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Referee Peter O’Leary talks after World Cup death threats
Referee Peter O’Leary wasn’t safe after he refereed the World Cup match Nigeria – Bosnia Herzegovina in Brazil. After months of silence he talked with the NZ Herald about the situation. 2014 became a top year because of the selection for the World Cup, but he also became Bosnian public enemy number one What happened during the World Cup? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGZTrD2IwvE “That’s an obvious error,” O’Leary says in The NZ Herald. “The assistant referee at the time said it was offside, put his flag up and I said, ‘Thank you very much, offside’. I didn’t make the call. However, as the referee, I’m in charge. I’m responsible and I carry the…
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SummerRefs: Mike Cowie from New Zealand
Today, the second edition of SummerRefs has something special: the referee comes from southern hemispere, so this actually is a WinterRefs. In this section refs from all over the world and all with different experiences will tell about their refereeing career and how they prepare for next season during this summer break. Each Saturday a new profile will be posted online, and the second person who answers the five questions (5W’s) is Mike Cowie from New Zealand. Name: Mike Cowie Age: 20 Hometown: Christchurch, New Zealand Started refereeing: in 2007 Grade: Level 4 (Level 1 being the lowest) Who do you think you are (as referee)? “I would hate to…
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World Cup referees are important for New Zealand
Two head referees from the same country at the same World Cup tournament is quite unique. This year there are three countries which provide more than one refereeing team: Uruguay (Larrionda and Vazquez), Mexico (Archundia and Rodriguez) and New Zealand (Hester and O’Leary). The situation for the latter country is a more exceptional. There was never a referee from the New Zealand leading a match. Michael Hester from Auckland (NZ) had the premiere in last week’s World Cup match between South Korea and Greece. The Dutch Referee blog contacted Ken Wallace, the New Zealand Football Referee Development Officer. In this interview he talks about about refereeing in New Zealand and…