McDonald’s has agreed a partnership deal with Football Federation Australia (FFA) that will see it become an Official Partner of the Hyundai A-League and Official Partner of the Video Assistant Referee system for the competition.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system was successfully introduced late last season in the Hyundai A-League, the first top level domestic league in the world to use the technology. It will now be a regular part of the new season which begins tomorrow (Friday 6 October).

FFA CEO David Gallop said he was delighted to welcome McDonald’s to the FFA’s growing family of sponsors. “McDonald’s has a long history of involvement with sport around the world and we look forward to working with them to promote the Hyundai A-League. Like our other commercial partners, they recognise the growing power of football in Australia’s commercial landscape.”

McDonald’s Chief Marketing Officer Jenni Dill said: “The Hyundai A-League has become a major competition in Australian sport and we believe it will continue to attract more fans and more viewers. McDonald’s is excited to be getting involved and looks forward to a successful partnership with the FFA.”

FFA’s Head of the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League, Greg O’Rourke, said that the VAR would help to correct occasional human errors that were an unavoidable part of any sport.

“Referees have been the only individuals that have not been able to benefit from the use of video replay technology,” he said. “VAR changes that and adds to the spectacle of the game, both at the ground and on broadcast.”

O’Rourke said the VAR system will be used by the referees to provide assistance in four (4) categories of match-changing decisions/incidents:

• Goal / no goal decisions

• Penalty / no penalty decisions

• Direct red cards (not 2nd yellow cards)

• Mistaken identity

In addition, FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson today officially announced the match official panels for the upcoming Hyundai A-League, Westfield W-League and Foxtel Y-League 2017/18 Seasons.

“We are very happy with the match official panels that we have selected for the upcoming seasons,” said Wilson.

“There are plenty of experienced panel members returning and also some new faces that we look forward to seeing perform at the elite level.

“During the off-season we have also been working with the Hyundai A-League match officials to enhance the use of the VAR system based on our experiences from the previous season,” concluded Wilson.

Hyundai A-League 2017/18 Match Official Panel

Hyundai A-League Referees

Kurt Ams (NSW), Jonathan Barreiro (VIC), Chris Beath (QLD)*, Matthew Conger (NZ), Daniel Elder (SA), Shaun Evans (VIC)*, Adam Fielding (WA), Jarred Gillett (QLD)*, Peter Green (QLD), Kris Griffith-Jones (NSW), Adam Kersey (QLD), Alex King (QLD), Stephen Lucas (NSW)

* Full-Time referees

Video Assistant Referees

Mathew Cheeseman (WA), Strebre Delovski (NSW), Eddie Lennie (WA), Nick Waldron (NZ), Craig Zetter (SA)

Hyundai A-League 4th Officials

Adrian Arndt (NSW), Ben Abraham (NSW), Lachlan Keevers (VIC), Jack Morgan (VIC)

Hyundai A-League Assistant Referees

Ashley Beecham (QLD), Luke Brennan (VIC), Wilson Brown (VIC), Paul Cetrangolo (SA), James Cleal (NNSW), Matthew Cream (SA), Scott Edeling (NSW), Ryan Gallagher (NNSW), Andrej Giev (NSW), Owen Goldrick (ACT), Lance Greenshields (NSW), Daniel Ilievski (VIC), Sarah Jones (NZ), George Lakrindis (VIC), Andrew Lindsay (QLD), Glen Lochrie (NZ), Simon Lount (NZ), Nathan MacDonald (QLD), Josh Mannella (WA), Matthew McOrist (NSW), Kearney Robinson (NSW), Mark Rule (NZ), Arvin Shanmuganathan (WA), Anton Shchetinin (QLD), Matthew Southern (WA), Greg Taylor (ACT), James Tesoriero (NSW), David Walsh (QLD)

Westfield W-League 2017/18 Match Official Panel

Westfield W-League Referees

Rebecca Durcau (QLD), Kate Jacewicz (VIC), Kelly Jones (NSW), Maddison Kennedy (SA), Rachel Mitchenson (QLD), Katie Patterson (NSW), Casey Reibelt (QLD), Lara Smith (QLD)

Westfield W-League 4th Official

Isabella Blaess (SA), Rebecca Davies (NNSW)

Westfield W-League Assistant Referees

Danielle Anderson (VIC), Avrol Beecham (NSW), Isabella Blaess (SA), Joanna Charaktis (VIC), Renae Coghill (QLD), Delfina Dimoski (ACT), Anastasia Filocouridis (NSW), Georgia Ghirardello (ACT), Lauren Hargrave (TAS), Eleanor Hayes (NNSW), Sarah Ho (NSW), Laura Moya (VIC), Paula Orlandi (SA), Maggie Price (NSW), Danielle Potticary (QLD), Nia Southwell (ACT)

Foxtel Y-League 2017/18 Match Official Panel

Alex Twomey (ACT), Hamish Rae (ACT), Harry Shield (ACT), Nathan Shakespear (ACT), Joel Ralston (NNSW), Mitchell Lyons (NNSW), Robert Taylor (NNSW), Adrian Brett (NSW), Hassan Jomaa (NSW), Hugh Carwardine (NSW), Jack Casey (NSW), Jarryd McFarlane (NSW), Michael Bailey (NSW), Nathan McOrist (NSW), Albert Krause (QLD), Brad Burton (QLD), Jay Hudson (QLD), Ryan Mooney (QLD), Drew Faulkner (SA), Jack Robinson (SA), Nick Elagin (SA), Samuel Kuys (SA), Andrew Meimarakis (VIC), Brandon Smith (VIC), Luke Camilleri (VIC), Janelle Sammutt (VIC), Rhys Shelmerdine (VIC), Jake Keating (VIC), Adrien Liechti (WA), Daniel Cole (WA), Shane Skinner (WA), Simon Hicks (WA)