Saturday, 19 November 2022

World Cup 2022 - Referee appointments for matches 2-4

Wilson Seneme might have arrived late in Qatar, but he now definitely has arrived - two of three matches on the second day will be handled by the Brazilians, Claus (England vs. Iran) and Sampaio (Senegal vs. Netherlands). In addition, the home referee features at the earliest point in the tournament for twenty years: Al-Jassim has the late game, USA against Wales.

Match #3
Al Rayyan, 21 November 2022 (14:00 CET)
ENGLAND - IRAN
Referee: Raphael Claus (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodrigo Figueiredo (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Danilo Manis (BRA)
Fourth Official: Kevin Ortega (PER)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Michael Orué (PER)
Video Assistant Referee: Leodan González (URU)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Julio Bascuñán (CHI)
Offside Video Assistant Referee: Martín Soppi (URU)
Support Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Juan Pablo Belatti (ARG)

Match #2
Doha, 21 November 2022 (17:00 CET)
SENEGAL - NETHERLANDS 
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Pires (BRA)
Fourth Official: Andrés Matonte (URU)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Nicolás Taran (URU)
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Soto (VEN)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Nicolás Gallo (COL)
Offside Video Assistant Referee: Diego Bonfá (ARG)
Support Video Assistant Referee: Mauro Vigliano (ARG)
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ezequiel Brailovsky (ARG)

Match #4
Al Rayyan, 21 November 2022 (20:00 CET)
UNITED STATES - WALES 
Referee: Abdulrahman Al-Jassim (QAT)
Assistant Referee 1: Taleb Al-Marri (QAT)
Assistant Referee 2: Saoud Almaqaleh (QAT)
Fourth Official: Ma Ning (CHN)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Cao Yi (CHN)
Video Assistant Referee: Abdullah Al-Marri (QAT)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Rédouane Jiyed (MAR)
Offside Video Assistant Referee: Mokrane Gourari (ALG)
Support Video Assistant Referee: Adil Zourak (MAR)
Standby Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Elvis Noupue (CMR)

32 comments:

  1. Nothings official on the fifa website

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  2. Ma Ning will definitely be support referee. Strange that Mohammed wasn't appointed as FO in USAWAL in order to make it a fully Arabic speaking refereeing crew including VARs.

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    1. Maybe, Mohammed will be needed as a main referee on Tuesday or Wednesday. Seven out of eight games will be between UEFA and non-UEFA countries. I assume that most (or even all) of them will be handled by non-UEFA referees. And I expect that FIFA will appoint rather safe pairs of hands at the initial phase, even for not that sonorous matches.

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    2. I was going to mention the same observation about the 4O. Perhaps this signals that Mohamed’s first game will be very shortly.

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    3. Tbh Mohammed is a much worse ref than Ma Ning, without a clear line of consistency, especially in the assessment of duel. There's no doubt that Ma Ning is the one from AFC with least FIFA experience and possibly to be support ref, but considering the not-so-good performance of Mohammed in last wc and the intercontinental playoff this year, if he can still be trusted and get a fixture to ref, then why not Ma? Ma's team was wonderful in asian wcq, with a textbook-level "goal scored" decision in u23 asian cup that the ball has just passed the goalline and Cao Yi (2nd assist.) flagged immediately. They deserve to be in the wc and deserve to have a match assigned.

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  3. My reaction to first four assignments as a whole: 🤮🤮🤮.

    "You can have this game if you let mine have these games".

    Back to the old days of FIFA politics...

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  4. So far, fourth officials seem to be indeed the least experienced referees from each confederation. Therefore, I would expect maximum one game for them: Kovacs, Ortega, Matonte, Ma Ning.

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    1. Funny that you put Kovacs with the least experience in this competition, but you avoid Siebert from the list. I not remember thet Siebert was at WC 2018 in Russia. And Kovacs has also a final this year, Siebert didn't have one. Maybe I'm a little biased, because I'm romanian like Kovacs, despite the nickname. And I think all the refs will stay also for the last 16, and after that round many off them will go home.

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    2. Ortega and Matonte are both from Conmebol, so your analysis is wrong.

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  5. I have to say I am quite surprised at Al Jassim’s appointment. As the Qatari referee, it seems haphazardly early in the tournament when Qatar is under such intense media pressure (which will likely subside a bit later), pressure which perhaps *most especially* comes from exactly the two countries involved in this match: The United States and United Kingdom. And of course, plenty of Welsh supporters already remember him from his not-so-great CWC Final in 2019 which featured the nearby Liverpool.

    I think Al-Jassim has turned into an ok ref, but (I speak now as an American supporter), I can’t help but feel that I wish fifa had given us someone “better” for such an important match. (My American hat comes back off, now)

    I think this match puts this particular referee under so much unnecessary pressure. Just like in the Club World Cup, British and American media will see this as a blatantly political appointment, laypeople will find it so strange that a Qatari is officiating the match, and there is such an anti-Qatar sentiment in both countries that Al-Jassim will already be “playing from behind.”

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  6. Cuneyt CAKIR will be on the pitch as a referee for the last time today in Turkey-Czechsia friendly match.

    He was one of the greatests of his time. Wish good luck and all the best for the rest of his life.

    https://twitter.com/MrAsubio/status/1555299294474915843?t=uoUAgSrp8k_ZUBPm7GCUDQ&s=08

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  7. Might sound like a silly question: Do World Cup games have referees assessors? I checked the 2018 posts and they were missing there too.

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    1. I think yes they do, even if their names aren't of public domain as in UEFA.

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    2. Think so. Because as the competition goes on referees slowly get dropped. Either because their nation gets further on in the competition. In 2018 I believe all remaining European officials other then Makkelie and Kuipers i believe left Russia due to all 4 teams being European. Correct me if I'm wrong

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  8. Im really not sure how many of the Welsh would care about who reffed "nearby" Liverpool, considering most Welsh fans are from the south around Cardiff and Swansea.
    You wonder why appointments are political when the most spurious concerns are raised.
    I understand Michael Oliver enjoys holidays in Spain, surely that must be a reason for him not to ref them again (sarcasm)

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    1. I bring it up because British people and media (Welsh included) will know about Al Jassim from that game, and probably not in a very positive light. Watch, as soon as this assignment hits the mainstream media, you will see lots of premature conclusions about Al Jassim based upon his nationality and, to a lesser extent, his CWC final.

      I am not AT ALL saying that teams or countries should have to like a referee for the appointment to be made. I am, however, saying that in general, it would be responsible of the referees committee to appoint referees in such a way so as to not burden them with unnecessary pressures. Al-Jassim easily could have been given another game that would not have put him in the middle of a media shit storm.

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  9. https://m.digisport.ro/fotbal/arbitrul-cuneyt-cakir-a-fluierat-finalul-dupa-5-minute-in-meciul-turcia-cehia-toti-jucatorii-s-au-dus-la-el-2048157

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  10. Regarding predictions for MD1, for the first four matches i got 7 points out of 40. Not great start 😂

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    1. Can't remember who I choose but I think I got the same confederation for Game 1. I choose Frappart for the opener.

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  11. Can we get extra points if the referee guessed is not only from same confederation but same COUNTRY as appointed ref? I guessed Sampaio for England Iran haha.

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  12. OT Question: When did the Referees started to wear headsets for communication? 2008 is famous, because of the documentary "Referees at work", but I also saw Horacio Elizondo wear one for the 2006 WC Final. Was it used during the whole tournament or something new for the final? Thanks for you help.

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    1. It was at WC2006! But in EURO2008, Herbert Fandel still refused to wear it.

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  13. Any chance for Ma Ning to officiate in MD2 or MD3 after this MD1 4O appointment? Be cool to see a Chinese referee in the WC.

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    1. Hope so. Mayby he wiil be main referee in MD2.

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  14. In regards to the match assignments so far. I believe Arbitro Internacional sums it up the best.

    "Did someone say that appointments are not political? In 4 games:
    There is the Italian who has 3 representatives on the committee (Collina, Rizzoli, Rosetti)
    The Qatari, local, which has its vice president. (Al-Raeesi)
    And the two Brazilians, represented by Seneme."

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    1. Imo a embarrassment for the refereeing world

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  15. I dont see such a big problem with the first assignments, but nevertheless I would have preferred Beath instead of the colleague from Qatar, cause there is not an old "Liverpool-Story" and the Aussie-Football style fits good to the British. But ok, good luck to all teams and - Dont judge your pancake before you taste it...

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  16. Vincic being reported as Argentina vs Saudi Arabia referee. Nothing confirmed by Fifa atm.

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  17. Monday's referees might face an unpleasant affair, because the captains of England, Netherlands and Wales want to wear a "One Love" armband, while FIFA dictates different captain's armbands.
    There are some discussions, whether this might result in a Yellow Card according to Law 4, if the players don't follow the FIFA instruction.
    Hopefully, this will be resolved before the games.

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  18. Some wonderful scenes there. He deserves all the praise he's getting.

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  19. FIFA said that the captains will given a yellow card by the referee when the use the armband... So now the country's don't were the armband.

    https://www.knvb.nl/nieuws/oranje/nederlands-elftal/67047/fifa-verbindt-sportieve-sancties-aan-het-dragen-van-de-onelove

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    1. I do not see any backup in the law of the games which can justify a yellow card for wearing such an armband.

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