Fifa give Halim due recognition

28/12/1998

HALIM Abdul Hamid, the referee who officiated at the World Cup '98 in
France, received a tremendous career boost when he was promoted to full
Fifa referee.
Halim, who has been an assistant Fifa referee since 1993, made his name
in France where he officiated three preliminary round matches and one
second round match.
FA of Malaysia (FAM) director of referees, George Joseph, confirmed
Halim's appointment and said that with the latest appointment, Malaysia
now have six Fifa referees.
The five established Fifa referees are Nazri Abdullah, Nik Ahmad Yaakub,
S. Selvarajah, Zainal Abidin Yaacub and Sukri Mat Amin.
"Halim was promoted after his good performance at the France World Cup
where he received good marks for the four matches that he officiated,"
said Joseph in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Halim came under the spotlight when he handled the second round match
between England and Argentina.
It was an exciting match where England playmaker David Beckham received
marching orders. Halim acquited himself well in this key match.
In the preliminaries, Halim officiated the Morocco-Norway, Colombia-
Romania and Cameroon-Chile matches.
Before becoming a fulltime referee Halim, who comes from Kangar, did try
his hand as a soccer player and represented the Armed Forces in the Semi-
Pro League from 1986-1989.
Meanwhile, Nazri will not be able to do World Cup duty, no thanks to
Fifa rules. The retirement age for Fifa referees is 45 and Nazri, born on
Jan 23, 1955, will have one more season before retirement.
This has effectively ruled him out of possible duty at the 2002 World
Cup to be co-hosted by Japan and South Korea.
Nazri, however, had officiated at the pre-World Cup. He refereed the
England-San Marino match in 1993.
Fifa referees: Mohamed Nazri Abdullah, Nik Ahmad Nik Yaakub, S.
Selvarajah, Zainal Abidin Yaacub, Sukri Mat Amin.
Assistant Fifa referees: Ishak Ismail, M. Elagkoven, Kassim Kadir Bacha,
Ghani Ishak, Azimi Abdullah, Ismail Salleh, Mohamed Lazim, Awang Hamat.
(END)