With only two months to go before the FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 kicks off, the FIFA Referees Committee has appointed 21 trios of match officials, representing all six confederations. For FIFA, it is essential to ensure that the best match officials from all around the world are selected for FIFA competitions. For some of the selected match officials, India 2017 will be another important step in their preparations for FIFA’s flagship competition, the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia. At the same time, this competition in India will give other ambitious FIFA referees the opportunity to show their quality while taking another step forward in their career. FIFA has also selected seven support referees, but with a twist: for the first-ever time, FIFA has selected female referees for a men’s tournament. The results and improvements seen in the joint preparations have shown that the time has come for elite female referees to officiate in men’s competitions together with their male colleagues. “We think it’s time for elite female referees to be involved in a FIFA men’s competition. They worked together with male match officials last year and now we want to see them working together in a competition”, said FIFA Head of Refereeing Massimo Busacca. The referees have completed a host of activities together in several seminars, including theoretical sessions in the classroom and practical sessions on the field of play. The match officials have also discussed and practiced various game situations to achieve consistency and uniformity. The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2017 will take place in India between 6 and 28 October 2017. (Source: FIFA)
AFC
Referee: Muhammad Bin Jahari (SIN, 1977)
Assistant Referee 1: Tzu Liang Lee (SIN, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Min Kiat Koh (SIN, 1979)
Referee: Ryuji Sato (JPN, 1983, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Toru Sagara (JPN, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Hiroshi Yamauchi (JPN, 1979)
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (BHR, 1976)
Assistant Referee 1: Yaser Tulefat (BHR, 1974)
Assistant Referee 2: Ebrahim Saleh (BHR, 1974)
Support Referee
Ri Hyang Ok (PRK, 1977)
CAF
Referee: Mehdi Abid Charef (ALG, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdelhak Etchiali (ALG, 1981)
Assistant Referee 2: Anouar Hmila (TUN, 1974)
Referee: Hamada Nampiandraza (MAD, 1984)
Assistant Referee 1: Arsenio Marengula (MOZ, 1986)
Assistant Referee 2: Yahaya Mahamadou (NIG, 1983)
Referee: Bamlak Tessema (ETH, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Olivier Safari (COD, 1980)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Ssonko (UGA, 1978)
Support Referee
Gladys Lengwe (ZAM, 1978)
CONCACAF
Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA, 1977)
Assistant Referee 1: Frank Anderson (USA, 1975)
Assistant Referee 2: Corey Rockwell (USA, 1974)
Referee: Ricardo Montero (CRC, 1986)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Mora (CRC, 1989)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Fernandez (CRC, 1987)
Referee: John Pitti (PAN, 1978)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabriel Victoria (PAN, 1973)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Ramirez (HON, 1988)
Support Referee
Carol Anne Chenard (CAN, 1977)
CONMEBOL
Referee: Jose Argote (VEN, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Murillo (VEN, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Lopez (VEN, 1982)
Referee: Enrique Caceres (PAR, 1974)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zorrilla (PAR, 1975)
Referee: Sandro Ricci (BRA, 1974
Assistant Referee 1: Emerson De Carvalho (BRA, 1972)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Van Gasse (BRA, 1976)
Referee: Gery Vargas (BOL, 1981)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Montano (BOL, 1988)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Antelo (BOL, 1984)
Support Referee
Claudia Umpierrez URU, 1983)
OFC
Referee: Abdelkader Zitouni (TAH, 1981)
Assistant Referee 1: Folio Moeaki (TGA, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Bernard Mutukera (SOL, 1991)
Support Referee
Anna-Marie Keighley (NZL, 1982)
UEFA
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (ROU, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Sovre (ROU, 1973)
Assistant Referee 2: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU, 1976)
Referee: Robert Madden (SCO, 1978)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO, 1986)
Assistant Referee 2: Alastair Mather (SCO, 1977)
Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Polichronis Kostaras (GRE, 1983)
Assistant Referee 2: Lazaros Dimitriadis (GRE, 1982)
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (POR, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Barbosa (POR, 1974)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Santos (POR, 1976)
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG, 1978)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG, 1977)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Nunn (ENG, 1985)
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA, 1982)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA, 1980)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA, 1972)
Referee: Slavko Vincic (SVN, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaz Klancnik (SVN, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Andraz Kovacic (SVN, 1985)
Support Referees
Kateryna Monzul (UKR, 1981)
Esther Staubli (SUI, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdelhak Etchiali (ALG, 1981)
Assistant Referee 2: Anouar Hmila (TUN, 1974)
Referee: Hamada Nampiandraza (MAD, 1984)
Assistant Referee 1: Arsenio Marengula (MOZ, 1986)
Assistant Referee 2: Yahaya Mahamadou (NIG, 1983)
Referee: Bamlak Tessema (ETH, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Olivier Safari (COD, 1980)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Ssonko (UGA, 1978)
Support Referee
Gladys Lengwe (ZAM, 1978)
CONCACAF
Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA, 1977)
Assistant Referee 1: Frank Anderson (USA, 1975)
Assistant Referee 2: Corey Rockwell (USA, 1974)
Referee: Ricardo Montero (CRC, 1986)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Mora (CRC, 1989)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Fernandez (CRC, 1987)
Referee: John Pitti (PAN, 1978)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabriel Victoria (PAN, 1973)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Ramirez (HON, 1988)
Support Referee
Carol Anne Chenard (CAN, 1977)
CONMEBOL
Referee: Jose Argote (VEN, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Murillo (VEN, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Lopez (VEN, 1982)
Referee: Enrique Caceres (PAR, 1974)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zorrilla (PAR, 1975)
Referee: Sandro Ricci (BRA, 1974
Assistant Referee 1: Emerson De Carvalho (BRA, 1972)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Van Gasse (BRA, 1976)
Referee: Gery Vargas (BOL, 1981)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Montano (BOL, 1988)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Antelo (BOL, 1984)
Support Referee
Claudia Umpierrez URU, 1983)
OFC
Referee: Abdelkader Zitouni (TAH, 1981)
Assistant Referee 1: Folio Moeaki (TGA, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Bernard Mutukera (SOL, 1991)
Support Referee
Anna-Marie Keighley (NZL, 1982)
UEFA
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (ROU, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Sovre (ROU, 1973)
Assistant Referee 2: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU, 1976)
Referee: Robert Madden (SCO, 1978)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO, 1986)
Assistant Referee 2: Alastair Mather (SCO, 1977)
Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Polichronis Kostaras (GRE, 1983)
Assistant Referee 2: Lazaros Dimitriadis (GRE, 1982)
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (POR, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Barbosa (POR, 1974)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Santos (POR, 1976)
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG, 1978)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG, 1977)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Nunn (ENG, 1985)
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA, 1982)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA, 1980)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA, 1972)
Referee: Slavko Vincic (SVN, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaz Klancnik (SVN, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Andraz Kovacic (SVN, 1985)
Support Referees
Kateryna Monzul (UKR, 1981)
Esther Staubli (SUI, 1979)