New Zealand Football’s referees will be in the spotlight around the world at some of the marquee football events throughout 2018.

A total of 11 referees, an instructor and an assessor will be in action with Matt Conger and Anna-Marie Keighley leading the way and fighting for a place in the 2018 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Russia and 2019 FIFA World Cup in France respectively.

Ken Wallace, the Referees Development Manager at New Zealand Football, said there was a great opportunity for Conger and Keighley to continue building their reputations on the world stage.

“For any referee taking part in the FIFA World Cup is the ultimate,” said Wallace. “We know that Matt and Anna-Marie are well regarded internationally and they have a great chance to represent OFC and New Zealand Football at the biggest sporting event in the world.

“It is also an exciting year for a huge number of our referees who will continue building their experience and skills in Oceania and further abroad throughout 2018. This experience is invaluable for our game because they bring home this knowledge and continue to develop our referees here in New Zealand.”

Conger will travel to Doha (5 - 9 February) as part of the programme for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, in Russia, while Keighley will also go to Doha (12 - 16 February) as part of the programme for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.

The New Zealand No 1 referees will undertake practical sessions with on-field exercises with football players, theoretical sessions with discussions by topic, video tests and an English language evaluation, medical evaluations with weight control and body fat composition and fitness testing and fitness checks.

There are number of others also in the middle of the action starting this week in American Samoa. Peter Linney and Hayden Tutbury are currently in PagoPago for the OFC Qualifying Tournament for the OFC Champions League (Jan 20-26). This is Tutbury’s first overseas tournament and Linney’s second. Fellow Kiwi Greg Gallop is the Fitness Instructor for the referees.

One our other leading men’s referees Simon Lount has two FIFA Seminars as part of his programme for Russia. The first is 12-16 March and the second 23-27 April both with Conger. Lount and Conger will also be in Vanuatu from 7-17 February for the OFC Champions League – Group A. They then travel to India to officiate in the Indian Super League (19 February - 7 March).

Linney, Nick Waldron, Campbell Kirk-Waugh, Glen Lochrie, Mark Rule and Isaac Trevis travel to Tahiti (8-18 February) for Group B in the OFC Champions League. Ian Hiscox is one of the assessors for Group C being held in Auckland (23 Feb-4 March).

Keighley and Nadia Browning are also being supported by New Zealand Football to go to the Dallas Cup (25 March - 1 April) in the United States. This is a Youth Age Tournament with world-class club teams in the U-19 grade such as Arsenal, Manchester United, CF Monterrey, FC Toronto, Real Oviedo, Red Bull Brasil and Tigres.

“The huge opportunities for our referees reflect the tremendous work being done by each individual in their physical fitness, technical skills and tactical development in conjunction with their support in the Federations,” said Wallace.

Five of the seven Federations in New Zealand Football – Auckland, WaiBOP, Central, Capital and Mainland - are represented by these referees on the world stage.