Pado became the first referee from Oceania to officiate in a FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup when he took the pitch as third referee alongside Juan Rodriguez of Argentina, Rene de la Rosa from Chile and Panama’s Oscar Arosemena in his first match of the tournament.
The clash saw Senegal edge 2009 finalists Switzerland 1-0 in a penalty shootout after the game finished in an 8-all draw.
The Honiara resident also acted as third referee for the clash between Senegal and Italy before moving up to second referee in the Venezuela-Nigeria and Brazil-Japan group matches.
But the highlight of his tournament arrived in the knockout stages when he was appointed second referee for both the quarter-final meeting of Portugal and Senegal and the 3rd/4th play-off between El Salvador and Portugal.
Impressively, Pado achieved his World Cup feats after attaining his FIFA badge less than two years ago and after taking part in just his second regional championship.
The journey to Ravenna has been a memorable step in the life of Pado, a primary school teacher at Vancouver Community School in Honiara. He is no stranger to the world sporting stage after taking part in international athletic competitions in his younger years but no arena he has stepped on is likely to have matched the euphoria of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
Solomon Islands Football Federation (SIFF) referee development officer Justin Mutukera is pleased to see Pado flying the flag for all beach soccer officials in the country and wants to see the whistle-blower go as far as he can in the world game.
“Hugo is the beacon for beach soccer refereeing in Solomon Islands,” Mutukera says. “His participation in the World Cup will surely inspire a lot more people to take up beach soccer refereeing.”
SIFF general secretary Eddie Ngava is just as proud of Pado’s progress and says his ground-breaking actions are setting a fine example for others.
“Congratulations to Hugo for reaching this important milestone in his career,” Ngava says. “It is a great achievement for him personally but also for the Solomon Islands. I have no doubt that he deserves to be where he is now because he has worked hard throughout his career.”
Pado is among only five FIFA-accredited beach soccer referees in the Oceania region, three of whom are from Solomon Islands. Hamilton Siau and Simon Sabe are the other Solomon Islanders while Dave Rajnish Rao and Faraz Hussein Mohammed are both from Fiji.
Pado was the only OFC referee to officiate in this year’s edition of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup.
The involvement of Pado in Italy 2011 is the latest positive result of the Refereeing Assistance Programme (RAP).
OFC places great importance on developing world-class referees and this has been strongly supported by FIFA through its funding of the programme.
Under the supervision of referee development officer Massimo Raveino, referee instructor Neil Poloso and fitness trainer Kader Touati, the programme is helping to create a more organised, professional approach to refereeing in the Pacific.
For more on Solomon Islands football go to www.siff.com.sb

Share