36 referees, 63 assistant referees to officiate in World Cup

The final choice was based on each referee’s skills, personality, the understanding of the game and the ability to read tactics employed by the teams.

There have been preparatory seminars that stressed on fair play, protecting players and the image of the beautiful game.

Thirty six referees and 63 assistant referees, from 46 different countries, have been selected for the FIFA World Cup in Russia starting June 14.

The initial group of 43 FIFA referee trios started preparations in September 2014. The final choice was based on each referee’s skills, personality, the understanding of the game and the ability to read tactics employed by the teams.

 

There have been preparatory seminars that stressed on fair play, protecting players and the image of the beautiful game.

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The selected match officials will attend another conclave for two weeks in April at the technical centre of the Italian Football Association in Coverciano.

They will be divided into two groups, which will also include video assistant referee (VAR) candidates.

 

The FIFA Referees Committee will announce the name of the VAR candidates following the conference. The selection will be based on the candidate’s VAR experience in domestic leagues, FIFA tournaments and FIFA refereeing seminars.

Till the World Cup starts, the selected referees, assistant referees and VARs will be monitored and supported by FIFA Refereeing on an individual basis.

After the Coverciano talk, the match officials will participate in the final preparatory symposium at the FIFA World Cup match officials' headquarters in Moscow, ten days prior to the tournament.

No English refs This summer's World Cup will feature no English referees for the first time in post-war history, nor assistants, after FIFA confirmed its official list of 99 match officials for Russia 2018 on Thursday. England whistler Mark Clattenburg, who retired from Premier League duty last summer, had been included on a pre-selected group drawn up by world ruling body FIFA two years ago. But his money-spinning move to Saudi Arabia left no English referees on FIFA's World Cup list for the first time since before the second world war. The referees representing UEFA-affiliated countries are from Germany, Turkey, Russia, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Serbia, Italy, Slovenia and France. — AFP