Audley Boyd, Asst. Sport Editor 
BURREL
CAPTAIN Horace Burrell, the former Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) president, has been appointed to serve on FIFA's disciplinary committee for the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany in two months' time.
Commenting on his appointment, Captain Burrell told The Gleaner that he is very grateful.
"I am very very grateful, in fact, I think I'm fortunate to have been appointed as a member of the disciplinary committee for the World Cup tournament that is going to be in Germany within the next two months.
"It is really an honour because this is the committee which adjudicates on all disciplinary matters. The committee is going to be headed by the noted Swiss lawyer, who is the chairman, Marcel Mathier, who has been the chairman of our committee for the past two years."
A noted businessman with his trademark Captain's Bakery outlets in several locations across this country and the Cayman Islands, Captain Burrell has been a member of FIFA's disciplinary committee for almost a decade.
During that time, he has worked in a similar capacity to his current appointment, at several World Cup tournaments including senior men in France '98, Japan-Korea 2002; and women and youth championships in Peru, Argentina, New Zealand.
This time he will be based in Berlin, but indicated that "... from time to time I will go to selected games at various venues".
VERY INTERESTING
He added: "This is going to be very interesting because it's going to give you an opportunity to witness some of the great games that are expected.
"This year's World Cup is expected to be very very interesting indeed. It is going to be highly competitive and one which is going to be even more interesting because of the number of first-time participants, especially out of Africa, and of course Trinidad and Tobago."
Asked to comment specifically on the committee's function, the former army officer said: "The disciplinary committee meets each day after proceedings. Games are going to be played at different venues and members are going to be dispatched to these games. The reports are going to be sent to the headquarters and we adjudicate and immediately after the meetings we advise the teams. There are going to be yellow cards, red cards and other disciplinary matters.
"This committee has the responsibility not only for players but managers, coaches and all other administrators. We're responsible for ensuring that the highest standard of discipline is maintained throughout the tournament."
VIDEO EVIDENCE
Captain Burrell, who presided over Jamaica's football when its senior, under 20 and under-17 teams made historic appearances at the various World Cup Finals, said their judgement is also strengthened by the use of video replays.
"We definitely use video evidence. For all the cases, we do not take anything for granted. We receive the referees' report, the referees inspectors' report and the match commissioners' report. All these reports come to us and in addition, the secretariat, who are FIFA personnel, will prepare the video clips for all the cases reported. So we would view these video clips over and over so as to come up with the correct decisions. It is very important for us to be correct in all our decision making ... and one of the ways is to rely on video evidence, in addition to the evidence tendered by all those persons who I mentioned."
A vice-president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and executive of CONCACAF, the regional governing bodies for the sport, Captain Burrell also stated that CONCACAF will be hosting an extraordinary congress during the World Cup Berlin and he will be attending.
SECOND JAMAICAN
Burrell's appointment is the second for a Jamaican at the event.
Referee Peter Prendergast, who is also the president of the Jamaica Football Referees Association (JFRA), earned a place among 23 referees from as many different countries to officiate at the tournament.
Prendergast also participated at the World Cup Finals previously, along with Jamaican assistant referee Owen Powell.
This time, another assistant referee, Anthony Garwood is in line to swell the number of Jamaican officials at the tournament. He will travel to Frankfurt, Germany to participate in sessions between April 18-21 with a number of other assistant referees, from whom the final cut of approximately 72 assistant referees will be made for the tournament.
