Hailakandi, Dec. 28: FIFA referee from Silchar, Mrinal Kanti Roy, will retire on completing 45 years of age.

Roy told journalists at the Silchar Football Academy that he would officially declare his retirement on his 45th birthday on Sunday, as a FIFA referee must retire on completing that age.

That day, he will officiate in a Mohun Bagan-East Bengal match at Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta. He said he would also officiate a match in Silchar’s Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium after his retirement.

Roy said he plans to train referees in Silchar after retirement.

He added that fitness was the secret of his success.

Roy took up refereeing at Silchar in 1975. In 1995, he became a national referee and in 2000, he became an assistant referee of FIFA.

He has refereed many matches at the international level and was also in the panel of the final match at the Nehru Gold Cup in 2007.

He also officiated matches in the Pre-World Cup and Pre-Olympic matches and refereed at least 180 matches in the National Football League.

He is the first FIFA referee from the Northeast to have officiated in as many matches. Roy left for Calcutta yesterday for the last official match of his career.