The Ref Stop

World Cup referee list

The Ref Stop
Not sure why Massey-Ellis doesn't take one of the 4 AR slots, has her level dropped that much recently?

Other big talking point from this list is that while England is one of only 3 countries that gets to send two referees, we're also the only big European league not to supply a VAR. Riley et al have some questions to answer there I think.
 
Not sure why Massey-Ellis doesn't take one of the 4 AR slots, has her level dropped that much recently?

Other big talking point from this list is that while England is one of only 3 countries that gets to send two referees, we're also the only big European league not to supply a VAR. Riley et al have some questions to answer there I think.
Why does England only get to send 2 referees? Seems bonkers to me compared to other countries like Brazil who at a simple glance had at least 3.
 
Why does England only get to send 2 referees? Seems bonkers to me compared to other countries like Brazil who at a simple glance had at least 3.
I think you need to have a further look. No country has more than 2 referees.
 
I think you need to have a further look. No country has more than 2 referees.
BRA has 2 referees and 5 assistants and that was me using Ctrl+S and search BRA. So they definitely have more than 2

Edit:
Missread meant referees as collective including ARs and Rs.
 
Also, seems strange that the French referee Stephannie Frapart has been selected to go, whilst I’m sure she is a top class official I’m not 100% sure that’s she’s there on merit
 
Thought Atwell be a stick on for VAR, certainly looks like a slap in face ( maybe much needed) to Rilley.
The two refs who are going, candidates for opening game or final ( subject to Englands involvment obv), both are excellent, Taylor more so in Euro fixtures, Oliver is excellent in both
Frapart is a worthy addition, stick any suggestion as per above that she is not there or maybe not there, on merit so far where the sun dont shine. Sickening to read such insinuations on a referee site of all pages, save that for Sport Bible facebook or similar gutter media
 
Frapart is a worthy addition, stick any suggestion as per above that she is not there or maybe not there, on merit so far where the sun dont shine. Sickening to read such insinuations on a referee site of all pages, save that for Sport Bible facebook or similar gutter media
As said, I am sure she is a top class official, however it I am surprised that she gets the nod over Bastien
 
Thought Atwell be a stick on for VAR, certainly looks like a slap in face ( maybe much needed) to Rilley.
The two refs who are going, candidates for opening game or final ( subject to Englands involvment obv), both are excellent, Taylor more so in Euro fixtures, Oliver is excellent in both
Frapart is a worthy addition, stick any suggestion as per above that she is not there or maybe not there, on merit so far where the sun dont shine. Sickening to read such insinuations on a referee site of all pages, save that for Sport Bible facebook or similar gutter media

Oh get off your virtue signalling horse.
Is referee selection suddenly a bastion of meritoracy?
Good referees have been overlooked for weaker referees for decades from local level to World Cups.
Let's not pretend ability alone is enough and referee politics doesn't exist.
 
Oh get off your virtue signalling horse.
Is referee selection suddenly a bastion of meritoracy?
Good referees have been overlooked for weaker referees for decades from local level to World Cups.
Let's not pretend ability alone is enough and referee politics doesn't exist.

Lets not pretend Oliver and Taylor are not fantastic referees
Who would you send, old Bert from the Cumbria Salvation Army Sunday league as its totally unfair he aint going yet Oliver is
 
Lets not pretend Oliver and Taylor are not fantastic referees
Who would you send, old Bert from the Cumbria Salvation Army Sunday league as its totally unfair he aint going

No, that'd be stupid.
Which is why literally noone has suggested this (except you)
 
Why does England only get to send 2 referees? Seems bonkers to me compared to other countries like Brazil who at a simple glance had at least 3.
The maximum number of (centre) referees for any country is two. England, Brazil, France and Argentina have this honour. When you consider that other football powerhouses like Germany, Spain and Italy are only sending one, this is a strong achievement. Four ARs to go with these two in the middle makes sense. I'd guess that the fifth Brazil AR is there to support another South American ref whose country does not have the required level of ARs.

As others have said, the only issue for England is the lack of VAR representation. However I personally feel this is justified given the more 'maverick' way that VAR has been implemented in the EPL

In other news, I was AR last weekend to Mark Rule (one of the New Zealand officials going) in front of a stunning crowd of 143 :rolleyes: :)
 
Oh get off your virtue signalling horse.
Is referee selection suddenly a bastion of meritoracy?
Good referees have been overlooked for weaker referees for decades from local level to World Cups.
Let's not pretend ability alone is enough and referee politics doesn't exist.
Didn't realise Simon Jordan had joined the forum (if you listen to talk sport you'll get it) ... 😂

Don't see the politics thing. England have their best two referees selected, and it is seemingly accepted that the EPL is the top league in the world hence why we get two. Frappart gets big games in France and has proved herself as an excellent referee.

@Anubis was reacting to the post about Frappart not being there on merit, and on this occasion was absolutely spot on.
 
Didn't realise Simon Jordan had joined the forum (if you listen to talk sport you'll get it) ... 😂

Don't see the politics thing. England have their best two referees selected, and it is seemingly accepted that the EPL is the top league in the world hence why we get two. Frappart gets big games in France and has proved herself as an excellent referee.

@Anubis was reacting to the post about Frappart not being there on merit, and on this occasion was absolutely spot on.

Okay, so all 100+ referees that have been selected are the best that could have been chosen and no referee ever has got a top appointment because of other factors?
Are we really pretending we live in such a world?
You think a referee is the best in France, another thinks they are the 2nd best in France. What a monster he must be!
 
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Okay, so all 100+ referees that have been selected are the best that could have been chosen and no referee ever has got a top appointment because of other factors?
Are we really pretending we live in such a world?
You think a referee is the best in France, another thinks they are the 2nd best in France. What a monster he must be!
Generally the cream rises to the top. Yes there are politics in refereeing, just as there are in almost every sport and profession. I've seen people promoted to positions well above their capability in work situations. I'd actually say it is much more prevalent in work situations as those promoted beyond their ability often get away with it by hiding behind other more capable people and then stealing their credit, that obviously isn't an option for a referee, you are in the view of everyone.

Is it the best 100 officials in the World? Probably not, because each country is restricted to two main referees, and I'd hazard a guess that some of the Spanish, German and Italian referees that have missed out are probably technically better than some of the referees selected from lesser nations. But that's no different to it not being the best performing referee that does the FA Cup final each year, some of the better L4 referees might miss out on L3 each season because of where they live, etc.

In my experience those moaning about politics in refereeing are almost always those who have missed out and are looking for someone else to blame.
 
Okay, so all 100+ referees that have been selected are the best that could have been chosen and no referee ever has got a top appointment because of other factors?
Are we really pretending we live in such a world?
You think a referee is the best in France, another thinks they are the 2nd best in France. What a monster he must be!

Its as if Rusty hacked my pc and typed for me

its a given politics plays a part exact same as any other walk of life
Using England as the example, because its the example most of us are most common with, Englands two best referees, proven, are going.
Nobody can reallly ask for much more than that.

to make it relevent to grass roots, sometimes there will be 5 candidates for promotion but only 3 places. ' Politcs' could easy be code word for, " hardly attended association meetings' ' had poorest admin', ' reputation for arriving late at games' ' unreliable due to work rota'. can even be, through nobodys fault, where they referee and the standard of that regions league" Very rare candidate 5 will hold hands up and say, well, the other 4 were better than me, far easier to say, well, my face did not fit.

just throwing in small example of Clatenburg, if politics was key he would have been nowhere near his Champ League and Euros final as PGMOL hated him
However, they recognised his outstanding ability and that was the over riding factor.
 
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