Top Canadian assessors Amato DeLuca (ON), Mauricio Navarro (BC) and John Nielsen (BC) have been invited to attend a CONCACAF Symposium for referee assessors from 1 to 5 October 2016.
John Nielsen (62, photo) was a FIFA Assistant Referee from 1992 to 1999, including 39 international games. His proudest achievement was being appointed to the 1998 Gold Cup final, USA � Mexico, in front of nearly 100,000 spectators. After his retirement, Nielsen quickly became a referee assessor and instructor, reaching CONCACAF status in 2009. For the last four years, he was invited to attend the annual CONCACAF course for elite referee assessors.

Former FIFA Assistant Referee (2002-2007), Amato DeLuca (54) is currently a MLS and CONCACAF assessor. Last year, he was appointed to the CONCACAF U-17 Championship and the Pan-American Games in Toronto, where he assessed the referees in the final.

Mauricio Navarro (50) was born in Chile but later moved to Canada (Vancouver). He attained his FIFA badge in 2000 and went on to become one of Canada's most successful referees before retiring at the end of 2011, having reached the mandatory retirement age. After just one year on the FIFA list, Navarro was appointed to the 2001 Copa America, hosted in Colombia. He refereed the Group C opener between Bolivia and Uruguay (1-0). Navarro later described this match as one of the most difficult of his career. His next major appointment was to the 2003 Gold Cup, where he was assigned three matches, one in the group stage, a quarter-final and then the final (Mexico � Brazil). He was appointed to three Gold Cup tournaments (2003, 2005, 2007) and the 2008 CONCACAF Champions Cup final (Pachuca � Saprissa).