Jamaican Fifa match official Daneon Parchment has described his historic appointment to officiate at the Paris Olympic Games football tournament as “overwhelming”, adding he was “at a loss for words” when he got the news.

Parchment and Odette Hamilton were named in an 89-member list of 21 referees, 42 assistant referees, 20 video match officials, and six support referees from 45 countries to officiate at the 2024 Games football tournaments by the FIFA Referees Committee.

Hamilton is the second Jamaican woman to get the nod, following Stacy-Ann Greyson’s groundbreaking appointment at the London Games in 2012 when she became the first Jamaican and Caribbean woman to officiate at an Olympics.

Parchment, who has risen to become one of the top video assistant referees (VAR) in the Concacaf region, said it has been a dream of his.

“To be selected as one of the video match officials for the Paris Olympic Games [brings] overwhelming feelings. I was at a loss for words when I received the appointment to be honest, I was surprised,” Parchment, the head of the Physical Education (PE) Department at Cedric Titus High School in Clarks Town, Trelawny, told the Jamaica Observer.

“This is a true testament to my hard work that I would have done locally and internationally as I continue to push myself to excel to one of the biggest tournaments in the world. This is a dream come true and I must give God thanks because without him none of this would have been possible,” he added.

He spoke to the Observer just hours after returning to the country after his latest assignment, where he was part of the officials panel at the recent inaugural Concacaf Women’s Gold Cup and part of the VAR panel for the Concacaf Nations League final between the United States and Mexico in Texas two weeks ago.

His list of achievements includes officiating in the last four Men’s Gold Cup tournaments. He officiated in the 2021 semi-finals between Mexico and Canada. He was the fourth official at the 2023 final, and was on the VAR team for the Women’s Gold Cup final.

Parchment refereed the finals of the Olympic qualifiers between Mexico and Honduras in 2020 as well as the Concacaf Scotiabank Champions League finals that same year.

For the Olympic Games, Hamilton has been selected as support staff for the women’s tournament, set to kick off on July 25 and is to conclude with the gold medal match at the Parc des Princes on August 10. The men’s tournament will begin on July 24, while the gold medal match is to take place on August 9, also at the Parc des Princes.

A Fifa release said the match officials preparation will be “regularly and closely monitored before and during the Olympic Games” by a team of technical trainers, instructors, and medical personnel.