Top referee retires
Auf Wiedersehen, Bernd
Bernd Gabbei of Berlin has decided that the time has come to hang up his whistle after 13 years as a Test referee.
Gabbei, born in Berlin in 1961, started refereeing in 1982. He refereed his first Test in 1993 when Israel played Holland in a World Cup qualifier. In all he has refereed 26 Tests and been to top tournaments, such as the World Cup Under-19 tournaments at Brescia (1996), Toulouse (1998), Wales (1999) and the Sevens Rugby World Cip in Hong Kong in 1997.
Now he is set to retire from active referee, grateful for the enjoyment and friendships of his career. He said: "I always wanted to become a better referee over the years, but I will be 45 in December. Because of the standard I demand of myself, the decision had to be made rather now then later."
He intends being involved in training referees and in rugby administration, as he has been doing for the last three years.
Educated at the Freie University in Berlin and University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, he is the head of the statistics department in the ministry of education in Berlin.
