New Zealander Anna-Marie Keighley and Tupou Patia of the Cook Islands have both been appointed as referees for the event, which is the highlight of the women’s football calendar.
The FIFA Referees Committee, under the chairmanship of Jim Boyce (Northern Ireland), has appointed 22 referees, 7 support referees (one of them local), and 44 assistant referees representing 49 different countries for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™.
Set to join them in Canada are assistant referees Sarah Walker, also of New Zealand, and Tonga’s Lata Kaumatule.
Patia was in action during the OFC Women’s Nations Cup in Kokopo, Papua New Guinea last year and this is her first appointment to a FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Keighley had a busy 2014, attending the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Costa Rica as well as the Youth Olympic Games Football Tournament in Nanjing, China.
Her most recent appointment in Oceania was to the OFC U-17 Championship where she was based in American Samoa with Kaumatule, Maria Tamalalagi of Samoa and Lonisa Dilioni of Fiji.
FIFA has implemented a comprehensive programme to ensure that the referees for this very important competition will be in peak condition come 6 June.
Just as it did for the 24 participating teams, the road to the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™ began for an initial group of referees and assistant referees from all over the world in September 2012, when FIFA took the important decision to create a women’s refereeing project.
One of the key objectives was match control and consequently to prepare this group of prospective referees for the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™. The referees selected for the tournament in Canada have been chosen based especially on their personality and their quality in terms of football understanding by being able to read the game and the teams’ tactical approaches towards each match.
Between now and 6 June, the selected group of match officials will participate in two seminars: one in Zurich from 18 to 24 April and the other in Vancouver ten days before the kick-off of the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015™, at which the identities of the referees and the support referees will be decided.
The selected referees and assistant referees will be observed and monitored regularly during this period, and FIFA is ready to give them all the support they need so that they can prepare for this important tournament in the best possible manner.
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