ZURICH: Northern Ireland’s Jim Boyce has undertaken one of his last key roles before retiring from the FIFA executive committee in May.

In his role as chairman of the world football federation’s referees committee, Boyce has overseen the appointment of the 22 referees, seven support referees (one local), and 44 assistant referees representing 49 different countries for this year’s Women’s World Cup in Canada.

Boyce is FIFA’s formal British home associations’ vice-president, a role which will become redundant, under the reforms process.

England’s David Gill will take over as a British vice-president of FIFA after Congress in Zurich but the role is now designated not by FIFA but by European federation UEFA.

Boyce succeeded Spain’s Angel Maria Villar Llona as head of the referees’ committee 18  months after Villar made clear his doubts about the introduction of goal-line technology at the World Cup.

The officials chosen for Canada have graduated through a women’s refereeing project whose key objectives included specific preparation for this tournament.

A FIFA statenent said: “The referees selected for the tournament in Canada have been chosen based especially on their personality and their quality in terms of football understanding by being able to read the game and the teams’ tactical approaches towards each match.