Tokyo 2020: Hong Kong’s Matt Rodden to referee Olympic rugby sevens

Rodden and Japan’s Noriaki Hashimoto will represent Asia after World Rugby unveiled a squad of 11 men and 11 women for July 26-31

New Zealander Rodden arrived in the city in 2012 to join the Hong Kong Rugby Union and is a veteran referee in the World Series

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Matt Rodden referees an Asia Rugby Under 20 Sevens match in Hong Kong. Photo CWH

Published: 4:56pm, 17 Apr 2021Updated: 4:56pm, 17 Apr 2021

Hong Kong’s Matt Rodden will be one of only two Asia-based referees at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics rugby sevens tournament after he was named by World Rugby in the 22-strong squad of match officials’ for the Games.

Rodden and Japan’s Noriaki Hashimoto are among the 11 male referees to take charge of matches during the competition from July 26-31 at the Tokyo Stadium. He will be the second Hong Kong referee to carry a whistle at the Olympics after women’s pioneer Gabriel Lee-Lehner at Rio 2016 when rugby sevens made its Games’ debut.

“I am honoured to be selected and to represent Hong Kong at the Olympic Games,” said New Zealander Rodden, an HSBC World Series veteran who moved to Hong Kong in 2013 to fill the post of the HKRU’s Community Referee Manager and is now Referee Development Manager.

“It’s testament to the hard work put in by the whole refereeing community we have here, led by Hugh Watkins, that have driven me to perform at the highest level I can and hopefully open doors for the next generation of sevens referees to follow.

“The referees selected for the Olympics are a quality bunch so to be able to continue referee alongside them on the biggest stage after four to five years working as a team is huge for me.”