Two of the thirty referee trios selected to officiate at the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010™ will not be able to take part in the competition, after the two assistant referees of those trios did not pass the fitness tests which were held in their confederation prior to departure for South Africa.

The following trios will therefore not officiate at the FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 :

• Referee: Mohamed Benouza (Algeria) + assistant referees: Nasser Abdel Nadi (Egypt)/Maamar Chabane (Algeria)
• Referee: Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay) + assistant referees: Emigdio Ruiz (Paraguay)/Nicolás Yegros (Paraguay)

It is one of FIFA's main objectives to significantly improve refereeing standards and, to this end, the FIFA Referees Committee has selected trios of match officials who come from the same country or confederation and who share the same language.

Instructions issued to the referees prior to the competition made it clear that entire trios would be forced out of the competition if either the main referee or two of the assistant referees were unable to complete or pass the fitness test. The official fitness tests were conducted in each of the six confederations by FIFA instructors during the past week.

The following trio has been appointed as a replacement :

• Referee: Martin E. Vazquez Broquetas (Uruguay)
• Assistant referees: Carlos Pastorino (Uruguay)/Miguel Nievas (Uruguay)