FIFA Holds 3 Seminars Preparing Referees for Qatar 2022

Referees

FIFA held three seminars to thoroughly prepare the 36 referees, 69 assistant referees and 24 video match officials from all six confederations chosen to officiate at the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

The three-day seminars enabled officials from each confederation to come together in Asuncion, Paraguay (CONCACAF/Conmebol), Doha, Qatar (AFC/OFC/CAF), and Madrid, Spain (UEFA), led by Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, and Massimo Busacca, FIFA's Director of Refereeing.

The match officials were put to the test in both theoretical classes and on-the-field training sessions each day, allowing the officials to simulate and practice various live-match situations.

"Our objective is to prepare the referee as best as possible to avoid using technology, but technology is there to reduce the possibility of human mistake that can affect the outcome of a match. Even the best referee can make a mistake; he is a human being, and we know that," said Pierluigi Collina.

For the selected match officials, their participation at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is the ultimate realization of a professional dream. For Danny Makkelie of The Netherlands, one hed had since childhood.

"When I received the invitation and confirmation that I had been selected with my team, this was an unbelievable feeling. When I started as a referee, I was 12 years old, and my goal was already that I wanted to reach the top, and I was dreaming of the World Cup," said the Dutchman, who was also a Video Assistant Referee at the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

QNA