The Oceania Football Confederation FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023™️ (FWWC) refereeing team is stepping up its training in preparation for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Anna Marie Keighley (NZL), Sarah Jones (NZL) and Maria Salamasina (SAM) head to Qatar for further assessment and training with all the FWWC Referees from January the 30th to February the 2nd. They will then return to New Zealand to officiate at the FWWC Play-off tournament in Auckland (February 17-30).
The trio took part in a training camp at OFC Home of Football at Ngahue Reserve in Auckland before Christmas, with specific referee training sessions on the field of play, lectures on players’ management and behaviour followed by fitness testing sessions to track and monitor performance ahead of a busy schedule in 2023.
They met again last week and OFC Head of Referees Kevin Stoltenkamp was impressed with their level of preparedness.
“We are proud and happy to see our OFC women’s referee team making the 2023 World Cup,” Stoltenkamp said.
They have gone through numerous assessment stages, competitions and dealt with various challenges during the last four-year period. They have shown great resilience, character and connection in refereeing.
“They have worked hard to achieve the (high) requirements World Cup referees have these days by training daily, looking after their nutrition and recovery as well as managing personal, work and family commitments in parallel to their refereeing career.”