OFC, Auckland: The Oceania Football Confederation today announced that it would commence a referee exchange programme with the Asian Football Confederation as part of the ongoing relations between the two regional organisations.
This will be effective as of the OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament which will be held in Ba, Fiji from 2-6 March 2004.
The AFC, with approval from FIFA, have supplied three women’s referees and two assistant referees to team up with two OFC women’s assistant referees as the official appointments for the five day tournament.
The OFC in turn will supply a team of three women match officials to officiate at the Asian Olympic Women’s Football Qualifiers in Japan from 18-28 April 2004. The OFC has yet to confirm these appointments.
According to acting OFC president, Tautulu Roebeck, the initiative is a positive step forward for both confederations and would be continued again in the future.
“The exchange programme with the AFC will be beneficial for our match officials and will provide much needed exposure to a higher level of football,” said Roebeck.
“We must thank the AFC and FIFA for their part in making this initiative possible and hopefully this will branch out into more opportunities.”
The match official appointments for the 2004 OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers are:
Referees Assistant Referees
1. Ms ZHANG Dongqing (China PR) 1. Ms LIU Hongjuan (China)
2. Ms D'COTH Bentla (India) 2. Ms Ayukai Shiho (Japan)
3. Ms HONG Eun Ah (Korea Rep) 3. Ms PETAIA Agape (Samoa)
4. Ms IROA Matanoanoa (Cook Islands)
Match Commissioner Referee Inspector
Mr Lee Harmon (Cook Islands) Mr Yves Taga (Vanuatu)
The teams competing in the OFC Women’s Olympic Qualifiers are Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea. For more details on the tournament including match schedule, please visit the OFC website at www.oceaniafootball.com