World Rugby has recently revealed the lineup of match officials who will be overseeing the rugby sevens competitions at the upcoming Olympic Games Paris 2024 in France. The 23 officials hail from 16 different countries, with Maria Latos from Germany set to make history as the first referee from her country to participate in an Olympic rugby sevens tournament.
Among the officials are five individuals who will be attending their second Olympic Games, including Paulo Duarte from Portugal, Francisco González from Uruguay, Tyler Miller and Jordan Way from Australia, and Tevita Rokovereni from Fiji. Ano Kuwai from Japan is also set to make history as the first person to both play and referee at the Games, having been a member of the Sakura Sevens team at Rio 2016.
The women’s panel will include six female officials with experience in refereeing international rugby matches. The selection process for the officials was based on their performances across the HSBC SVNS 2024 series.
The men’s rugby sevens competition is scheduled to take place from 24-27 July at the Stade de France, kicking off the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The women’s competition will follow from 28-30 July. Paddy O’Brien, World Rugby High-Performance Sevens Referee Manager, expressed excitement in managing the talented group of officials for the Paris 2024 Games.
Ano Kuwai and Jérémy Rozier, two of the selected referees, shared their excitement for the upcoming Olympic Games. Rozier mentioned his joy at being given a second chance after missing the Tokyo Games due to an ACL injury. The rugby sevens competitions at Paris 2024 are sure to be officiated by a skilled and diverse group of match officials from around the world.
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