Match officials for the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

were nominated by the six confederations to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

, who, after a series of tests in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Neu-Isenburg Neu-Isenburg (, ) is a town in Germany, located in the Offenbach (district), Offenbach district of Hesse. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and has a population of 38,204 (2020). The town i ...

in March 2006, selected 23 referees and a support and development group of a further 5, from a shortlist of 44. Kyros Vassaras of Greece and Manuel Mejuto of Spain were selected to be on the panel, but the assistants who were to make up their teams were not deemed to have reached the required standards, and so they were replaced by

Roberto Rosetti Roberto Rosetti (born 18 September 1967) is an Italian former football referee. He is fluent in Italian (native), English and French. He started refereeing in 1983, and took charge of his first match in the Italian Serie A in 1996. He received h ...

and Luis Medina. Jamaican referee Peter Prendergast was selected for the tournament panel, but suffered a knee injury and was removed from the list without replacement.

Massimo De Santis Massimo De Santis (born 8 April 1962) is an Italian former association football referee. De Santis was born in Tivoli, Lazio. In addition to being a former referee, he is also a former police constable. De Santis speaks Italian and English. His ...

of Italy was also on the panel of 23 referees, but after he was implicated in the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

match-fixing

allegations In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a party in a pleading, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions. Types of allegations Marital allegations There are also marital allegations: m ...

, he was withdrawn by the

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...

and not replaced. The 21 referees, along with their assistants and the support group, are based in

for the duration of the tournament. FIFA announces the referees selected for each fixture three days in advance of the match. Horacio Elizondo was chosen to officiate the final match, which took place in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

on July 9.

Refereeing teams

Below are the details of the 21 groups of match officials in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. For assistants, a flag is only shown if his nationality varies from that of the referee with whom he is grouped. Most teams (consisting of a referee and two assistants) are drawn from the same nation, and all are made up of officials from the same confederation. In the first round of the tournament, officials other than from UEFA member associations only operate in groups that do not include a representative of their confederation. Mexico is the only country with 2 referees on the panel. For the first time at a World Cup, match officials will be equipped with microphones and earpieces so they can communicate better with each other during each game. Furthermore this World Cup sees the introduction of a fifth official who can be called upon to replace an injured assistant referee. The

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (also known as a linesman) is an official who assists the referee in administering the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the Laws, at most organised levels ...

would replace the referee..

Support officials

Five teams of officials were named to be on standby in the case of injury to any of the officials nominated for a match. None of them were called upon, however, and from the quarter-finals onwards, referees from among the 12 retained for the latter stages of the tournament were given standby appointments to matches.

Final Match Officials

On Wednesday 28 June, one day after the Second Round matches were completed and two days before the Quarterfinals, the FIFA announced the 12 referees that were retained for the remaining matches. This is the standard process, meant to ensure only the best referees are in charge of the final few games. The twelve are: *

Toru Kamikawa is a former Japanese football (soccer) referee, debuting in Japan's professional J. League in 1996. Kamikawa was born in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture. An international referee since 1998, he refereed one match at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and ...

(

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

) * Coffi Codjia (

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

) *

Benito Archundia Benito Armando Archundia Téllez (born March 21, 1966) is a Mexican former football referee. He is known in Mexico as Armando Archundia, but appears as Benito Archundia in FIFA records. He has been a professional referee since 1985 and has had h ...

(

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

) *

Horacio Elizondo Horacio Marcelo Elizondo (born November 4, 1963) is an Argentine former international football referee best known for his officiation throughout the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Having achieved all his goals in refereeing, Elizondo retired after the Dec ...

(

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

) *

Jorge Larrionda Jorge Luis Larrionda Pietrafesa (born 9 March 1968) is a retired FIFA football referee from Uruguay who has officiated at international matches since 1998. He officiated at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, where he took charge of four matches, includin ...

(

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

) *

Mark Shield Mark Shield (born 2 September 1973) is a former Australian soccer referee who officiated in the top tier of Australian soccer between 1995 and 2005. Shield was FIFA listed between 1999 and 2008, and was in control of matches at the 2002 and 20 ...

(

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

) *

Massimo Busacca Massimo Busacca (born 6 February 1969) is a Swiss former football referee, who is FIFA Director of Refereeing, overseeing the protection of football’s core values and the continuous improvement of the game through the development of match off ...

(

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

) *

Frank De Bleeckere Frank De Bleeckere (; born 1 July 1966) is a Belgian former football referee. He had been a referee since 1984, and an international (FIFA) official since 1998. De Bleeckere refereed in his first World Cup finals in Germany, and had to pass a l ...

(

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) *

Luis Medina Cantalejo Luis Medina Cantalejo (born 1 March 1964) is a Spanish former football referee. He was one of the few officials allowed to officiate the domestic clashes between Real Madrid and Barcelona. His first experience as an international referee came ...

(

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) *

Markus Merk Markus Merk (born 15 March 1962) is a former top-level German football referee. He is a six-time winner of the ''German Referee of the Year Award'' and the record holder in games refereed in the Bundesliga. In 2005, Merk was awarded the German ...

(

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) *

Ľuboš Micheľ Ľuboš Micheľ (; born 16 May 1968) is a retired Slovak football referee. Referee career At a young age, Micheľ refereed a number of games in Lebanon. Micheľ became a FIFA referee at the age of 25. Micheľ was selected to referee the 2003 ...

(

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

) *

(

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

)

External links

Referee Ratings for the 2006 FIFA World Cup

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Fifa World Cup Officials

Officials An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of the ...

Refereeing teams

Support officials

Final Match Officials

See also

External links

References