Two Western Australian referees will be on international duty in the next month, with Michael Nugus selected to officiate in the 2008 Champions Youth Cup in Malaysia and Josh Mannella joining the AFC Project Future Program in Hyderabad, India.

Referee Development Manager at Football West, Eddie Lennie OAM believes it will be a great learning experience for both Michael and Josh as they strive to break into the professional referee system.

“Australian referees have built up a very good reputation for being top officials in the world game, the services of the Australian match officials are very much sought after in our new confederation of AFC and also by FIFA as well. It is important from a Football West point of view that we produce match officials here in WA capable of stepping up to both of these challenges. I am pleased to say that we are on the right track with Michael’s appointment in Malaysia and also Josh’s appointment in India” said the former World Cup referee.

Lennie continued: “We are now sending WA referees overseas to officiate at high level competitions and I would hope that will have an effect on how their peers and any aspiring referee views a career in refereeing, as we now have clearly defined development paths to reach the very top in officiating” he said.

Nugus, from Noranda, will be refereeing some of the world’s top teams in group D of the tournament including FC Porto, Manchester United and Juventus from August 5 to 16 in four host cities, with the finals to be held in Kuala Lumpur. The Champions Youth Cup features the best under 19 squads from the top clubs all over the world together with the national youth teams from Qatar, China, India and host nation Malaysia.

Josh Mannella of Kingsley will be able to continue his referee education as part of the AFC Project Future Program with a week long course in Hyderabad from July 26 to August 2. The AFC initiative is a two year development program for up and coming match officials from the Asian Confederation of which Josh was chosen to attend after his performances in the AFC under 13 Festival of Football in Kuala Lumpur in May 2007.

“I am very excited, having been through the previous course in Kuala Lumpur late last year, it gives me the opportunity to extend my knowledge and continue friendships that I have made from the previous course. Ultimately I would love to attain a FIFA badge, but in the short term it is to establish myself at local level before building onto the A-League. If all goes well it would be amazing to attend an official tournament as a FIFA referee” he said.

For Josh, the week will contain both practical and theoretical sessions relating to refereeing, laws of the game, fitness testing and what it takes to be a top level referee.