Wednesday, May 28, 2014 – Referee Joe Fletcher, who worked a lot of CSL games over the years and gained a National badge then a FIFA badge while doing so, leaves for Brazil on Saturday after being selected to be Canada’s only match official in the World Cup.
Raised in Niagara Falls and now a Chartered Accountant in St. Catharines, Fletcher, 37, got the call after being noticed at FIFA games on four continents, including the Olympics in London in 2012. He’s a well-established Assistant Referee with Major League Soccer now and makes frequent trips for FIFA to officiate matches internationally.
“But I spent eight years in the CSL, from 1999 to 2007, ” said the affable Fletcher who first blew a whistle or ran the line at his home town of Niagara Falls as a teenager.
It was ex-FIFA referee Tony Camacho who first spotted the speedy former player and invited him to step up and try the Canadian Professional Soccer League – now the CSL. “Joe was first appointed to a game in Kitchener and did very well,” said Camacho, who was the CPSL referee- in- chief at the time. “He enjoyed being a match official, including the support from older referees, which he found encouraging.”
Fletcher is one of only two Canadians taking part in the World Cup. The selection to the Netherland World Cup squad of Scarborough-born Jonathan de Guzman, the attacking midfielder with Swansea City of the Premier League, is the other.
Fletcher is known as a fitness buff, always attaching a lot of importance to keeping up with the play and sends details of his workouts to FIFA monthly. The 40 meters sprint in a maximum 5.8 seconds is a standard, which the specialist linesman has little difficulty achieving on a regular basis.
While Fletcher has no idea which games he will be officiating and will be given short notice in Brazil, he does know he will be matched up with U.S. referees as in earlier FIFA games.
