Shamsul Maidin is a Singaporean association footballreferee. He first became a referee in 1996 and retired in 2007. AFC Director of Referees since 2016 Shamsul Maidin has contributed to the development of Asian Refereeing for over two decades as a match official, instructor and manager. Having represented Asia at the 2006 FIFA World Cup and the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, Shamsul Maidin was twice selected AFC Official of the Year in the mentioned consecutive years. He has also won the S.League Referee of the Year award four times, in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001. Specialised in Human Resources studies, Shamsul is a former Football Association of Singapore referee retired in 2007. Recognised for his experience as referee instructor and referee assessor at FIFA and AFC level, Shamsul Maidin was appointed as part of the instructors' team of the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Other highlights of his career include the 2004, 2000 and 1996 AFC Asian Cup editions, as well as the 2003 and 2001 FIFA World Youth Championships. The Singaporean also became the only non-African match official at the 2006 African Cup of Nations and guided United Arab Emirates Football Association referees as Technical Director from 2013 to 2015. He is currently leading the Referees Department of the Asian Football Confederation. Shamsul is the first Singaporean to be chosen as AFC's director of referees. Since January 2017, Shamsul is a member of the FIFA Referees Committee. Additionally, Shamsul is a member of the IFAB Technical Advisory Panel since 2016.
In the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Shamsul was appointed as a technical instructor by FIFA.
2006 FIFA World Cup
In 2006, Shamsul was selected by FIFA as one of the official referees for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, only the second time a Singaporean had taken part in a FIFA World Cup after George Suppiah in 1974, also held in Germany. Shamsul took charge of the group stage game between Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden, brandishing the first red card of the tournament to Trinidad and Tobago's Avery John. He also officiated the group stage game between Mexico and Angola, sending off Angola's André Macanga, becoming the first referee of the tournament who sends off two players. His appointment for the Mexico v Angola saw Shamsul turning into the first Singaporean to handle more than one match at a World Cup Finals. Shamsul also officiated the final Group A game between Poland and Costa Rica, becoming the first referee of the competition to perform in three matches. Finally, he was appointed as fourth official for the Round of 16 match between Germany and Sweden.
2005 Confederations Cup
In addition, during the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, he officiated in the Argentina v Australia match in Nuremberg, in which Argentina won 4-2.
