Preliminary Stuff: the original Referee List — 2006 World Cup Statistics
The number of referees having been reduced to 23 for this World Cup, versus 36 referees, in 2002, some well-known names, such as Denmark's Claus Bo Larsen, Norway's Terje Hauge, and France's Alain Sars, are missing from the 2006 list of referees (as well as below).
Acclaimed Italian referee Pierluigi Collina, also missing among the referees nominated for 2006 World Cup, retired at the age of 45
, as widely aired, at the time.
| Referees: 2006 preliminary list (alphabetically) |
Country |
 |
|
| Essam Abd El Fatah |
Egypt |
| Carlos Amarilla |
Paraguay |
| Benito Archundia |
Mexico |
Carlos Batres   |
Guatemala |
Marco Rodriguez  |
Mexico |
| Massimo Busacca |
Switzerland |
| Coffi Codjia |
Benin |
| Frank de Bleeckere # |
Belgium |
| Massimo de Santis |
Italy |
| Horacio Elizondo |
Argentina |
| Valentin Ivanov |
Russia |
| Toru Kamikawa |
Japan |
| Jorge Larrionda |
Uruguay |
| Shamsul Maidin |
Singapore |
Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez  |
Spain |
| Luis Medina Cantalejo |
|
| Markus Merk |
Germany |
| Lubos Michel |
Slovakia |
| Graham Poll |
England |
| Eric Poulat |
France |
| Peter Prendergast |
Jamaica |
| Oscar Ruiz |
Colombia |
| Mark Shield |
Australia |
| Carlos Simon |
Brazil |
Kyros Vassaras |
Greece |
| Roberto Rosetti |
Italy |
|
|
 |
|
referee also present in Korea⁄Japan-2002. For related 2002 statistics, see the 2002 World Cup eBook.
due to a serious ligament injury in December 2005, Carlos Batres was not ready for the required fitness test, and is thus out of the World Cup in Germany. He has been replaced by Mexico's Marco Rodriguez (see list below).
as some of their assistants did not meet the required standards in Frankfurt⁄Neu-Isenburg, both Spain's Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez and Greece's Kyros Vassaras had to be removed from the final list of referees. They have been replaced by Spain's Luis Medina Cantalejo and Italy's Roberto Rosetti, respectively (see list below).
# Frank de Bleeckere, who had been subject to passing a fitness test, when the above list was issued, successfully completed the test and will be making his debut as a World Cup referee.
See here related disciplinary data
Referees nominated, along with their assistants, for the preliminary version of the support and development group listing:
| Referee |
Country |
|
|
| Khalil Al Ghamdi |
Saudi Arabia |
| Carlos Chandia |
Chile |
| Jerome Damon |
South Africa |
| Mohamed Guezzaz |
Morocco |
| Luis Medina Cantalejo |
Spain |
| Marco Rodriguez |
Mexico |
| Roberto Rosetti |
Italy |
|
|
 |
|
Though in his usual good form, Collina saw his 28-year career come to an abrupt end, in the aftermath of controversy and subsequent impasse that upstood in Italy. It all started with a sponsorship deal that he had signed with Opel, in face of which the Italian Soccer Federation and Referees Association would no longer allow him to officiate Italy's Series A matches, though there was no hindrance as far as Italy's Series B matches. No one in Italy wanted Collina to quit, or so it was then said, even in face of that Series A ban he was to be imposed – a real irony, admittedly, in view of his being the best referee in the World. Nonetheless, Collina ultimately announced his early retirement, at which time he remarked that he had slept worse, over that entire issue, than before officiating any World Cup final match!...
Collina will no doubt be missed, in Germany-2006, where he would otherwise have been as indispensable presence. But let us hope that the refereeing that this World Cup will be remembered for, will be a quality match for the professional evenhandedness spirit underlying the new wage policy that FIFA's 2006 World Cup refereeing body will be met with, in Germany (related details: World Cup Write-up).
2006 
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