Media Release

Fédération Internationale de Football Association

FIFA Strasse 20, P.O Box 8044 Zurich, Switzerland, +41 (0) 43 222 7777

Tuesday 04 April 2017, 13:37

Match officials for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017 appointed

FIFA has announced the match officials who will be in charge at the forthcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017.

A total of 22 refereeing trios and five support referees from 34 different countries will officiate the matches. Continuing the 2016 IFAB approved two-year period of ‘live experiments with video assistance for clear errors in match-changing situations’, 22 Video Assistant Referees with the aim of ‘minimum interference – maximum benefit’ have also been appointed for this tournament.

The referees’ preparations for this important youth competition, organised by the FIFA Refereeing Department, will focus on a wide range of topics, such as the officials’ reading of the game, football understanding, positioning to adjudge offside, teamwork, and the importance of making the right decisions and obtaining the best position or angle – being at the right place at the right time.

All of these aspects reflect the philosophy of FIFA Refereeing and are key to the referees’ preparations, and as such, they are vital in order to achieve consistency and uniformity at such a high level of refereeing.

An important piece of history will be made at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017 with video assistance being used to support referees with “match-changing” decisions for the first time in a FIFA youth competition.

This trial will involve video assistant referees (VARs) being given access to all broadcast feeds inside a video operations room, enabling them to provide information to the referee on the field of play in order to correct clear mistakes in “match-changing” situations. These include serious incidents including goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards and cases of mistaken identity.

The VARs will play a supporting role along with the assistant referees and the fourth official, but the referee will continue to take the first as well as the final decision on the field of play.

As usual, the referees and VARs involved in the FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017 will participate in intensive theoretical and practical training sessions before the tournament, also organised by the FIFA Refereeing Department. The main points of emphasis will be on football understanding, reading the game, positioning, teamwork and different football mentalities, with the overall goal of achieving consistency and uniformity.

The FIFA U-20 World Cup Korea Republic 2017 will take place in the cities Cheonan, Daejeon, Incheon, Jeju, Jeonju and Suwon between 20 May and 11 June 2017. The final will be played at the Suwon World Cup Stadium on 11 June 2017.

To see the full list of appointments, please follow the link in the related items.

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