T&T official Caleb Wales has been selected to serve as an assistant referee at the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup next month.
Wales was chosen to attend the Gold Cup candidate course at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida this month and was subsequently chosen for the confederation’s premier event. Wales will attend a referees seminar at the Gold Cup headquarters hotel in Texas on June 11-13 prior to the start of competition on June 15.
Other Caribbean Assistant referees appointed are Jamaican Nicholas Anderson, Helpys Feliz of Dominica, Kedlee Powell of Cayman Islands, Zachari Zeegelaar of Suriname. Twenty three assistant referees have been appointed, and two from Qatar- Taleb Al Marri and Saoud Al Maqaleh, as part of the exchange programme between Concacaf and the Asian Football Confederation.
Two referees from the Caribbean were appointed among 16 referees – Jamaica’s Daneon Parchment and Cuba’s Yardel Martinez.
“It’s my first appointment to the biggest tournament in Concacaf and I am extremely honoured to be considered for a Gold Cup,” Wales said. “My primary target was to be selected for the tournament so I put in a lot of work and learnt many lessons along the way. I aim to utilise what I have learnt to the best of my ability,” he added.
Reflecting on the candidate course at IMG, he said, “For me, the course was excellent. It equipped us with the tools needed to be successful at the Gold Cup 2019 and I like that we were able to put these tools into immediate use at the CONCACAF U17 Championship.”
Wales officiated at four matches during the CONCACAF Men’s Under 17 Championship including the semi-final clash between the United States and Canada. The tournament was won by Mexico on Thursday.