2007 FIFA Women's World Cup officials

Match officials at the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup were selected by FIFA's Refereeing Department. 14 referees and 22 assistant referees were chosen from around the world to officiate the 32 games that made up the final tournament.

Candidate referees for the Finals were placed under scrutiny from 2005 onwards and attended a series of training camps. Candidates refereeing standards were regularly monitored at various tournaments around the globe before a final list was prepared.Cite web|url=http://www.fifa.com/womenworldcup/news/newsid=590439.html#women+referees+ready|title=Women referees at the ready|accessdate=2007-09-28|publisher=FIFA|work=FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007|date=2007-09-07] This was followed by a training camp in the Canary Islands in January 2007 and a final period of preparation and training at the home of FIFA in Zurich in May.Cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2007-05-09-104503252_x.htm|title=Women refs put through their paces ahead of 2008 World Cup|accessdate=2007-09-30|publisher=USA Today|author=Sheila Norman-Culp|work=Soccer] Cite web|url=http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_1114112.html|title=Bennett and Seitz Named to Represent U.S. Soccer as Referees at 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup |accessdate=2007-09-29|publisher=US Soccer|work=Referees|date=2007-07-28] No referees were chosen from the Oceania Football Confederation at the finals. The original selection group was made up of 42 entrants,Cite web|url=http://cbs.sportsline.com/soccer/story/10232789/1|title=Women's World Cup Referees List|accessdate=2007-09-29|publisher=CBS Sports|work=Soccer|date=2007-06-21] 6 of which failed fitness tests resulting in the final group of 36 being confirmed for China.Cite web|url=http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=09/10/2007&qrTitle=Chinese%20referees%20for%20Falcons%E2%80%99%20opener%20Women%20World%20Cup&qrColumn=SPORTS|title=Chinese referees for Falcons’ opener Women World Cup|accessdate=2007-09-29|publisher=The Tide online|date=2007-09-10] The USA was the only country represented by two referees.Cite web|url=http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_1114112.html|title=Bennett and Seitz Named to Represent U.S. Soccer as Referees at 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup |accessdate=2007-09-29|publisher=US Soccer|work=Referees|date=2007-07-28]

Unlike the men's tournaments, the quartets of match officials do not necessarily come from the same country or confederation. This selection system was explained by Sonia Denoncourt, the head of women's refereeing at FIFA's Refereeing Department, "We don't have as many referees among the women and we certainly don't want to sacrifice quality. What we are looking for above all is compatibility on the field of play and the closest possible language links in the team selected for each game. The most important thing for us is that the referees have a good performance in the match." A fourth official was chosen from those referees not officiating a game at that time.

The referees stayed together throughout the competition at their hotel base in Shanghai.Cite web|url=http://www.fifa.com/womenworldcup/news/newsid=590439.html#women+referees+ready|title=Women referees at the ready|accessdate=2007-09-28|publisher=FIFA|work=FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007|date=2007-09-07] From there they travelled to the various venues for their designated games, before returning to base camp to continue with their specialised training programmes. As well as fitness training, they attended regular theory sessions and reviewed previous matches to try and identify possible errors and improve their performance levels. A psychologist was also assigned to the group to help with their mental preparations ahead of games.

Officials

References

*Cite web
url=http://www.fifa.com/womenworldcup/referees/index.html
title=Referees
accessdate=2007-09-29
publisher=FIFA
year=2007
work=FIFA Women's World Cup China 2007