World football governing body FIFA has released a list of 36 officials who are expected to officiate at the World Cup 2018 in Russia next year.
No Nigerian referee was deemed good enough by FIFA to be included in the list despite FIFA picking six officials from Africa to represent the Confederation of African Football ( CAF) ..
Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan who awarded the controversial penalty that eliminated Northern Ireland from the World Cup play-offs was the biggest casualty in the list of officials for a World Cup seminar between 25 and 29 November in Abu Dhabi.
Hategan’s decision to hand Switzerland a controversial penalty lead to the elimination of Northern Ireland, and that decision appears to have cost him a spot at the World Cup in Russia as he is the only one who officiated the UEFA World Cup play-offs not included in the list.
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See Full List Below:
*AFC*
Fahad AL MIRDASI (KSA)
Alireza FAGHANI (IRN)
Ravshan IRMATOV (UZB)
Mohammed Abdulla MOHAMED (UAE)
Ryuji SATO (JPN)
Nawaf Abdulla SHUKRALLA (BHR)
*CAF*
Mehdi ABID CHAREF (ALG)
Malang DIEDHIOU (SEN)
Bakary Papa GASSAMA (GAM)
Ghead GRISHA (EGY)
Janny SIKAZWE (ZAM)
Weyesa Bamlak TESSEMA (ETH)
*CONCACAF*
Joel AGUILAR (SLV)
Mark W. GEIGER (USA)
Jair MARRUFO (USA)
Ricardo MONTERO (CRC)
John PITTI (PAN)
Cesar Arturo RAMOS PALAZUELOS (MEX)
*CONMEBOL*
Julio BASCUÑAN (CHI)
Enrique CACERES (PAR)
Andres CUNHA (URU)
Nestor PITANA (ARG)
Sandro RICCI (BRA)
Wilmar ROLDAN (COL)
*OFC*
Matthew CONGER (NZL)
Norbert HAUATA (TAH)
*UEFA*
Felix BRYCH (GER)
Cüneyt CAKIR (TUR)
Sergey KARASEV (RUS)
Bjorn KUIPERS (NED)
Szymon MARCINIAK (POL)
Antonio Miguel MATEU LAHOZ (ESP)
Milorad MAZIC (SRB)
Gianluca ROCCHI (ITA)
Damir SKOMINA (SVN)
Clement TURPIN (FRA)
Osas Mahawi
