Ten T&T officials on FIFA Panel for 2024
The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (TTFA) is pleased to announce that ten local officials have been accepted on the FIFA international Panel for the 2024 calendar.
This was disclosed by Michael Ragoonath, Head of the TTFA Referees Department. The following individuals will receive their FIFA badges for the coming year.
Referees – Kwinsi Williams, Crystal Sobers, Cecile Hinds, Timothy Derry and Nikolai Nyron
Assistant Referees – Caleb Wales, Ainsley Rochard,Evelyn Carissa Douglas Jacob, Kirt Charles and Melissa Nicholas
TTFA General Secretary Amiel Mohammed applauded the progress made in the area of refereeing unde the supervision and guidance of the Referees Department led by Ragoonath, a former FIFA official himself.
In 2021, T&T only had 2 female referees in Sobers and Hinds and 3 Assistant Referees (Wales, Rochard and Jacob at the FIFA level). In 2022, the TTFA nominated Williams and Charles, with only Williams being accepted and we started 2023 with 6 FIFA Officials.
The Refereeing Department of the TTFA has consistently worked on the development of the officials over the last few years, inclusive of implementing the training and advice from FIFA instructors at the TTFA’s annual MA Refereeing Course.
As we continued to witness the development of the officials, in 2023, the TTFA nominated Nikolai Nyron and Timothy Derry – Referees and Kirt Charles and Melissa Nicholas – Assistant Referees to be included alongside the six aforementioned officials to the FIFA panel.
All candidates were assessed in the TTPFL and also attended Concacaf/CFU U14/15 tournaments during 2023 to be assessed by Concacaf Assessors. In particular, a full T&T quartet of Williams, Wales, Rochard and Derry have been assigned to officiate together at Concacaf matches over the last few months.
(Photo at top shows Caleb Wales, from left, Ainsley Rochard, Kwinsi Williams, Cecile Hinds, Crystal Sobers and Carissa Douglas Jacob at a FIFA Referees’ Badge Distribution at the TTFA Technical Centre at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva in January this year.)
All ten (10) nominees have now been accepted to join the list of FIFA Officials for 2024.
Additionally, Andrew Samuel and Nathalya Williams were selected to join the Concacaf Academy for the next cycle beginning in January 2024. We also have Allison B. Mc Donald being selected as a Refereeing Assessor at the Concacaf level.
The immediate goal of the TTFA Refereeing Department is to have multiple officials appointed to serve at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This is a great step towards this goal and we applaud the efforts of the Department and all the officials.
