FOUR former FIFA match officials were honoured by the Guyana Football Referees Council (GFRC) in recognition of their contribution to the development of refereeing in Guyana, at the Annual General Meeting of the GFRC held last Saturday at the Carifesta Sports Complex.

The four retired officials – Lawrence ‘Sparrow’ Griffith, Collin ‘BL’ Aaron, Abdulla Hamid and Roy McArthur were presented with plaques at the meeting.
Griffith served as an assistant referee on the FIFA list from 1993 to 2003, Aaron who hails from Linden (Upper Demerara) served as an assistant referee from 1996-2004. Hamid also a Lindener, was also an assistant referee from 2002 to 2012 while McArthur served as a referee from 2002 to 2009.
Hamid was absent but his award was received by current FIFA referee and GFRC Committee member Stanley Lancaster.
Vice-president of the GFRC, Dion Inniss, said the awards were timely as the Council seeks to honour its outstanding members.
According to Inniss there are more officials to be honoured by the GFRC at an appropriate time including Diane Ferreira-James, Guyana’s highest-ranked female FIFA referee who retired at the end of last year.
Thirteen local referees and assistant referees are currently on the FIFA list for 2013 including four women officials.
The plaques were presented by GFRC president Alfred King.