OFC, Auckland: The Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) announced today the match officials for the 2004 OFC Men’s Olympic Qualifying play-offs to be contested by Australia and New Zealand on 26 & 30 January.
Tahitian referee Charles Ariiotima will be in control of the first play off match on Monday, 26 January at Sydney’s Parramatta Stadium. The match will be televised live to both New Zealand and Australia audiences with coverage starting at 6.45pm (NZT) on Sky Sports 1 and 4:45pm (AEST) on ABC TV.
Fiji’s Leone Rakaroi gets the whistle for the second play off at North Harbour Stadium in Albany, Auckland on Friday, 30 January. That match will kick-off at 7:30pm (NZT – 5:30pm AEST) and will be televised live to New Zealand audiences on ESPN. Delayed coverage on Sky Sports 1 is at 11:00pm. Australian audiences will receive coverage at 11:20pm (AEST) with a replay at 2pm the following day on Saturday, 31 January.
Mr Lee Harmon of the Cook Islands has been appointed the match commissioner for both play off matches which will decide the Oceania Champion and representative of OFC at the 2004 Olympic Games men’s football tournament in Athens, Greece in August. It is the first time that the Oceania region has been given direct entry (in football/soccer) to the Olympic Games.
The full match official appointments for the play offs are as follows:
Play-off 1: Australia vs New Zealand
Date: Monday, 26 January 2004
Venue: Parramatta Stadium, Sydney
Time: 4:50pm kick-off (AEST)
Referee: Charles Ariiotima (Tahiti)
Assistant Referee 1: Michel Angot (Tahiti)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael Mouauri (Cook Islands)
Fourth Official: Ron Wilbur (Vanuatu)
Match Commissioner: Lee Harmon (Cook Islands)
Referee Inspector: tba
Play-off 2: New Zealand vs Australia
Date: Friday, 30 January 2004
Venue: North Harbour Stadium, Auckland
Time: 7:30pm kick-off (NZT)
Referee: Leone Rakaroi (Fiji)
Assistant Referee 1: Hillary Ani (Papua New Guinea)
Assistant Referee 2: Neil Poloso (Solomon Islands)
Fourth Official: Gidas Bayung (Papua New Guinea)
Match Commissioner: Lee Harmon (Cook Islands)
Referee Inspector: tba