League of Ireland and international referee, Alan Kelly has been promoted to the UEFA Premier Development Referees Group. The call-up represents a major breakthrough for refereeing in Ireland and it is the first time that Irish officials have reached this level since UEFA introduced the referee categories. The promotion leads to the possibility of an Irish team of match officials being appointed to the group stages of the UEFA Champions League for the first time.

Cork based referee, Alan Kelly has also been appointed by FIFA to referee the 2010 World Cup Qualifying match between Azerbaijan and Germany on August 12th. His assistants are Marc Douglas and Damien McGrath with Ian Stokes acting as 4th official.

Meanwhile, Irish referees have again been appointed to prestigious matches throughout July and August; David Mc Keon has been appointed to referee the Europa League 2nd Qualifying round match between FBK Kaunas and FK Sevojno in Lithuania on July 16th. His assistants are Ciaran Delaney and David Wogan and Neil Doyle will act as fourth official.

Irish women's referee, Paula Brady has been appointed as an assistant referee for the UEFA Women's U19 Finals in Belarus in July while Ken Hennessy has been appointed as reserve assistant referee to the UEFA U19 Finals in Ukraine in July.

Anthony Buttimer has also been appointed by UEFA to referee the U21 Championship match between Iceland and Czech Republic on August 12th. His assistants are Ken Hennessy and Allen Lynch while the fourth official is Mark Gough.