Eight Asian referees picked for Athens Olympics

AFC – FIFA announced earlier this month that eight referees, five male and three female, would be representing Asia at this year’s Athens Olympic Games from August 11 to August 28, 2004.

Ayukai Shiho, a 31-year-old from Miyagi Prefecture, will be the second female Japanese official to take part in the Olympic Games following Hisae Yoshizawa’s stint during the 2000 event in Sydney.

Ayukai officiated in the Far East women's four-nation tournament in August 2002, an Oceania Zone 2004 Olympic qualifying match in February and the AFC women's qualifying tournament in April.

Iranian male referee Khosravi Ali is also one of the most experienced officials around. Having been an international referee since 1994, Ali is a familiar face on the Asian football circuit and the Olympic Games is not likely to pose any trouble for him.

The Olympic Games will also give other female referees like Bentla D Coth another window to sharpen their craft, AFC Referees Committee and Referees Inspector Mohammad Nazri Abdullah praising the Indian recently for being one of the most outstanding officials to emerge in recent years.

"We now have a very good pool of young women referees," said Nazri to www.the-afc.com. "The average age of the referees is about 24 to 25 years old.

"The fact that a referee from India, Benta D’Coth, is going to the Athens Olympics shows that everyone stands a chance if they perform well."

Male referees

Al Hamdan Naser from Saudi Arabia (Referee)

Mohd Salleh Subkhiddin from Malaysia (Referee)

Khosravi Ali from Iran (Assistant Referee)

Liu Tiejun from China (Assistant Referee)

Truong The Toan from Vietnam (Assistant Referee)

Female referees

Bentla D Coth (Referee), Ayukai Shiho (Assistant Referee), Liu Hongjuan (Assistant Referee)