Football Australia is pleased to advise that Ben Abraham has been selected to referee Saturday night’s Australia Cup Final 2023 at Allianz Stadium in Sydney.
Hailing from New South Wales, Abraham will be assisted by Josh Mannella (WA) and Brad Wright (NSW), with Tim Danaskos (NSW) and Arvin Shanmuganathan (WA) selected as the Fourth Official and Reserve Assistant Referee respectively, with the group to officiate the Australia Cup Final 2023 featuring Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar FC.
The group of officials bring with them Australia Cup Finals’ experience, with Abraham serving as an additional Assistant Referee for the Australia Cup Final 2018, Brad Wright serving as Reserve Assistant Referee for last year’s Final and Josh Mannella serving as Reserve Assistant Referee (Fourth Official) in 2019’s Final.
Making the occasion even more special for Abraham, the Australia Cup Final 2023 will be his first and final time performing the central referee role at an Australia Cup Final.
As introduced by the Football Australia Referees Committee when the then named FFA Cup was created, each match official can only be appointed to each officiating role at the Australia Cup Final once. This was to establish a tradition of prestige with being appointed to an Australia Cup Final once in the match official’s career.
In total, 54 match officials were appointed to Australia Cup Final 2023 Rounds’ fixtures hailing from Member Federations around Australia.
On making the announcement, Football Australia Head of Referees Nathan Magill said: “I would like to congratulate Ben, Josh, Brad, Tim, and Arvin on their appointment to the Australia Cup Final 2023.
“Refereeing in knockout football is a rewarding yet challenging experience, their appointment for the Australia Cup Final 2023 is a reflection of their outstanding professionalism during the knockout and final stages.
“As with players and coaches, the Australia Cup forms a critical development pathway for match officials throughout Australia, and it has been great to witness the match officials perform strongly from the preliminary stages through to now.
“I would like to acknowledge the Member Federation match officials who have been appointed to the preliminary round matches, and referee staff who have worked tirelessly in the development of these match officials across all four corners of the country,” Magill concluded.
Saturday’s Australia Cup Final 2023 is set to create history, when Brisbane Roar FC play in their first-ever Final appearance against the experienced Sydney FC who are playing in their fourth Australia Cup (formerly FFA Cup) Final (2016, 2017, 2018, 2023).
Tickets start at $12 Junior, $15 Concession, $25 Adult, and $65 Family and are available via Ticketek.
