BERLIN, June 18, 2006 (AFP/GNA) - What do a Uruguayan parrot breeder, a Mexico lawyer, a stamp collecter from France and a Slovakian vascular surgeon have in common?

Give up? Here's a clue. Dress them in yellow and black, put a whistle in their hand, and yes, you've got it - they're four of the FIFA referees helping to keep order on the pitch at the 2006 World Cup. Referees may have a reputation for being stern, faceless disciplinarians but scratch beneath the surface and you find an exotic and eclectic cast of characters.

And they have a pretty hard time of it all things being considered - do a good job and no one notices, muck up and the flak flies. A Time To Make Friends is the World Cup motto but the men in the middle may find that harder to achieve than most. Still the 40,000 dollars plus 100 dollars daily allowance they pocket must help ease the pain of any verbal coming their way from irate players.

Russian Valentin Ivanov knows the feeling.

He was the referee who turned down France's appeals for a penalty when Swiss defender Patrick Muller's hand got in the way of Thierry Henry's 37th minute shot in Stuttgart on Tuesday. Henry was perplexed by Ivanov's ruling.

"Somebody better explain to me the handball rule," said the Arsenal attacker.

"If the hand stops the ball from going in the goal, it should be a penalty."

Henry probably wasn't aware though that Ivanov comes from prized footballing stock as the teacher from Moscow is the son of no less an icon than Russian great Valentin Kozmich Ivanov, joint top scorer at the 1962 World Cup.

The range of jobs and interests from which this band of brothers are drawn is mind boggling.

For instance if the report on Germany's pulsating 3-2 win over Costa Rica in the opening game last Friday was written in iambic pentameter there's a good reason as the ref that day, Horacio Elizondo, is an Argentine poet.

Australia were on cloud nine after hammering Japan 3-1 in Kaiserlautern on Monday which is where the referee that day Essam Abd El Fatah spends a lot of his time as a pilot for Egypt Airways. And players may regret provoking the ire of assistant referee Jean Marie Endeng Zogo who when he's not running up and down the sideline serves as a prison military superintendent in his native Cameroon. He is also a karate expert and speaks six languages.

Football is a stressful business for the health - just ask any German fans watching the host's last gap win against Poland - and anyone with problems in that department could do worse than book a consultation with one of Zogo's colleagues, Roman Slysko, a vascular surgeon from Bratislava.

Premiership stars who wish to take action against tabloids publishing lewd reports about their not-so-private private life should be addressed to Benito Archundia, a lawyer from Tlalnepantla in Mexico who refereed Brazil's opening win over Croatia, while if there are any parrot breeders out there then Jorge Larriona's your man.

But if any were looking for a holiday companion they might think twice before choosing Eric Poulat, a computer wizard who lists stamp collecting as his preferred pastime.

Swiss managing director Massimo Busacca, in charge of Spain's rout of Ukraine on Wednesday, meanwhile conceded what many fans have doubted - that referees are, after all, human.

"Ours is a thankless task, because everyone expects the referee's performance to be faultless," said the 37-year-old who enjoys rustling up a cordon bleu meal in his spare time.

"No one wants their team to lose - players, managers or fans... But since we are human, we sometimes make mistakes.

Bussacca says that while refs may be flesh and blood it helps to have nerves of steel. And a cool head.