Accra, May 15, GNA - Referee Justice Yeboah of Ghana has been placed on the stand-by list of match officials picked by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA) for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.

Yeboah gained the stand-by status after the Referee's Committee of FIFA evaluated the test results of 80 assistant referees at a workshop held in Germany, last year.

The referee stands the chance of making a real World Cup appearance should any of the selected referees is taken out of the list for poor performance or any other reason.

The Suhum- based assistant referee is on the stand-by list with four African match officials which includes Damone Jerome, Molefe Enoch of South Africa, Mohamed Guezzaz of Morroco, Djezarr Brahim of Moroco and Enden Jean Marie of Cameroon.

Yeboah is among the few Ghanaian referees who have had the opportunity of officiating in CAF organised matches as well as FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

He has also acted as an assistant referee in many high profile matches.

Reports reaching the GNA Sports, indicates that five African referees are among the main set of officials for the competition. The list includes two referees and three assistants.

Ace referee Kofi Codja of Benin and Egyptian Abd El Fatah will be in the middle of action whilst Nodoye Mamadou of Senegal, Ntagua Celestine of Rwanda, Aderodjou Aboudou of Benin and Dramane of Mali operate as assistants.

Information reaching the GNA Sports indicates that the Ghanaian referee is scheduled to leave Ghana for Germany by the close of the week.