Two New Zealanders will be among the pool of referees who will officiate at the Oceania FIFA World Cup qualifiers in Qatar.
They are Matt Conger and Nick Waldron.
Conger makes a return trip to Qatar, having attended for the FIFA Arab Cup where he was the fourth official in the final.
Main photo: Matt Conger. Image: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.
Two more New Zealanders, Mark Rule and Isaac Trevis, will be assistant referees for the eight-nation tournament which starts on Friday (NZT).
The All Whites play their first game, against Papua New Guinea, at 3am on Saturday March 19.
The Oceania Football Confederation have named the following officials for the tournament:
Referees
HJ Ali Saoud AL-ADBA (QAT), Ahmed Mohammed AL-SHAMMARI (QAT), Matthew CONGER (NZL), Ahmad Salman FALAHI (QAT), Nortbert HAUATA (TAH), Joel HOPKEN (VAN), Mederic LACOUR (NCL), Nick WALDRON (NZL), David YAREBOINEN (PNG), Al Ruaile Abdulhadi ALASMAR (QAT).
Assistant referees
Noah KUSUNAN (PNG), Avinesh NARAYAN (FIJ), Mark RULE (NZL), Isaac TREVIS (NZL), Brial BERTRAND(NCL), Jeremy GARAE (VAN), Tevita MAKASINI (TGA), Folio MOEAKI (TGA), Philippe REVEL (TAH), Hilmon SESE (VAN).
New Zealand officials on FIFA’s international list
Twelve New Zealand officials have been approved by the FIFA Referees Committee to officiate football and futsal matches at international level in 2022.
Approved to referee football are: Matthew Conger, Anna-Marie Keighley, Nadia Browning, Campbell-Kirk Kawana-Waugh and Nicholas Waldron.
Approved to assistant referee football are: Mark Rule, Sarah Jones, Gareth Sheehan, Isaac Trevis and Edward Cook.
Approved to referee futsal are: Chris Sinclair and Antony Riley.
‘A great example of the potential pathway for future officials …’
New Zealand Football Referee Development Manager Lindsey Robinson told NZ Football’s website:
“Having 12 of our officials selected to referee internationally is great recognition for the talent we have in Aotearoa.
“We have seen this year through the tournaments that Chris, Antony and Matthew have been to just how far refereeing can take you. They are a great example of the potential pathway for future officials from this part of the world.
“I look forward to now seeing more of our referees on the international stage in 2022, officiating at the highest level of the game.”
More football stories
