Assistant ref Wales honoured with World Cup appointment

DAVID SCARLETT and JONATHAN RAMNANANSINGH

TRINIDAD AND Tobago’s Caleb Wales is “honoured” to represent his nation and the Caribbean by extension, as an assistant referee for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The announcement was made by the FIFA referees committee on their website on Thursday, listing 129 match officials (36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video match officials) from across the world.

They were selected based on their quality and the performances delivered at FIFA tournaments as well as at other international and domestic competitions in recent years.

Wales will become the fifth Trinidadian (and fourth assistant referee) to officiate at a FIFA World Cup, following Douglas James (assistant referee, 1994 in USA), Ramesh Ramdhan (referee, 1998 in France), Merere Gonzales (assistant referee, 1998 in France) and Michael Ragoonath (assistant referee, 2002 in South Korea and Japan).

He has 15 years of experience as a national referee and nine years of experience as an assistant referee at FIFA level. His recent major appointments were the semi-final of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup and the final of the 2021 Concacaf Nations League

Speaking to TTFA media, Wales expressed elation on his appointment.

“It’s indeed a privilege to be selected as part of the refereeing team for World Cup 2022 in Qatar. I am honoured to represent myself, my family, TT and the Caribbean region.

“It has been a long time since Caribbean officials and moreso someone from our country has been selected for the World Cup Finals. I intend to put my best foot forward to show what we are capable of doing.

“Generally it’s overwhelming to even be considered. I will continue to give my all to serve the game and to give my best in Qatar later this year.”

Wales and the other selected match officials will participate in early summer in several seminars (Asunción, Madrid and Doha), reviewing and analysing video clips of real match situations, and taking part in practical training sessions with players, which will be filmed to enable participants to receive instant feedback from the instructors.

For the first time in FIFA World Cup history, the FIFA referees committee has also appointed three women’s referees and three women’s assistant referees.

TTFA normalisation committee chairman Robert Hadad offered words of congratulations to Wales.

“We wish to congratulate Mr Wales on his appointment as an assistant referee for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. This is indeed a significant accomplishment for him and for us as a country. Caleb has worked tirelessly and has been a dedicated servant of the game in TT and throughout the region.

“It is my hope that this achievement serves as encouragement and inspiration for other referees from our fraternity to soar to greater heights. I would like to extend best wishes to him as he continues on his journey,” he said.

On the selection of officials for the November 21 to December 18 quadrennial tournament, chairman of the FIFA referees committee Pierluigi Collina said, “As always, the criteria we have used is ‘quality first’ and the selected match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide.

“The 2018 World Cup was very successful, partly because of the high standard of refereeing, and we will do our best to be even better in a few months in Qatar.”

Massimo Busacca, FIFA’s director of refereeing, ensures the match officials will receive all the necessary support by FIFA, as their preparation is paramount.