FIFA announces 52-member referee team for World Cup, featuring six female officials

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FIFA on Thursday unveiled its list of match officials for the June 11-July 19 World Cup, including 52 referees, six of whom are women.

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Football’s governing body will also take 88 assistant referees and 30 video match officials, who hail from all six confederations and 50 member associations.

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“The selected match officials are the very best in the world,” said Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s chief refereeing officer.

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“They were part of a wider pool of officials that was identified and monitored over the past three years. They have attended seminars and officiated at FIFA tournaments.

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“In addition, their performances in domestic and international matches were regularly assessed.”

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The World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico will be the biggest in history, with a 48-team line-up and 104 matches to be played.

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There are 41 more match officials than at Qatar four years ago, where 32 teams played 64 matches.

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“The fact that six women match officials have been selected continues a trend that was started four years ago in Qatar as we aim to further develop women’s refereeing,” Collina said with six women having already refereed in 2022.

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AFP

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