FIFA's referees committee announces match officials for Club World Cup
The 15th edition of the competition will be held in the United Arab Emirates from December 12 to 22 this year.
Published : Oct 18, 2018 15:36 IST
FIFA’s Referees Committee has announced the match officials for the forthcoming FIFA Club World Cup, to be played in the UAE from December 12 to 22.
Six refereeing trios, one from each confederation — Asian Football Confederation, Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football, Confederation of African Football, South American Football Confederation, Oceania Football Confederation and UEFA — will officiate the matches. FIFA has selected six more referees to operate as video assistant referees (VARs) for the tournament.
The match officials will arrive in Abu Dhabi on December 6 to complete their final preparations.
The Club World Cup is an annual football competition organised by FIFA. It involves club teams from the six Confederations, which have won their continental competitions, and the winner of the host nation's league championship.
Real Madrid (UEFA), Team Wellington (OFC), CD Guadalajara (CONCACAF), and Al-Ain (tournament host) are the confirmed participants, with two more teams — that is, the winner of Copa Libertadores and Confederation of African Football — set to join.
Real Madrid will enter the tournament as the defending champion, having won the competition under Zinedine Zidane for the second consecutive season in 2017, beating CONMEBOL's Gremio in the final.
| Confederation | Referee (with member association) | Assistants |
| AFC | Ryuji Sato (Japan) | Toru Sagara (Japan) Hiroshi Yamauchi (Japan) |
| CAF | Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria) | Abdelhak Etchiali (Algeria) Anouar Hmila (Tunisia) |
| CONCACAF | Jair Marrufo (USA) | Frank Anderson (USA) Corey Rockwell (USA) |
| CONMEBOL | Wilton Sampaio (Brazil) | Rodrigo Figueiredo (Brazil) Bruno Boschilia (Brazil) |
| OFC | Matt Conger (New Zealand) | Tevita Makasini (Tonga) Mark Rule (New Zealand) |
| UEFA | Rocchi Gianluca (Italy) | Elnito Di Liberatore (Italy) Mauro Tonolini (Italy) |
| Video Assistant Referee (VAR) | Member Association |
| Mohammed Abdulla Mohammed | UAE |
| Mark Geiger | USA |
| Mauro Vigliano | Argentina |
| Pawel Gil | Poland |
| Massimiliano Irrati | Italy |
| Danny Makkelie | Netherlands |