England: Howard Webb retires as referee and joins English referees association

Englishman Howard Webb has retired from refereeing at 43, the Premier League announced on 06/08/2014. A referee since 2003, Webb became the first person in 2010 to referee a final of both Champions League (Bayern Munich - Inter Milan, 0-2, on 22/05/2010) and of the World Cup (Netherlands - Spain, 0-1 aet, on 11/07/2010) in the same year.

He is taking on the role of technical director of Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL). Howard Webb will oversee the enforcement of rules during official matches in the professional leagues and will be responsible for the training of British referees.

"The role of PGMOL Technical Director will strengthen refereeing in this country," said Mike Riley, general manager of PGMOL. "Last season [2013-14] we trebled the funding for referee coaching and training. We want to accelerate the development of referees from the semi-professional game so that we have an even stronger talent pool to pick from at Select Group level. There is no one better to lead on that than Howard Webb."

"I am sure he will pass on his skills and experience to many…