Sligo soccer referee, Paul Deering has been appointed to officiate at a senior international in Iceland next Wednesday.
The friendly match between Iceland and South Africa will take place in Reykjavik on Wednesday night August 17th.
Mr. Deering will be Assistant Referee on the match while the referee will be Dave McKeon from Dublin.
Mr. Deering, a member of Sligo branch of the Irish Soccer Referees' Society, has been refereeing since 1994 and became a senior referee in 1998 when he joined the eircom League panel of which he is still a member.
In 2001, Mr. Deering was assistant referee at the FAI Cup final between Bohemians and Longford Town and in 2004 was Fourth Official on the League Cup Final between the same clubs. He also held a FIFA assistant's badge for the 2001 season and officiated at matches in Slovakia, Armenia and Israel
Mr. Deering, a journalist with "The Sligo Champion", becomes the first Sligo referee to officiate at a senior men's international soccer match.
He regularly officiates in the eircom League both at senior and U-21 level and also in the local junior and youth leagues.
Senior referees' assessor for Connacht/Ulster, William Bradley welcomed Mr. Deering's appointment and said it was a measure of the high esteem in which the Sligo official was held.
"He is fully deserving of this honour. Paul is one of the most dedicated referees on the Eircom panel and I am certain he will do very well in his first senior international," said Mr. Bradley.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
All I'll say is: :confused: