Ben Williams (referee)

Ben Williams
Full name Benjamin Jon Williams
Born (1977-04-14) 14 April 1977
Canberra, Australia
Other occupation Physical & outdoor education teacher
Domestic
Years League Role
NSL Assistant referee
2005–2016 A-League Referee
International
Years League Role
2005–2016 FIFA listed Referee
2005–2016 AFC Elite Referee

Benjamin Jon Williams (born 14 April 1977), better known as Ben Williams, is an Australian soccer referee. He was also a physical education teacher at Belconnen High School in Hawker, Canberra, now he teaches at Lyneham High School.[1]

Biography

Williams officiates in the Asian Champions League (ACL),[2] AFC Cup and in the Australian A-League football competition. He has been a FIFA referee since 2005 and AFC Elite panel referee since 2006.

Williams has been selected to referee at the FIFA 2014 World Cup Brazil and is the only Australian referee to be selected.[3]

He was selected to officiate at the 2012 Asian Champions League (ACL) Final in Korea between Ulsan Hyundai and Al Ahli.[4] He has officiated in the AFC Champions League since 2007.

In 2012, he was also selected to officiate 4 matches (2 as referee and 2 as 4th official) at the 2012 London Olympic Games.[5] He officiated in the opening Great Britain match at Old Trafford against Senegal in front of approximately 75,000 spectators.[6]

He officiated at the 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup Turkey,[7] 2010 FIFA Club World Cup and 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

Williams debuted in the Hyundai A-League in Round 1, 26 August 2005 and is now the most experienced referee in the A-League, refereeing his 100th[8] match, Central Coast Mariners vs Adelaide United at Bluetongue Stadium in March 2012.

On 15 January 2014, FIFA announced that Ben Williams was selected as one of the 25 2014 FIFA World Cup officials. In preparation of the tournament Williams took 6 months off work to ensure he could focus on his training and preparation.[9] He was the first Australian referee appointed as the central referee to a second round game of a World Cup. He was also one of officials in 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

On 22 July 2016, the Football Federation Australia announced that Williams would retire from refereeing after 22 years on the national panels and 12 years as a FIFA referee. Williams, in total, refereed 161 Hyundai A-League matches and 24 NSL matches throughout his career. He also had the honour of refereeing the 2015 Westfield FFA Cup Final as well as international matches through the AFC and FIFA panels, including becoming the first Australian referee to officiate at a knockout match at a FIFA World Cup in 2014. Williams retired as one of Australia’s most highly respected international referees of all time.[10]

Career

A-League Matches

Williams is currently the most experienced A-League referee having refereed 130 matches by the end of the 2013/2014 season.[11]

  • 2005/2006 Season: 16 Matches (Including: 2 Pre-season; Minor Semi-Final 1st Leg)
  • 2006/2007 Season: 12 Matches (Including: 3 Pre-season)
  • 2007/2008 Season: 16 Matches (Including: 3 Pre-season; Major Semi-Final 2nd Leg)
  • 2008/2009 Season: 16 Matches (Including: 1 Pre-season; Minor Semi-Final 1st Leg)
  • 2009/2010 Season: 21 Matches
  • 2010/2011 Season: 15 Matches
  • 2011/2012 Season: 12 Matches (Including: 100th Match; Grand Final (4th Official))
  • 2012/2013 Season: 12 Matches (Excluding: 1 Pre-season)
  • 2013/2014 Season: 18 Matches (Including: 1 Elimination Final)[12]
  • 2014/2015 Season: 11 Matches (Including: 2 Finals Matches - Elimination Final 2 and Semi Final 2)

International Matches

  • 14-3-2007: Hong Kong – Syria (2nd Stage)
  • 6-6-2007: Vietnam – Indonesia (2nd Stage)
  • 22-8-2007: Korea Republic – Uzbekistan (Final Stage)
  • 12-9-2007: Japan – Qatar (Final Stage)

AFC Cup

AFC Champions League

2008 AFC U-19 Championship

  • 31-10-2008: Saudi Arabia – Iran (Final Round)
  • 2-11-2008: United Arab Emirates – Korea Republic (Final Round)
  • 8-11-2008: China – Uzbekistan (Quarter-final)

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

2010 Asian Games

Guangzhou, China (3–25 November 2010)

  • 8-11-2010: North Korea - South Korea
  • 10-11-2010: Iran - Bahrain
  • 13-11-2010: China - Malaysia
    • In this game he gave 3 Red Cards and 7 Yellow Cards, all the cards were for Malaysia, some of the Red Cards was given for protesting referee's decision. The result was 8-man Malaysians being thrashed 3–0 by the Chinese football team at the Asian Games in Guangzhou.[14]
  • 15-11-2010: Qatar - Uzbekistan (1/8 Final)
  • 23-11-2010: South Korea - UAE (Semi-final)

FIFA Club World Cup

Abu Dhabi, UAE (1–20 December 2010)

2011 AFC Asian Cup

Doha, Qatar (7–29 January 2011)

  • 8-1-2011: Kuwait - China PR Al Gharafa Stadium, Doha (Attendance 7,423)
  • 13-1-2012: Saudi Arabia - Jordan (4th Official) Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan (Attendance 17,349)
  • 17-1-2012: Japan - Saudi Arabia (4th Official) Ahmed bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan (Attendance 2,022)

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

2012 Men's Football Olympic Games – Asian Qualifiers

  • 19 June 2011: China PR – Oman Hongkou Football Stadium, Shanghai, China (Attendance: 13,500)[20]

2012 London Olympic Games Football Tournament

  • 26-7-2012: Great Britain - Senegal (First round Group A) Old Trafford, Manchester (4th Official)[21]
  • 29-7-2012: Mexico - Gabon (First round Group B) City of Coventry Stadium, Coventry[22]
  • 1-08-2012: Spain - Morocco (First round Group D) Old Trafford, Manchester[23]
  • 4-08-2012: Mexico - Senegal (Quarter-final) Wembley Football Stadium, London (4th Official)[24]

2013 EAFF East Asian Cup

2014 FIFA World Cup

2015 AFC Asian Cup

  • 11-1-2015: Iran - Bahrain (Group stage)
  • 18-1-2015: Uzbekistan - Saudi Arabia (Group stage)
  • 23-1-2015: Iran – Iraq (Quarter-final)
    • Ben Williams gave an Iranian player a yellow card just before half-time for a second bookable offence but seemingly forgot that it was the player's second yellow card, and then went back to send him off later after some protests by the Iraqi players. This drew criticism from the Iranian side and some former Australasian professional players and pundits.[29][30]

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)

2016 Kirin Cup

  • 3-6-2016: Denmark - Bosnia and Herzegovina (Semi Finals)
    • This was Williams' third PSO in three years after refereeing in 2015 Asian Cup PSO between Iran - Iraq; and in 2014 FIFA World Cup between Costa Rica - Greece.

Honours

  • 2013 AFC Referee of the Year
  • National Soccer League (NSL) 2002 Assistant Referee of the Year
  • 2008 ACT Sportstar Official of the Year[31]
  • First Australian to take charge of a second round match at the FIFA World Cup.[32]

References

  1. ↑ "Belconnen High School Newsletter" (PDF). Belconnen High School. 19 February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
  2. ↑ "Ben Williams to officiate ACL final". Archived from the original on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  3. ↑ http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/soccer/canberra-referee-ben-williams-gets-callup-to-world-cup-in-brazil-20140116-30y0o.html
  4. ↑ "Williams appointed for ACL final". Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  5. ↑ "Men's Olympic Football Tournament London 2012 – List of Referees". FIFA. Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "First round Group A – Great Britain vs Senegal – Match Statistics". Official London 2012 Website. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  7. ↑ https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/u20worldcup/turkey2013/matches/round=259235/match=300232806/index.html
  8. ↑ "Williams Set For Century". FFA. Archived from the original on 19 March 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
  9. ↑ "Interview with Ben Williams before 2014 World Cup". Dutch Referee Blog. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  10. ↑ http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/experienced-hyundai-a-league-referee-announces-retirement/13g7c5jq1rg0n1degnkj9wqwak
  11. ↑ Ultimate A-League
  12. ↑ http://www.ultimatealeague.com/referee_detail.php?referee_id=5
  13. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 February 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  14. ↑ http://www.azuanzahdi.com/index.php/2010/11/13/asian-games-malaysia-0-china-3-thanks-to-ben-williams-red-cards/
  15. ↑ "2010 FIFA Club World Cup: TP Mazembe vs Pachuca". FIFA.
  16. ↑ "FIFA Club World Cup: TP Mazembe vs SC Internacional". FIFA.
  17. ↑ "FIFA Club World Cup – Pachuca vs Al-Wahda". FIFA. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  18. ↑ "Japan vs Tajikistan". FIFA. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  19. ↑ "Jordan vs Singapore World Cup Qualifier". FIFA.com. Retrieved 21 December 2012.
  20. ↑ "2012 Olympic Football Qualifier – China PR vs Oman". AFC.
  21. ↑ "London 2012 Olympic Games Football Tournament – Great Britain vs Senegal". London 2012.
  22. ↑ "London 2012 Olympic Games Football Tournament – Mexico vs Gabon". London 2012.
  23. ↑ "London 2012 Olympic Games Football Tournament – Spain vs Morocco". London 2012.
  24. ↑ "London 2012 Olympic Football Tournament – Mexico vs Senegal (Quarter-final)". London 2012.
  25. ↑ https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=255931/match=300186463/report.html
  26. ↑ https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=255931/match=300186480/index.html
  27. ↑ https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=255951/match=300186459/index.html
  28. ↑ https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/matches/round=255953/match=300186504/index.html
  29. ↑ Former Socceroos blast referee Ben Williams for 'embarrassing' send-off in Iran's Asian Cup loss to Iraq
  30. ↑ Referee Ben Williams' 'embarrassing' decision
  31. ↑ "ACT Sportstar – Roll of Honour". ACTSPORT. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  32. ↑ http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/article/australian-referee-makes-world-cup-history/wuz38n8eb42t11fpo5be7dhho
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