Referees ● May 17, 2015
Singapore Referees To Fly The Flag At Women’s And Under-20 World Cups
SINGAPORE, 17 MAY 2015: The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is pleased to announce that two Singaporean referees have been given the honour to officiate at upcoming FIFA World Cups.
Abirami Naidu, 32, is one of 13 referees from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) selected for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 (6 June – 5 July 2015), while 28-year-old Muhammad Taqi Jahari has been appointed a match official for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup New Zealand 2015 (30 May – 20 June 2015).
Ms Naidu, who first earned her FIFA Referee badge in 2009, was previously chosen to be a referee at the FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup Japan 2012. She travelled to Zurich for a preparatory seminar at FIFA’s headquarters from 18-24 April.
Ms Naidu is delighted with the appointment, saying “I would like to thank the Referees Committee and Referees’ Department of FAS, who helped groom and develop my refereeing capabilities all these years. I am looking forward to doing my best at one of the world’s most prestigious competitions.”
Meanwhile, the Under-20 World Cup will be Mr Taqi’s first FIFA World Cup assignment, and he is looking forward to the experience.
“I am honoured to be selected for my first FIFA World Cup assignment, and I am looking to learn as much as I can from this experience,” he said.
“I will continue to work hard to repay the faith the FAS Referees Committee and Department has in me all these years. I also want to express my gratitude to my employers Banama Corporation Pte Ltd for supporting my refereeing career, and my family and friends for their support, without whom I would not have been able to achieve this.”
Mr Lim Tong Hai, Chairman of the Football Association of Singapore’s Referees Committee, said: “The selection of Abirami and Taqi for these prestigious competitions shows that our referees are of a high standard. FAS will continue to support Abirami, Taqi and all other local referees and give them all the help they need to keep improving.”
Mr Massimo Busacca, Head of FIFA’s Referees Department, who spoke at a workshop held at the Jalan Besar Stadium for Singapore referees last month where he also met and congratulated Abirami and Taqi, said that the appointments speak well of Singapore.
“If you see two referees coming to the next World Cup – one the Women’s and the other the Under-20 in New Zealand – from a country like Singapore, which is not a big country, it means that they are doing something good,” he said.
