Brian Hall, Kevin Stott Lead Crews in Home-and-Away Series May 4 and 11
to Determine CONCACAF Berth in 2005 FIFA Club World Championship

CHICAGO (May 4, 2005)—U.S. Soccer referees Brian Hall and Kevin Stott will lead all-U.S. Soccer referee crews in the CONCACAF Champion’s Cup Final Series beginning Wednesday (May 4) at 10 p.m. ET at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in San Jose, Costa Rica.

Today’s game kicks off the series between Deportivo Saprissa and UNAM Pumas as they battle for the 2005 CONCACAF Champions Cup title and a berth in the 2005 FIFA World Championship. Hall will officiate the match, leading the all-U.S. team of Greg Barkey, Kermit Quisenberry and Alex Prus.

Stott will officiate the return leg of the series at 8:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, May 11, at the Estadio Olimpico Universitario in Mexico City. Stott’s referee team will be made up of Chris Strickland, Craig Lowry and Ricardo Valenzuela. Both matches will be broadcast live on Fox Soccer Channel.

Hall represented the U.S. at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, receiving great reviews. Most recently, he officiated at the Under-23 Qatar International Tournament and in the early rounds of the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying tournament.

Stott is one of the 46 referees being watched by FIFA as candidates for the 30 officials positions at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany. In 2004, Stott was the primary official in six CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches and was the fourth official in two. He has also been involved in two of the three matchdays in the final round of World Cup qualifying as the fourth official in the 0-0 draw between Panama and Guatemala on February 9 and as the referee on March 26 in Guatemala’s 5-1 win against Trinidad and Tobago.

Assistant Referee Chris Strickland represented the United States at the 2004 Athens Olympics and Greg Barkey was the second assistant on February 9 in the World Cup qualifier between Costa Rica and Mexico in San Jose, Costa Rica.

-ussoccer.com-