The Barbados Football Association (BFA) has announced that five local match officials – one Referee and four Assistant Referees – have made it onto the prestigious 2025 FIFA International Referees List; the highest status in football refereeing.

The BFA was notified last week by the FIFA Refereeing Subdivision that current FIFA International Assistant Referees Kevon Clarke, Angelo Doyle, and Abigail Brathwaite would remain on the List, with the addition this year of BFA Referee Cleon Culley and BFA Assistant Referee Jaselle Louison, who have now both also been approved by the FIFA Referees Committee to officiate matches at an international level.

BFA Head of Refereeing Victor Moore said he is delighted with the accreditation of the Barbadian match officials to the FIFA International Referees List, confirming it is also the first time since 2017 that Barbados can boast it has a FIFA-accredited Men’s Referee.

“The FIFA Referee Badge is the pinnacle of match officiating in the world of football refereeing,” he said. “To have five of our BFA match officials on the 2025 FIFA International Referees List is an outstanding achievement and it is a testament to the calibre of referees that we have been developing through the BFA. Our ability to continue to add more local officials to the FIFA International Referees List is the result of the dedication of our technical team of instructors with the support of fellow referees, especially over the last two seasons, and we look forward to adding even more to this List in years to come.”

Moore explained that FIFA member countries are annually invited to nominate officials to be considered to make the FIFA International Referees List – the annual publication of the global list of FIFA international referees – however, selection is based on a stringent set of criteria and match experience.

“The refereeing pathway to reach this kind of top-level accreditation requires a lot of hard work and commitment,” he said. “At the very beginning, the process here really starts with local match volunteering, followed by enrollment in the BFA Referee Recruitment Program which involves game management and match analysis seminars, fitness sessions, and studying the Laws of the Game. Upon successful completion of this Program, participants would meet the requirements to be qualified, certified, and registered with the BFA as a Referee. There are then various stages of game performance assessment, fitness testing, training, and match officiating appointments domestically, nationally, and regionally which would ultimately enable the Referee to be eligible to obtain a recommendation by the BFA Refereeing Department to be nominated for the FIFA International Referees List.

To then be selected by the FIFA Referees Committee is a real honor and on behalf of the BFA Refereeing Department, I extend my warm congratulations to our successful officials and wish them every success on their match officiating journey as they continue to make the BFA and Barbados proud.”

BFA Representation on the 2025 FIFA International Referees List

Referee

Cleon Culley – added 2025

Assistant Referees

Kevon Clarke – added 2019

Angelo Doyle – added 2022

Abigail Brathwaite – added 2023

Jaselle Louison – added 2025