FIFA Lists 2009

[Englishref]

The FA have confirmed that Andre Marriner and Stuart Attwell have both joined the FIFA list as of yesterday.

Big congratulations to Marriner, who at 38, is too old to make much of an impression within FIFA or UEFA, but deserves it for his continued hard work and progress on the SG list for the past 3 or 4 seasons.

Attwell, at 25, has up to 20 years on the FIFA list! He's famous for giving the goal that never was at Watford when it went out for a goal kick, albeit on the advice of his AR. He only joined the SG list this season, and the FL referee list last season! Pretty sure he never met FIFA's requirements for nomination, but hey ho. He's the golden boy of David Elleray, a product of the FA's Young Referees Conference, and so has clearly been fast tracked and backed where others haven't. But good luck to him.

Mike Dean, who is having a superb season again this year, has been promoted from Cat 2 to the Premier List of UEFA, while Martin Atkinson has been placed on the Premier Development list.

As for ARs, rumours have it that we're going to lose 3 of our 4 ARs put on the list last season because they didn't pass the fitness test, which is appalling. Time will tell whether or not those rumours are true.

[code1390]

Poll thinks the FA moved Atwell up too quick. Its hard to disagree. I think hes done only a handfull of EPL games.

[Englishref]

Poll thinks the FA moved Atwell up too quick. Its hard to disagree. I think hes done only a handfull of EPL games.

4 to be precise, and none involving any of the big 4, well until he does Chelski in the FAC tomorrow.

[bluedevils]

Thanks for the info, Englishref. I find it very hard to believe how any 25 year old person could be qualified or ready for a FIFA referee badge.

Can you add any more explanation to the UEFA referee groupings, or perhaps give a link that does the explaining? E.g. how does the 'premier development list' compare with the 'category 2' list?

[Englishref]

It's one of these things which UEFA never really acknowledges, but exists.

Basically, there are 5 different categories. Cat 4, Cat 3, Cat 2, Premier, and Elite.

England, Spain, Germany, and Italy's referees all go straight into Cat 3, rather than 4 because of the standard of the leagues those referees referee in.

Effectively, it is just a promotion system like any other, with Elite obviously being the best. Elite referees are those you'll find regularly refereeing UCL and Internationals. Premier referees generally get early rounds of the UCL group stage, and more advanced rounds of the UEFA Cup, and will also take charge of Int'ls. Cat 2 will then do some UC games, and may get some of the minor Int'ls involving two small nations. They'll also do U21s and would have done Intertoto Cup (which is no more). Cat 3s would also have done the IC, and will do the early rounds of the UC (qualifying rounds), plus age restricted Int'ls. Cat 4s will do a similar job to Cat 3s.

The Premier Development list is a new idea from UEFA, and as I said earlier, UEFA never really talk about these lists, so I'm not entirely sure where it lies in the pecking order, but one would assume those on it are the ones UEFA expects to step up to the Elite list in the near future, and as such, may get some decent games that Elite referees may have previously had.

These are the most recent lists, as of January 09. The Cat 2-4 lists will be reviewed in February.

Elite Category
1 Plautz Konrad 16.10.1964 Austria
2 De Bleeckere Frank 01.07.1966 Belgium
3 Larsen Claus Bo 28.10.1965 Denmark
4 Riley Michael 17.12.1964 England
5 Webb Howard Melton 14.07.1971 England
6 Duhamel Laurent 10.10.1968 France
7 Layec Bertrand 03.07.1965 France
8 Fandel Herbert 09.03.1964 Germany
9 Meyer Florian 21.11.1968 Germany
10 Stark Wolfgang 20.11.1969 Germany
11 Vassaras Kyros 01.02.1966 Greece
12 Kassai Viktor 10.09.1975 Hungary
13 Rosetti Roberto 18.09.1967 Italy
14 Trefoloni Matteo Simone 31.03.1971 Italy
15 Hamer Alain 10.12.1965 Luxembourg
16 Braamhaar Eric F. J. 13.10.1966 Netherlands
17 Vink Pieter 13.03.1967 Netherlands
18 Hauge Terje 05.10.1965 Norway
19 Ovrebo Tom Henning 26.06.1966 Norway
20 Bartolo Faustino Benquerença Olegario Manuel 18.10.1969 Portugal
21 Baskakov Iouri 10.05.1964 Russia
22 Medina Cantalejo Luis 01.03.1964 Spain
23 Mejuto Gonzalez Manuel Enrique 16.04.1965 Spain
24 Undiano Mallenco Alberto 08.10.1973 Spain
25 Hansson Martin 06.04.1971 Sweden
26 Busacca Massimo 06.02.1969 Switzerland
Michel Lubos 16.05.1968 Slovakia RETIRED
Fröjdfeldt Peter 14.11.1963 Sweden RETIRED

Premier and Premier Development

Premier
1 Allaerts Paul 09.07.1964 Belgium
2 Genov Anton 10.10.1966 Bulgaria
3 Kapitanis Costas 21.05.1964 Cyprus
4 Dean Michael Leslie 02.07.1968 England PROMOTED
5 Kircher Knut 02.02.1969 Germany
6 Jakobsson Kristinn 11.06.1969 Iceland
7 Cardoso Cortez Batista Lucilio 26.04.1965 Portugal
8 Ivanov Nikolay 24.01.1964 Russia
9 Hrinak Vladimir 25.02.1964 Slovakia
10 Ceferin Darko 11.07.1968 Slovenia
11 Iturralde Gonzalez Eduardo 20.02.1967 Spain
Vollquartz Nicolai 07.02.1965 Denmark RELEGATED

Premier Development
12 Einwaller Thomas 25.04.1977 Austria
13 Gumienny Serge 14.04.1972 Belgium PROMOTED
14 Bebek Ivan 30.05.1977 Croatia
15 Kralovec Pavel 16.08.1977 Czech Republic
16 Atkinson Martin 31.03.1971 England
17 Lannoy Stéphane 18.09.1969 France
18 Brych Felix 03.08.1975 Germany
19 Yefet Alon 01.09.1972 Israel
20 Rizzoli Nicola 05.10.1971 Italy
21 Kuipers Bjorn 28.03.1973 Netherlands PROMOTED
22 Moen Svein Oddvar 22.01.1979 Norway PROMOTED
23 Gilewski Grzegorz 24.02.1973 Poland
24 Oliveira Alves Garcia Pedro Proenca 03.11.1970 Portugal
25 Tudor Alexandru Dan 13.09.1971 Romania
26 Thomson Craig Alexander 20.06.1972 Scotland
27 Skomina Damir 05.08.1976 Slovenia
28 Eriksson Jonas 28.03.1974 Sweden
29 Circhetta Claudio 18.11.1970 Switzerland
Malek Robert 15.03.1971 Poland RELEGATED


For completion, re: England's FIFAs, Mark Clattenburg is currently a Cat 2 (though obviously still suspended), as is Rob Styles, while Steve Tanner is still a Cat 3, and will be joined on that list by Andre Marriner and Stuart Attwell.

[Alberto]

Thanks for the info, Englishref. I find it very hard to believe how any 25 year old person could be qualified or ready for a FIFA referee badge.

Can you add any more explanation to the UEFA referee groupings, or perhaps give a link that does the explaining? E.g. how does the 'premier development list' compare with the 'category 2' list?

Agreed, 25 for the FIFA panel is too young. FIFA, UEFA and the FA like the USSF all look to quantify on physical tests and leave out the most important qualities, experience, wisdom and maturity.

[refmedic]

Does anyone know if there are any elevations to the panel of US refereesAR's for 2009? Also, other than the retirements due to age (Barkey) or by choice (Stott), does anyone know of anyone that was removed from the panel for the US? I'm asking about men and women.

[andymoss]

I don't see what the problem is:
How to Become a FIFA Referee

Football is a global sport—in the United States football is not the game of soccer like it is in the rest of the world. FIFA stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association and its major function is to train referees through an ongoing career-long process. Referees can be as young as their early teens and as old as their physical condition will allow.
Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Step1
Take a beginner's referee course that covers the Rule of the Game. There are 2 parts to the course; Introductory and Level 1.

Step2
Study the material in the course seriously since there will be a written test at the end on the Rules and Regulations of the game.

Step3
Get a 70 percent or higher on the written test in order to move on to the next level.

Step4
Learn how to referee from demonstrations by your instructor. Lessons will include technical movement and Laws of the game.

Step5
Make a commitment to your referee classes and you will get a uniform and other equipment like a whistle, flags, notebook and wallet of red and yellow cards.

Step6
Work as many games as possible. The quickest way to move up to a full referee is to be paired with someone who is experienced.

from ehow.com - http://www.ehow.com/how_2121160_become-fifa-referee.html

[refmedic]

Wow.....who knew it was so easy. Maybe they'll tap me to do the "How to become a nuclear physicist" page seeing as I know nothing about how to become a nuclear physicist, but I can sure make it sound easy and menial.

[Englishref]

The FIFA website has been updated.

England never lost as many ARs as feared, we lost just Glenn Turner who retired early, and Adam Watts, presumably because of fitness. Simon Beck replaces one of them on the list.

Here is the USA's list

Referee Date of Birth International since
GEIGER Mark 25.08.1974
MARRUFO Jair 17.06.1977 2007
PRUS Arkadiusz 06.02.1964 2004
SALAZAR Ricardo 06.09.1972 2005
TOLEDO Baldomero 06.02.1970
VAUGHN Terry 01.04.1973 2004

Assistant Referee Date of Birth International since
HURD Mark 09.11.1971
VASOLI Anthony 20.10.1970
GANSNER George 13.10.1971 2002
MORGANTE Charles 24.05.1974
QUISENBERRY Kermit 27.09.1968 2004
ROCKWELL Corey E. 26.02.1974
STRICKLAND Chris 29.11.1966 2002
SUPPLE Thomas 17.12.1965 2004
TOVAR Fabio 03.01.1967
WIENCKOWSKI Adam 02.08.1975

[whistleblowerusa]

The FIFA website has been updated.

England never lost as many ARs as feared, we lost just Glenn Turner who retired early, and Adam Watts, presumably because of fitness. Simon Beck replaces one of them on the list.

Here is the USA's list

Referee Date of Birth International since
GEIGER Mark 25.08.1974
MARRUFO Jair 17.06.1977 2007
PRUS Arkadiusz 06.02.1964 2004
SALAZAR Ricardo 06.09.1972 2005
TOLEDO Baldomero 06.02.1970
VAUGHN Terry 01.04.1973 2004

Assistant Referee Date of Birth International since
HURD Mark 09.11.1971
VASOLI Anthony 20.10.1970
GANSNER George 13.10.1971 2002
MORGANTE Charles 24.05.1974
QUISENBERRY Kermit 27.09.1968 2004
ROCKWELL Corey E. 26.02.1974
STRICKLAND Chris 29.11.1966 2002
SUPPLE Thomas 17.12.1965 2004
TOVAR Fabio 03.01.1967
WIENCKOWSKI Adam 02.08.1975
There is a mistake in the FIFA AR list for USA. It should read Sean Hurd and not Mark Hurd. Sean is a good guy, maybe not FIFA material but a good guy. My biggest question is the addition of Domke to the FIFA Women's list. She is another inexperienced official that has been rushed through the system. Too bad.

[flornatref]

Hurd's birth name is Mark Sean Hurd, that is why he is listed as Mark Hurd. No one calls him by his first name though. Well, maybe his wife does when she is angry at him, but that is an entirely different story all-together.

[FLRef86]

I'm shocked that we only have 2 female AR's...

Referee Date of Birth International since
BENNETT Jennifer 04.05.1971 2002
DOMKA Margaret 13.08.1979
SEITZ Kari 02.11.1970 1999
SERAFINI Sandra 03.11.1968
Assistant Referee Date of Birth International since
DUFFY Marlene 04.08.1979
PEREZ Veronica 31.10.1979

[whistleblowerusa]

I'm shocked that we only have 2 female AR's...

Referee Date of Birth International since
BENNETT Jennifer 04.05.1971 2002
DOMKA Margaret 13.08.1979
SEITZ Kari 02.11.1970 1999
SERAFINI Sandra 03.11.1968
Assistant Referee Date of Birth International since
DUFFY Marlene 04.08.1979
PEREZ Veronica 31.10.1979
I'm shocked that we have as many FIFA panelists on the female side is it is. There are only maybe two or three that are actually qualified.

[MassachusettsRef]

Good lord, do we need to go over this every single year?

FIFA has different standards. So USSF has different standards.

FIFA wants females officiating women's professional matches, so we push our women onto the list. Should we sit idly by and let other countries do it, thereby giving all the plum women's international assignments to referees where women's soccer isn't as good as it is here? Is that your goal?

People need to get over it. They are two completley different lists. Other than Seitz, it's unlikely that anyone on this list could make the men's list (maybe Bennett, but certainly not as fast as she made it). They know it, you know it, everyone knows it.

I really don't see what the issue is. FIFA has a separate list for women, so it's not like they are taking up slots that would otherwise go to qualified men. There really is no controversy here (and I say this as someone that, at various times very recently, was at or near the same level as three people on that list). Yet every year people seem to want to whine or complain about some sort of perceived unfairness.

[whistleblowerusa]

Good lord, do we need to go over this every single year?

FIFA has different standards. So USSF has different standards.

FIFA wants females officiating women's professional matches, so we push our women onto the list. Should we sit idly by and let other countries do it, thereby giving all the plum women's international assignments to referees where women's soccer isn't as good as it is here? Is that your goal?

People need to get over it. They are two completley different lists. Other than Seitz, it's unlikely that anyone on this list could make the men's list (maybe Bennett, but certainly not as fast as she made it). They know it, you know it, everyone knows it.

I really don't see what the issue is. FIFA has a separate list for women, so it's not like they are taking up slots that would otherwise go to qualified men. There really is no controversy here (and I say this as someone that, at various times very recently, was at or near the same level as three people on that list). Yet every year people seem to want to whine or complain about some sort of perceived unfairness.
MassRef, there are times when you post some good stuff and there are times when you post stuff that is just out of line.
No one was whining. It was a comment and a legitimate one at that. Yes, you are very smart and we all know that there are two different lists. The requirements are different etc. That doesn't change the fact that instead of training USSF is just pushing and switching lists. It's not about how fast a man can run or a woman can run. It's about knowing the game and placing those on the list that really have earned the spot on the list. That is the issue whether you like it or not or whether you want to read it or not.
My comment was about the quality of the women not the comparison. I didn't compare anything. With the women's league coming back the women's side of officiating is in big trouble. That's not talking of fairness. It's about quality.
Now if you can add to that go ahead but stop reading way more into things than what was actually written.

[chrisrun]

I'm shocked that we have as many FIFA panelists on the female side is it is. There are only maybe two or three that are actually qualified.

Are you saying they aren't qualified because there are better female refs in the US that should have the spots, or because they don't meet the standards of a FIFA referee?

[whistleblowerusa]

Are you saying they aren't qualified because there are better female refs in the US that should have the spots, or because they don't meet the standards of a FIFA referee?
Judging from what FIFA expects no, they don't really meet that expectation. We can see what assignments are given in world tournaments on the women's side. Yes I know that countries with teams that advance have an impact on the semis and finals but it doesn't change all that much in qualifying rounds and in the first stages of the tournaments. Also, look at which women are getting any breaks at officiating even the lower divisions of the pro leagues in the US. What did these women do to get placed on the list? I say stop making it easy for them and make them work to get better. How else can the younger women have mentors to look up to that are not all men?

[falcon.7]

Judging from what FIFA expects no, they don't really meet that expectation. We can see what assignments are given in world tournaments on the women's side. Yes I know that countries with teams that advance have an impact on the semis and finals but it doesn't change all that much in qualifying rounds and in the first stages of the tournaments. Also, look at which women are getting any breaks at officiating even the lower divisions of the pro leagues in the US. What did these women do to get placed on the list? I say stop making it easy for them and make them work to get better. How else can the younger women have mentors to look up to that are not all men?

Do you really think all the members of the men's panel are qualified? How many international matches a year do you think the guys from Zambia or Togo work? It's not just about who's "qualified". It's also about gaining experience. Take for instance the recent furor behind Stuart Attwell (a male, yes, but bear with me). Is is "qualified" to be on the International Panel? Maybe not. But he needs the experience of doing UEFA and FIFA matches to be ready to be England's top ref when Webb retires. The only way he can get the matches he needs to be at a level he needs to be at is by being on the International Panel. He now has 7 years to build up experience on UEFA matches and international youth and senior tournaments. SEVEN YEARS.

Also, US Soccer wants its professional women's league to compete with Germany's and Sweden's. One way that is going to happen is by having female referees who have the ability to officiate that level. The only way this is going to happen is by pushing female referees and assigning them matches that will cause them to become better officials. Some of them need to be on the Panel in order to be eligible to do matches that they need to do to get better. Nobody ever became qualified to do EPL games solely by doing Sunday league games.

Besides, have you seen Serafini work a USL game? Watch her in a RailHawks or Battery game and tell me she doesn't deserve to wear a shield.

[whistleblowerusa]

Do you really think all the members of the men's panel are qualified? How many international matches a year do you think the guys from Zambia or Togo work? It's not just about who's "qualified". It's also about gaining experience. Take for instance the recent furor behind Stuart Attwell (a male, yes, but bear with me). Is is "qualified" to be on the International Panel? Maybe not. But he needs the experience of doing UEFA and FIFA matches to be ready to be England's top ref when Webb retires. The only way he can get the matches he needs to be at a level he needs to be at is by being on the International Panel. He now has 7 years to build up experience on UEFA matches and international youth and senior tournaments. SEVEN YEARS.

Also, US Soccer wants its professional women's league to compete with Germany's and Sweden's. One way that is going to happen is by having female referees who have the ability to officiate that level. The only way this is going to happen is by pushing female referees and assigning them matches that will cause them to become better officials. Some of them need to be on the Panel in order to be eligible to do matches that they need to do to get better. Nobody ever became qualified to do EPL games solely by doing Sunday league games.

Besides, have you seen Serafini work a USL game? Watch her in a RailHawks or Battery game and tell me she doesn't deserve to wear a shield.

Who was talking about anywhere else but the US? I wasn't. The women's list here in the US is what I was commenting on. I did not name any names but Serafini does a decent job and may be ok most of the time she can't run at the level she needs to in my opinion but is smart about the game. And, what you say about assigning women top matches is just what I said about making them earn their place on the list and not just moving them up because they are women.
You guys are way too defensive about some things that you just observe. I have been involved with games and US Soccer at this level for a long long time and have seen the quality and standards drop to a point that they are almost meaningless. They make it way too easy for the women and now way to easy for the men. How many women on the US FIFA panel were National Referees more than one year before "earning" that spot on the FIFA list. Come on, that's not preparing anyone.