Importance of Referees at the World Cup

As someone who has played soccer for years, I have experienced some very poor refereeing. Whilst extremely frustrating in the moment, this is to be expected at the grassroots level, as officials are often just beginning to learn their trade, or are just working for fun. There are often some instances in the professional game too where referees make questionable calls, leading to uproar from fans. Luckily, FIFA has some fantastic men and women working for them to ensure that all games are played out fairly. 

Interestingly, for the first time in 80 years, there will be no English referees at the World Cup. Noted as having one of the best referee developmental systems in the world, England has been represented consistently for decades and English officials have taken charge of the last few finals of major tournaments, both club and international.

Most notably in recent time was Howard Webb who took charge of the 2010 World Cup final. Webb showed 14 yellow cards in that match, which was a feisty affair, landing him in the history books. England is full of quality officials including Martin Atkinson and Michael Oliver, and produced former EPL referee Mark Clattenburg. He now works in Asia, and has consistently taken charge of AFC and UEFA matches. Clattenburg was tipped to work at the 2018 World Cup but did not make the final list.

FIFA announced 36 referees for the tournament as well as a number of assistants. Some of the more well known officials include Mark Geiger from the US, Felix Brych from Germany, Bakary Gassama from Gambia, and Björn Kuipers from the Netherlands. All 6 continents have representatives on the officiating teams. The choices were “based on each referee’s skills and personality, as well as his level of understanding of football and ability to read both the game and the various tactics employed by teams." Of those 36, some will be selected to work as part of the video review unit. These officials will take a seminar leading up to the opening day and will play as large a role as their counterparts on the field. With VAR in operation for the first time, it will be essential, to the technology’s advancement and future growth in popularity, for it to be well represented and worked during the World Cup. With this training, there will hopefully be no big issues in the use of VAR.

The problems will then arise, as they always do, from unhappy fans. One of the biggest arguments against VAR is that it takes the pace out of the game. This is important, however no more so than making the correct call. In a tournament where one poor call can cost a game, and where each game matters highly, it is important to make as few mistakes in officiating as possible, hence the introduction of VAR. The referees play an integral role in the smooth running of the tournament, and VAR is now another tool at their disposal. With a vast number of nations represented by the 36 man officiating team, there will likely be an equally vast array of refereeing styles. VAR, hopefully, will be a terrific equalizer between these styles.

FIFA are yet to announce who will take charge of specific games, but all of these officials are talented at their job. Despite no English officials being present, this will not be detrimental to the running of the tournament whatsoever. With the additional training, the officiating at the 2018 World Cup could be some of the best ever, and we as fans can look forward to a very competitive, fair, series of matches.