As expected, 16 out of the 18 referees who recently attended Euro 2016 in France have been pre-selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP, 45), who ended his career after Euro, and Martin Atkinson (ENG, 45) are missing, while Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP), Gianluca Rocchi (ITA), Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE, fourth official at Euro) and Artur Soares Dias (POR) have been added to the list of prospective referees. The oldest pre-selected referee is Nicola Rizzoli (ITA, photo), who will be 47 in 2018. No other referee will be older than 45 by the World Cup time, with the youngest candidate being Clement Turpin (FRA, 36 in 2018). In 2014, FIFA appointed only 9 European referees (plus 1 reserve) to the World Cup in Brazil, so the competition will be more difficult than the selection for Euro 2016.
1. Felix Brych (GER, 1975)
2. Cuneyt Cakir (TUR, 1976)
3. Mark Clattenburg (ENG, 1975)
4. William Collum (SCO, 1979)
5. Jonas Eriksson (SWE, 1974)
6. Ovidiu Hategan (ROU, 1980)
7. Sergei Karasev (RUS, 1979)
8. Viktor Kassai (HUN, 1975)
9. Pavel Kralovec (CZE, 1977)
10. Bjorn Kuipers (NED, 1973)
11. Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP, 1977)
12. Szymon Marciniak (POL, 1981)
13. Milorad Mazic (SRB, 1973)
14. Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR, 1979)
15. Nicola Rizzoli (ITA, 1971)
16. Gianluca Rocchi (ITA, 1973)
17. Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE, 1979)
18. Damir Skomina (SVN, 1976)
19. Artur Soares Dias (POR, 1979)
20. Clement Turpin (FRA, 1982)
All prospective referees from Europe will attend a FIFA Elite Seminar in Zürich (SUI), from 19 to 23 September 2016.
Source: Pitka Nozna