These appointments mark the first time that Australian or New Zealand match officials have been selected to participate at the FIFA Club World Cup, the world’s most prestigious club tournament.

This will be Mark Shield’s seventh appointment at a major FIFA tournament having officiated at the past two World Cups (Japan 2002 & Germany 2006), the Confederations Cup (2003), U-20 World Cup (2001) and the U-17 World Cup (2005 & 1999).

This most recent appointment caps off Mark Shield’s refereeing career having already refereed the AFC Asian Cup 2007 Final and the Hyundai A-League 2007 Grand Final.

For Peter O’Leary, this will be his second appointment at a major FIFA tournament having officiated the U-20 World Cup in Canada earlier this year.

In addition to the Club World Cup appointments, Hyundai A-League Assistant Referees Matthew Cream and Jim Ouliaris have been appointed to officiate in the second leg of the AFC Champions League 2007 Final between the Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) and Sepahan (Iran) at Saitama Stadium (Japan) on Wednesday 14 November.