam

CONMEBOL

Carlos Amarilla Demarqui, Paraguay
Hector Walter Baldassi, Argentina
Silvio Fagundes, Brazil
Jorge Larrionda, Uruguay
Sergio Fabian Pezzota, Argentina
Pablo Antonio Pozo Quinteros, Chile
Oscar Julian Ruiz Acosta, Colombia
Carlos Simon, Brazil
Carlos Manuel Torres Nunez, Paraguay
Martin E. Vazquez Broquetas, Uruguay

OFC

Michael Hester, New Zealand
Peter O'Leary, New Zealand
Rakesh Chand Varman, Fiji

UEFA

Olegario Manuel Bartolo F. Benquerenca, Portugal
Ivan Bebek, Croatia
Massimo Busacca, Switzerland
Frank De Bleeckere, Belgium
Thomas Einwaller, Austria
Grzegorz Gilewski, Poland
Martin Hansson, Sweden
Viktor Kassai, Hungary
Stephane Lannoy, France
Claus Bo Larsen, Denmark
Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez, Spain
Lubos Michel, Slovakia
Roberto Rosetti, Italy
Damir Skomina, Slovenia
Wolfgang Stark, Germany
Craig Thomson, Scotland
Kyros Vassaras, Greece
Pieter Vink, Netherlands
Howard Melton Webb, England
Tom Henning Övrebö, Norway

[Englishref]

A couple of surprises. Why on earth is the USA's candidate Jair Marrufo? Why not Kevin Stott? And isn't Marrufo very new to the FIFA list? Why not Prus or Vaughn?

CAF's list seems remarkably short, given the size of the confederation. FIFA can't have great confidence in their ability.

And why has Pieter Vink been selected over Eric Braamhaar? I'd also have liked to have seen Alberto Undiano Mallenco on that list. The likes of Bebek, Einwaller, and Skomina are going to have to be pushed by UEFA onto higher profile, tougher games in the next few years if they're to be up to the standard required for a World Cup finals.

On a better note, it's great to see some old faces returning for yet another WC, like Ruiz, Codjia, Michel and of course Mark Shield. :cool:

[campton]

How many get chosen to go to the actual camp? How many get chosen to do matches?

From what i understand from watching a Graham Poll interview, the CR brings his crew (does it include 4th?). Then they all must pass exams for fitness and ability.

Is my view on that correct?

[MassachusettsRef]

Wow.

My thoughts, from top to bottom...

AFC - No surprises (among the names I know) and you have to think Australia will get two guys at the World Cup this time, as Breeze has worked the highest level games in Asia. If that happens, I would see it as another sad statement about USSF refereeing (Australia can get two but the US gets none--at least in the last WC?). Also, isn't Irmatov the guy that butchered a few games at the WYC?

CAF - Don't know much about these guys except Codija, who I imagine will referee a late round game unless he has a disaster along the way. Damon and Benouza are the other guys that have been around--not sure about the others.

CONCACAF - Okay, obviously a lot to assess here. First, Aguilar has been pretty bad at the FIFA tournaments and Gold Cup from what I've seen. There has to be better in Central America. Archundia and Rodriguez are locks from Mexico and I'm actually surprised that a third Mexican didn't make the candidates list. Batres must go back and he'll be a candidate to work in the latter stages for certain. Wijngaarde and Moreno are there to fill out numbers. And, I fear, so is Marrufo.

I'm pretty sure Stott isn't there because he didn't want to be considered (someone can correct me on that). But pushing Marrufo over Vaughn is confusing to me. I'm not sure which one was better last year, but Vaughn has more experience and has certainly earned the opportunity, I think. Taking nothing away from Marrufo (in an ideal world, it'd be nice to push two Americans--which probably would be happening if Stott had gone to the last World Cup as a full referee), but my gut reaction is that Vaughn should have had first crack. And my second reaction is that an American just isn't going to make it. Marrufo is going to have to set the world on fire to get picked--he's never been to a FIFA tournament and he's never even had a World Cup Qualifying match. I wish him luck, but if a guy like Stott with years of international experience gets bounced (with political reasons playing a big factor) then I just don't think a novice American has a chance in hell. I see nothing but disappointment for USSF and American referees coming up. (also, if Marrufo is listed here, then why on earth was Toledo sent to Copa America over him?!?!)

CONMEBOL - A lot of new names here. You've got to figure that the old stand-bys will make a return. Honestly, given the numbers per confederation, it looks like CONMEBOL has set itself up to send the highest proportion of its candidates. I can't see guys like Simon, Torres, Larrionda, Ruiz, etc. being denied. And Pezzotta will go. So that's at least 5 from South America.

OFC - O'Leary could go. The rest will not.


UEFA - Definitely a few surprises. Vink over Braamhaar isn't one of them to me (not anymore, at least--I still don't know why he got selected for EURO, but one he did, it followed that he would be on the WC list first).

Not having Mallenco is a huge surprise. I thought he was one of the best young referees in the world and Spain could have sent two referees last time, so you'd think they'd get two candidates this time.

The big surprise is Einwaller. I don't have a clue who that even is. I don't think he's ever done a UCL game. How he makes this list over Mallenco or even that younger Icelandic referee they've pushed a little is beyond me.

Also, no Russian referee at all. Kind of weird.

With that, a best guess at who might make the cut:

BREEZE - AUS
MODH SALEH - MYS
NISHIMURA - JPN
SHIELD - AUS

BENOUZA - ALG
CODIJA - BEN
DAMON - RSA

ARCHUNDIA - MEX
BATRES - GUA
RODRIGUEZ - MEX

LARRIONDA - URU
PEZZOTA - ARG
RUIZ - COL
SIMON - BRA
TORRES - PAR

O'LEARY - NZL

BENQURENCA - POR
BUSACCA - SUI
GILEWSKI - POL
LARSEN - DEN
GONZALEZ - ESP
MICHEL - SVK
ROSSETTI - ITA
SKOMINA - SVN
STARK - GER
THOMSON - SCO
VASSARAS - GRE
WEBB - ENG
OVREBO - NOR

And I'd lay even money right now that either Mark Shield or Lubos Michel referees the 2010 World Cup Final.

[MassachusettsRef]

How many get chosen to go to the actual camp? How many get chosen to do matches?

From what i understand from watching a Graham Poll interview, the CR brings his crew (does it include 4th?). Then they all must pass exams for fitness and ability.

Is my view on that correct?If it's the same system as last time, each candidate gets paired with two assistants (from his home country unless it is a "small" country and then they could be from nearby countries).

For the next two years, they work together in international matches. And each crew goes to at least one of the upcoming 4 major FIFA tournaments (U20, U17, Confed, CWC). Crews are then selected for the tournament. If any member of the crew fails the fitness (or psychological) test, then the entire crew is disqualified. This happened to Mejuto Gonzalez last time and is why you had the "second best" Spanish referee being the one that was the fourth official on the WC Final.

[Spaceball]

Where did you find this list? I couldn't find it on FIFA's page.


AFC

Abdullah Mohamed Al Hilali, Oman
Khalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi, Saudi Arabia
Matthew Breeze, Australia
Ravshan Irmatov, Uzbekistan
Subkhiddin Modh Saleh, Malaysia
Masoud Moradi, Iran
Yuichi Nishimura, Japan
Mark Shield, Australia

CAF

Mohamed Benouza, Algeria
Coffi Codjia, Benin
Koman Coulibaly, Mali
Jerome Damon, South Africa
Badara Diatta, Senegal
Eddy Allen Maillet, Seychelles

CONCACAF

Joel Antonio Aguilar Chicas, El Salvador
Benito Armando Archundia Tellez, Mexico
Carlos Alberto Batres Gonzalez, Guatemala
Jair Marrufo, USA
Roberto Moreno Salazar, Panama
Marco Antonio Rodriguez Moreno, Mexico
Enrico John Wijngaarde, Surinam

CONMEBOL

Carlos Amarilla Demarqui, Paraguay
Hector Walter Baldassi, Argentina
Silvio Fagundes, Brazil
Jorge Larrionda, Uruguay
Sergio Fabian Pezzota, Argentina
Pablo Antonio Pozo Quinteros, Chile
Oscar Julian Ruiz Acosta, Colombia
Carlos Simon, Brazil
Carlos Manuel Torres Nunez, Paraguay
Martin E. Vazquez Broquetas, Uruguay

OFC

Michael Hester, New Zealand
Peter O'Leary, New Zealand
Rakesh Chand Varman, Fiji

UEFA

Olegario Manuel Bartolo F. Benquerenca, Portugal
Ivan Bebek, Croatia
Massimo Busacca, Switzerland
Frank De Bleeckere, Belgium
Thomas Einwaller, Austria
Grzegorz Gilewski, Poland
Martin Hansson, Sweden
Viktor Kassai, Hungary
Stephane Lannoy, France
Claus Bo Larsen, Denmark
Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez, Spain
Lubos Michel, Slovakia
Roberto Rosetti, Italy
Damir Skomina, Slovenia
Wolfgang Stark, Germany
Craig Thomson, Scotland
Kyros Vassaras, Greece
Pieter Vink, Netherlands
Howard Melton Webb, England
Tom Henning Övrebö, Norway

[Alberto]

Jair Marrufo, I am stunned. No offense to him, but there are considerably more seasoned referees on the list from that merit consideration. Why not Vaughn? I know this past season was not one of his best, but still.

Regarding Moreno, I like him. He could continue to develop. I agree he like Marrufo has little chance over Batres, Chiqui Dracula and Archundia.

[Englishref]

Where did you find this list? I couldn't find it on FIFA's page.

From another refereeing website. The list had been coming out in dribs and drabs, but someone finally posted the full list. Granted, there's no official confirmation from FIFA, but it'd take a lot to come up with a list like this for no reason. The person who posted was also right with the Euro 2008 list before it was published by UEFA.

Without wishing to disrespect New Zealand officiating, it seems amazing that they can have two nominees, but Spain can't have two (Mallenco being the other), or England (Clattenburg being the other) for example. And I fully agree with you MassRef re: Einwaller. Tbf, I've seen him twice and he was good on both occasions, but those were minor UEFA club games. Bebek, Skomina and Kassai are all yet to be really tested on a big UCL or Int'l game.

It's also not the most motivating situation for someone like Clatts or Atkinson (I use them as an example only because I'm English), who are young but know they have to wait at least 6 years to get a shot at a World Cup finals.

[Citiref]

I'm pretty sure Stott isn't there because he didn't want to be considered (someone can correct me on that). But pushing Marrufo over Vaughn is confusing to me. I'm not sure which one was better last year, but Vaughn has more experience and has certainly earned the opportunity, I think. Taking nothing away from Marrufo (in an ideal world, it'd be nice to push two Americans--which probably would be happening if Stott had gone to the last World Cup as a full referee), but my gut reaction is that Vaughn should have had first crack. And my second reaction is that an American just isn't going to make it. Marrufo is going to have to set the world on fire to get picked--he's never been to a FIFA tournament and he's never even had a World Cup Qualifying match. I wish him luck, but if a guy like Stott with years of international experience gets bounced (with political reasons playing a big factor) then I just don't think a novice American has a chance in hell. I see nothing but disappointment for USSF and American referees coming up. (also, if Marrufo is listed here, then why on earth was Toledo sent to Copa America over him?!?!)
Actually, Marrufo has officiated a World Cup Qualifying match; Fiji vs. New Zealand in October.

[MassachusettsRef]

Actually, Marrufo has officiated a World Cup Qualifying match; Fiji vs. New Zealand in October.Really? Ok. My mistake.

In fact, had I known that, I probably would have been able to guess he'd be on the list. Of course, giving (or getting him) that game was probably due to the fact that he was going to be on this list. He's still never worked a CONCACAF Qualifier, like Vaughn has. And he wasn't sent to Copa America, like Toledo was. It's as if someone decided he was going to be on this list and he got sent to OFC to do this qualifier (which, by the way, bodes well for him in general, because FIFA has to confirm/make [?] that assignment). The question still remains--why?

Maybe Marrufo, with his Dad's history, just has a better connection with CONCACAF and a better chance to shine with FIFA. If that's the case, I suppose this is a good strategic move on USSF's part.

[MassachusettsRef]

Without wishing to disrespect New Zealand officiating, it seems amazing that they can have two nominees, but Spain can't have two (Mallenco being the other), or England (Clattenburg being the other) for example. Ah, I was thinking about this and forgot to comment.

One of the upsides of the new system that was touted is the fact that a country can get two sets of officials to the World Cup if they are worthy (which couldn't happen in recent history). That's great. But my question now is, who decides how the list is filled out?

It would seem, based SOLELY on the New Zealand situation, that FIFA tells each confederation how many referees they can nominate and the federations, in turn, put names forth to the confederations. There's really no other plausible scenario. It is inconceivable that FIFA selects the nominees itself. Otherwise, you would have to think that several European countries would get 3-4 candidates before anyone else--save, maybe, Mexico--gets a second candidate.

If the goal is REALLY to get the best in the world (while maintaining somewhat of a geographical representation) then you have to think that Italy's or Germany's or France's "second guy" (all of which are unproven now) for 2010 (nevermind Mallenco or Clattenburg) is already better than anyone in New Zealand.

[oldmanreferee]

OFC - O'Leary could go. The rest will not.

The big surprise is Einwaller. Saw him on games in Toulon a few years ago. He is not that good must have someone one pushing him or someone needs to get reappointed and they need austria vote. UEFA Top young ones are Webb and thomson



O'LEARY - NZL

BENQURENCA - POR
BUSACCA - SUI
GILEWSKI - POL
LARSEN - DEN
GONZALEZ - ESP
MICHEL - SVK
ROSSETTI - ITA
SKOMINA - SVN
STARK - GER
THOMSON - SCO
VASSARAS - GRE
WEBB - ENG
OVREBO - NOR

And I'd lay even money right now that either Mark Shield or Lubos Michel referees the 2010 World Cup Final.[/QUOTE]

[Hellobob57]

Too bad Valentin Ivanov had to retire.:(