Football Federation Australia (FFA) has today released the names of the Match Officials that will control matches during the upcoming Hyundai A-League, Westfield W-League and Foxtel National Youth League competitions.
Referee Kurt Ams returns to the Hyundai A-League Referees panel, four years since his last appointment, having worked his way back through the PS4 National Premier League. Ams will be joined on the panel by Jonathan Barreiro, who made his debut last season, and Daniel Elder both of whom have been promoted from the Hyundai A-League Fourth Official panel.
New Zealand FIFA Assistant Referee Sarah Jones becomes the fifth female to officiate in the Hyundai A-League following her appointment to the Hyundai A-League Assistant Referees Panel.
Ben Abraham is the only new addition to the Hyundai A-League Fourth Officials Panel.
PLEASE ALSO SEE BELOW AN EXPLANATION OF CHANGES TO THE LAWS OF THE GAME THAT WILL COME INTO PLAY FOR THE 2016/17 SEASONS
In the Westfield W-League Avrol Beecham returns to the Assistant Referees Panel and will be joined by debutants Danielle Potticary from Queensland and Lauren Hargrave from Tasmania. Rebecca Davies joins the Westfield W-League Fourth Officials Panel.
FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson congratulated all the match officials on their selection for the coming seasons.
“I’m very pleased with the team we have selected in both the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League. It’s a mixture of experience and youth. I’d like to give special congratulations to the match officials who have been selected on the panel for the first time.”
Members of the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League panel met earlier this month at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra as they finalise preparations for the coming season with a range of theoretical lectures and practical refereeing sessions. In particular the implementation of the amendments to the Laws of the Game that have been introduced by the International Football Advisory Board (IFAB) and FIFA.
“The match officials have been performing well on Westfield FFA Cup and pre-season matches and are about to conclude their pre-season training program. I’m confident that we will continue our strong performances throughout the upcoming season.”
Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Referees (12)
Kurt Ams (NSW)
Jonathan Barreiro (VIC)
Chris Beath (QLD)
Matthew Conger (NZ)
Daniel Elder (SA)
Shaun Evans (VIC)
Adam Fielding (WA)
Jarred Gillett (QLD)
Peter Green (QLD)
Kris Griffiths-Jones (NSW)
Stephen Lucas (NSW)
Alan Milliner (QLD)
Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Assistant Referees (27)
Ashley Beecham (QLD)
Luke Brennan (VIC)
Wilson Brown (VIC)
Paul Cetrangolo (SA)
James Cleal (NNSW)
Matthew Cream (SA)
Scott Edeling (NSW)
Allyson Flynn (ACT)
Ryan Gallagher (NNSW)
Andrej Giev (NSW)
Owen Goldrick (ACT)
Lance Greenshields (NSW)
Sarah Jones (NZ)
George Lakrindis (VIC)
Andrew Lindsay (QLD)
Glen Lochrie (NZ)
Simon Lount (NZ)
Nathan MacDonald (QLD)
Josh Mannella (WA)
Kearney Robinson (NSW)
Mark Rule (NZ)
Matthew Southern (WA)
Anton Shchetinin (QLD)
Greg Taylor (ACT)
James Tesoriero (NSW)
Stephen Toth (VIC)
David Walsh (QLD)
Hyundai A-League 2016/17 Fourth Officials (4)
Ben Abraham (NSW)
Alex King (QLD)
Rick Schneider (SA)
Luke Withell (ACT)
Westfield W-League 2016/17 Referees (7)
Rebecca Durcau (QLD)
Kate Jacewicz (VIC)
Kelly Jones (NSW)
Rachel Mitchenson (QLD)
Katie Patterson (NSW)
Casey Reibelt (QLD)
Lara Smith (QLD)
Westfield W-League Assistant Referees (15)
Danielle Anderson (VIC)
Avrol Beecham (NSW)
Isabella Blaess (SA)
Joanna Charaktis (VIC)
Renae Coghill (QLD)
Lily David (NSW)
Delfina Dimoski (ACT)
Allyson Flynn (ACT)
Lauren Hargrave (TAS)
Eleanor Hayes (NNSW)
Sarah Ho (NSW)
Laura Moya (VIC)
Danielle Potticary (QLD)
Nia Southwell (ACT)
Sarah Wikeley (TAS)
Westfield W-League 2016/17 Fourth Officials (2)
Rebecca Davies (NNSW)
Maddison Kennedy (SA)
Foxtel National Youth League 2016/17 Panel (29)
Jose Izurieta (ACT)
Adam Powers (ACT)
Alex Twomey (ACT)
Cameron Burns (NNSW)
Stephen Laurie (NNSW)
Michael Bailey (NSW)
Adrian Brett (NSW)
Timothy Danaskos (NSW)
Samuel Grasso (NSW)
Brandon Lovric (NSW)
Matthew McOrist (NSW)
Patrick Teleki (NSW)
Cameron Fawcett (QLD)
Albert Krause (QLD)
Ryan Mooney (QLD)
Daniel Olson (QLD)
Drew Faulkner (SA)
Aaron Galanti (SA)
Andrew Kite (SA)
Samuel Kuys (SA)
James Hortle (TAS)
Oliver Bannister (VIC)
Daniel Illievski (VIC)
Alex Liber (VIC)
Andrew Meimarakis (VIC)
Tom Dowle (WA)
Zach Piccicacco (WA)
Arvin Shanmuganathan (WA)
Shane Skinner (WA)
Summary of changes to the Laws of the Game for the Hyundai A-League 2016/17, Westfield W-League 2016/17 & Foxtel National Youth League 2016/17 Seasons
1. Kick off
At the kick-off, the ball can be kicked in any direction.
2. Denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO)
This is the most important change. FIFA have removed the triple punishment – penalty kick, red card and one match suspension.
If a player denies an obvious goal scoring opportunity in the penalty area and the referee awards a penalty kick and the foul was an attempt to play the ball or challenge an opponent for the ball, the referee will give a yellow card instead of a red card. If the offence is handball, holding, pushing or pulling (i.e. not a football challenge), the player will still be sent off.
3. Treating injuries on the field
If a player is injured by a foul that results in a yellow or red card to the opponent, the injured player may be quickly treated on the pitch without the need to leave the field of play.
4. Penalty kicks
If the penalty taker illegally feints once his run up is completed, the player will be cautioned. Likewise, if the goalkeeper moves off his line before the kick is taken and a goal is not scored, the goalkeeper is cautioned and the kick is retaken.
5. Infringements by substitutes / team officials.
If play is stopped due to interference from a team official or a substitute, a direct free kick will be awarded to the opposition.
6. Offside
The indirect free kick is taken from where the offence occurred, not where the player was when the ball was played to him by a teammate. This means that if a striker runs back into his own half from an offside position and interferes with play, the free kick will be taken from that position (i.e. in his defensive half).
7. Quick free kick
If a player takes a free kick quickly and an opponent who is less than 10 yards from the ball intercepts it, the referee allows play to continue. However, an opponent who deliberately prevents a free kick being taken quickly must be cautioned for delaying the restart.
8. Fouls off the field
A foul off the field of play will be penalised with a direct free kick on the boundary line nearest to where the foul occurred (penalty kick if in offender’s penalty area).
In addition to the Law changes, FFA is also addressing the issue of players surrounding or crowding a referee in a show of dissent.
FFA believes this issue has the potential to impact the image of the game.
The English Premier League have announced a similar policy and FFA have aligned much of our instructions with theirs i.e. When three or more players surround a match official in an act of dissent, the referee will caution at least one of the players.
