Australian Officials To Control Olympic Semi Final
Australian match officials have been appointed to tonight's semi final between Germany and the USA at the Women's Olympic football tournament.
Referee Krystyna Szokolai of Brisbane, plus assistant referee's Airlie Keen of Adelaide and Jacqueline Leleu of Rockhampton will officiate the prestigious match between the two top ranked teams in the world. The match, which will be played at Heraklio in Crete, features two of the heavyweights of women's football - current world champions Germany and 2000 Olympic silver medallists USA.
It will be the second appointment for the Australian trio at the tournament following the first round match between Germany and Mexico.
The 32-year-old Szokolai, a Women-s National Soccer League referee for many years, also has extensive international experience including representing Oceania at the 2002 FIFA U-19 Women-s World Championship in Canada.
Both assistant referees also have lengthy international experience and officiated a number of matches at the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup in the USA including the third/fourth playoff. Leleu was rewarded for her performances at the tournament when she was recently named ahead of 11 other nominees as the winner of the prestigious Central Queensland Sportstar of the Year.
Tonight-s other semi final will feature Brazil against Sweden, the latter having defeated Australia in their quarter final on Friday. Both the gold and bronze medal matches will be played on Thursday 26 August.
Australian match officials have figured prominently at FIFA tournaments in recent times. Referee Tammy Ogston, along with Leleu and Keen officiated at last year's 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup in the USA. Referee Mark Shield and assistant referee Jim Ouliaris presided over several matches at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France, while referee Matthew Breeze and assistant referees Nathan Gibson and Matthew Cream all officiated at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship in the United Arab Emirates.