Cuneyt Cakır was among the 25 referees named by FIFA in Bern, Switzerland, on Wednesday for this year's World Cup finals in Brazil. The 37-year-old Çakır will thereby become the first Turkish referee since 1974 -- four decades to be more accurate -- to officiate in a World Cup tournament. His assistants will be Bahattin Duran and Tarık Ongun.
Retired Doğan Babacan, now 84, was the first Turk to officiate a World Cup tournament -- the 1974 FIFA World Cup in Germany.
World Cup final referee Howard Webb of England was also named by FIFA. The list included nine referees from Europe, five from South America, four from Asia, three each from Africa and the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) and one from Oceania. Each referee was selected as a part of a team including two linesmen.
Felix Brych was picked from Germany, Carlos Velasco from Spain and Nicola Rizzoli from Italy, while there were no referees from France. Sandro Ricci was named as Brazil's referee and Nestor Pitana Argentina's.
Brych was involved in the so-called phantom goal match during a Bundesliga clash between Bayer Leverkusen and Hoffenheim in October. He awarded a Stefan Kiessling goal for Leverkusen after failing to see that the ball had entered the net through a hole in the side.
Englishman Webb handed out 14 yellow cards and one red in the Spain-Netherlands final in 2010, although he was widely criticized for failing to send off any Dutch players in a wild first half as Spain went on to win 1-0 after extra time.
“FIFA has implemented a comprehensive programme to ensure that the referees for its flagship competition are in peak condition,” the world soccer's governing body said in a statement.
“The referees selected for the World Cup in Brazil have been chosen based especially on their personality and their quality in football understanding by being able to read the game and the teams' tactical approaches towards each game.”
The referees at a glance: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan), Yuichi Nishimura (Japan), Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain), Benjamin Williams (Australia), Noumandiez Doue (Ivory Coast), Bakary Papa Gassama (Gambia), Djamel Haimoudi (Algeria), Joel Aguilar (El Salvador), Mark Geiger (United States), Marco Antonio Rodriguez (Mexico), Enrique Osses (Chile), Nestor Pitana (Argentina), Sandro Ricci (Brazil), Wilmar Roldan (Colombia), Carlos Vera (Ecuador), Peter O'Leary (New Zealand), Felix Brych (Germany), Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey), Jonas Eriksson (Sweden), Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands), Milorad Mazic (Serbia), Pedro Proenca (Portugal), Nicola Rizzoli (Italy), Carlos Velasco (Spain), Howard Webb (England).
(Source :Cihan News Agency )
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