The FIFA Referees Committee has announced the match officials who will oversee games at the FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025, scheduled to take place from 27th September to 19th October.
A total of 54 match officials, comprising 18 referees and 36 assistant referees from 22 FIFA Member Associations are set to officiate the matches.
“Following the success of the FIFA Club World Cup, we look forward to another exciting tournament, for which we have once again appointed a very strong Team One line-up. From a refereeing perspective, it’s crucial that the officials have the opportunity to be involved in a tournament featuring the stars of tomorrow and for us to carry out further testing of Football Video Support (FVS), which has proven to be a great success thus far,” said Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee.
The implementation of Football Video Support (FVS) at the tournament builds on the trials conducted last year at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ in Colombia and the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup™ in the Dominican Republic.
The FVS trials were initiated in response to numerous requests from member associations for an alternative, cost-effective method of utilising technology to assist match officials. Unlike the video assistant referee (VAR) system, FVS does not employ dedicated video match officials and therefore does not review all match-changing incidents. Instead, the responsibility lies with the respective head coaches, who are permitted to make a limited number of review requests per game if they believe that a clear and obvious error has occurred in match-changing situations, such as goals, penalty decisions, direct red card incidents, or cases of mistaken identity. Players can also suggest to their coaches that a review be requested.
“Chile is a football-loving nation, and we have an excellent opportunity to ensure that this year’s edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup leaves a refereeing legacy. The FIFA U-20 World Cup is a highly competitive tournament that demands officials possess a sound understanding of the game,” noted Massimo Busacca, FIFA Director of Refereeing.
