Sao Paulo: From pharmacist to legal researcher, referees at the 2014 World Cup do a variety of jobs when they aren’t blowing the whistle in a football match. Only three of the 25 selected for Fifa’s showpiece are professional referees. Don’t be surprised if discipline forms the bedrock of officiating in Brazil because teaching is the most predominant profession among the referees here.
Australian Benjamin Williams, one of the five teachers in the fray, says he enlists the services of his students to improve his work. “I make sure that I get their feedback after my matches. My students are proud that their teacher is at the World Cup,” he adds.
Players have little chance of winning an argument with Bahrain’s Nawaf Shukralla and Felix Brych of Germany because the former is a legal researcher and the European is a lawyer.
Those who want to mess around with Bakary Gassama would be doing so at their own peril. The Gambian is an expert in a native sport which is closer to wrestling.
If you find the movements of Moumandiez Doue balletic on the field, there is a reason, he is passionate about dancing. Meanwhile, the 44-year-old Ivorian is the oldest official here. Fifa referees retire at 45. At 34, Colombian Wilmar Roldan is the baby.
The roll call of referees also includes a director in meat industry, an insurance agent, a financial director, an architect and an engineer. Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan, who was in charge of five matches at the 2010 World Cup including the opener between South Africa and Mexico, is a chip off the old block as he inherited his love for refereeing from his father. The highly-rated official is a candidate for the final here if everything goes well in the earlier rounds.
Englishman Howard Webb is the most prominent of the lot as he is a regular in the EPL. He also has a distinctive bald pate. Webb is a police sergeant with a tender heart. In the Netherlands-Spain final in 2010, he let off Nigel de Jong with a yellow card after the Dutchman had landed a vicious kick on the chest of Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso.
Most of the referees will have their compatriots as assistants here. Fifa introduced the same country rule before the 2006 World Cup to ensure better coordination. In Brazil,
only six referees will be at work with assistants from a different country.
