KUALA LUMPUR - Eight AFC Elite referees who are expected to officiate in the next FIFA World Cup finals began their preparations for South Africa 2010 with an intensive seminar in the Canary Islands.

 

The four-day seminar, which began on Tuesday, brought together 54 top match officials from all over the world and included fitness tests, practical training sessions and technical meetings.

 

The Asian representatives at the seminar were 2007 AFC Referee of the Year Mark Shield; his Australian compatriot Matthew Breeze; Japan's Yuichi Nishimura; Mohammed Saleh Subkhiddin from Malaysia; Uzbekistan's Ravshan Irmatov; Iranian Masoud Moradi; and Gulf-based referees Abdullah Al Hilali and Khalil Al Ghamdi, who hail from Oman and Saudi Arabia respectively.