Courtesy: The FA.com


MAKING HIS MARC IN FUTSAL

Friday, 16 November 2012

English referee Marc Birkett will take charge of Sunday's Futsal World Cup final

England’s remarkable record of refereeing recognition at the highest levels has continued with the 2012 FIFA Futsal World Cup final in Thailand on Sunday.

Derby official Marc Birkett has been selected for Sunday’s glamour showpiece between Spain and Brazil in Bangkok after an impressive tournament.

Birkett follows in the footsteps of Howard Webb, who took charge of the 2010 UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup finals, and Mark Clattenburg, the man in the middle for the 2012 Olympic football decider at Wembley.

The 34-year-old will be one of two final referees alongside Hector Rojas of Peru.

Defending champions Brazil and European title-holders Spain are the two leading nations in world futsal - the small-sided brother of the eleven-a-side game - and a mouth-watering contest is predicted. Birkett also had the honour of officiating when Spain won 3-2 in a thrilling quarter-final against Russia.

Viewers in England can watch the match live on Eurosport at 12.30pm.

David Elleray, Chairman of The FA Referees' Committee said: “This is a magnificent achievement by Marc.

"Everyone at The FA congratulates him on being appointed to the most important Futsal match in the world being played between the two international giants of Futsal, Spain and Brazil.

“Following Howard Webb's World Cup Final in 2010 and Mark Clattenburg's Olympic Final a few months ago, Marc's appointment demonstrates the outstanding quality and depth of English refereeing at international level.

"No country has achieved three such prestigious refereeing appointments in such a short space of time.

“The whole of England's refereeing family and everyone involved in Futsal in England sends Marc congratulations and best wishes for a great match.”

Birkett, who was also one of the referees chosen for the UEFA European Futsal Championship in Croatia at the start of the year, has been refereeing Futsal since 2004 and quickly progressed through the ranks in England before being selected for promotion to the FIFA list in 2008.

He referees in The FA National Futsal League, which comprises of a North, Midlands and South Division and decided to step back from refereeing eleven-a-side football, where he operated at Level 4, at the end of the 2010-11 season to concentrate solely on Futsal and to spend more time with his young family.

Birkett, who is also Derby’s Get Into Football Officer, has also been instrumental in developing Futsal within Derby at Willows Sports Centre, and tutored a Futsal Referee Conversion course for Derbyshire FA Referees that saw 15 officials qualify as Futsal referees.

England’s Futsal team have not been involved in the Thailand finals after being eliminated in the preliminary round during qualification.

The Three Lions defeated Cyprus and San Marino but lost out to mini-tournament hosts Latvia. Their overall showing was enough, though, to inspire hope of better in the UEFA Futsal EURO 2014 preliminary round.






Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com