Papa Gassama, five others fight for Referee of the Year today Africa » Gambia Monday, December 29, 2014 Gambian Bakary Papa Gassama is among in the running for the World Referee of the Year gong at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai today. The Gambian is among twelve referees nominated for the award and the vote to decide the best referee will be the responsibility of the Globe Soccer jury. All six Confederations have two referees as candidates for the awards and the competitions considered the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the six Champions League finals of the six Confederations. Europe has just one Champions League final, but also had the referee chosen for the World Cup final. The nomination capped off an unforgettable 12 months in the career of this young referee who made history earlier in 2014 for being the first and so far only Gambian to participate at a senior FIFA World Cup in Brazil. He was rated by the FIFA referees committee as one of the top performers of the tournament with a B+. Others shortlisted for the prestigious award include: Nicola Rizzoli of Italy, Netherlands’s Bjorn Kuipers, Alireza Faghani of Iran, Yuicihi Nishimura (Japan), and Zambia’s Janny Sikazwe. Completing the list are Abdelkader Zitouni, Norbert Hauata (both Tahiti), Wilmar Alexander Roldan (Colombia), Sandro Meira Ricci (Brazil), Roberto Garcia and Marco Antonio Rodriguez (both from Mexico). The “Club of the Year” award will also be presented in 2014 at the Globe Soccer Conference (Dubai, December 2014). The ECA Executive Board has drawn up a shortlist from which the award-winning club will be chosen. The jury that will indicate the winner includes the organisers of the Globe Soccer Awards, coaches and former international players and leading directors from the football world who are special guests at the conference. Speaking in a Daily Observer interview, earlier this month, after news of his nomination was broke, Gassama credited hard work and focus as the reason. He also paid tribute to his colleagues and the entire country and urged upcoming Gambian referees to take positives from his nomination and use it as a yardstick to gain international recognition. “There are more than a million FIFA referees across the world and for me to be among the top 12, says a lot. It is a very proud moment for me and as well an opportunity for upcoming Gambian referees that nothing is impossible,” Gassama, who earlier this year finished runner up in the African Referee of the Year Award, said. The award is organised by Globe Soccer in conjunction with the ECA, the European Club Association, and the EFAA, the European Football Agents Association. All the winners will be announced at a glittering ceremony to be attended by influential football figures such as UEFA President Michel Platini and Fabio Russian national team coach Fabio Capello at the culmination of the Globe Soccer Conference on 29 December. In the other categories, Real Madrid and Juventus have also been nominated for the Club of the Year prize along with Bayern Munich, Ajax and Basel. The European champions, who secured La Decima in May, will be in Dubai to play AC Milan in a friendly on December 30 and Carlo Ancelotti and his key players are expected to attend the ceremony the day before at the luxurious Atlantis, The Palm resort. The nominations for Agent of the Year 2014 are Volker Struth, Pere Guardiola, Jorge Mendes and Giovanni Branchini. Author: Baboucarr Camara
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 10:48:21 +0000
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