Assistant Referees to join Shield in Germany
Australian assistant referees Ben Wilson and Nathan Gibson will join referee Mark Shield at the FIFA World Cup after being confirmed by FIFA overnight for the panel of match officials that will be utilised in Germany.
Canberra-resident Wilson, and Gibson, who hails from near Taree on the NSW mid-north coast, have both had extensive experience at recent FIFA tournaments working alongside Shield and they will again work as a trio at this year-s FIFA World Cup. The trio officiated together at the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands last year plus a number of matches in the Hyundai A-League.
Wilson and Gibson are on a list of 46 assistant referees that have been selected from a short-list of 80 who attended a workshop and testing exercise in Frankfurt last month. Adelaide assistant referee Matthew Cream also attended the workshop but missed out on selection.
Brisbane-based Shield, who is also the Hyundai A-League referee of the year, officiated at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan where he controlled the 1st round match between Belgium and Tunisia.
The only other Australian-s to have refereed at the FIFA World Cup are Tony Boskovic (1974 and 1982), Chris Bambridge (1986) and Eddie Lennie (1998). Richard Lorenc (1990), Gordon Dunster and Eugene Brazzale (1994) have also officiated as assistant referees at the FIFA World Cup.