I never understood Vera’s appointment in 2014. He did two group stage games and that’s it, yet he gets fourth official on the final? Even if they really had to spread out the appointment to South America why not go with Ricci instead?
Following up with some discussion we had before MLS Cup, I hope they have express transport lined up to get the VOR officials from the broadcast center up to Lusail in time to participate in the postgame ceremony with the rest of the crew!
Wasn't Ricci released? I mean, I don't think I understood it fully either at the time. But if it was as simple as "we need a CONMEBOL guy," it makes sense. Also R16 assignments were spread around a lot more that year, so you can imagine Vera was hanging around, originally, as a contingency plan for the semis if one needed or could have a South American. Kind of the Cunha plan before Cunha happened. Or maybe it was all just dumb luck.
Vera was very unlucky in 2014. He had a really good group stage, including a brilliantly perceived penalty given in his second game which was fully decisive for the qualification. FIFA were ready to appoint him for the NEDCRC QF, but KNVB were able to block his candidacy (Latin connection) and instead they got Irmatov, who himself was blocked by AFA in the previous round. Vera, like Lamolina in 1994, got the gig on the ‘apology for maltreatment’ angle. He was a very good ref IMO. (Law5 readers: do you see what I mean about how 2014- ruined everything!! The teams/associations never, never, never had such power in the past… )
On a seemingly completely unrelated but maybe sort of related note... I wonder how the FIFA Referees Committee will treat the new 32-team Club World Cup in 2025. In some ways, it could/should be like the youth tournaments--so your top(ish) referees who are candidates for World Cup 2026. But if it truly has some of the best clubs in the world (from Europe, mostly, but also CONMEBOL) and then some lower quality clubs from CONCACAF, CAF, AFC, OFC... we are talking about some of the best players in the world matching up against some who are, well, not. This could require a completely different type of officiating than we've seen at the last few World Cups. Selection, assignments and ultimately performance there will be fascinating to watch. And then the politics around the assignments--because I imagine FIFA would give non-UEFA referees a chance at some big UEFA v UEFA matchups. But maybe not. And, if not, that means the guys from outside UEFA will mostly see those potentially lopsided UEFA v non-UEFA matches, which could be a problem. If the tournament takes off, it could be a whole new world of elite referee analysis/development.
Just realized, what a dumb comment I made about Ricci, Brazil were playing in that game of course! For some reason I thought argentina were involved instead.
Don't know where else to put this so I'll put it here. This is the best forum on bigsoccer and doubly so during major competitions. I've once again wasted more time than I should have reading through the threads for every game I watched. There is an added level of understanding that is teased out in his forum that adds to my enjoyment of watching soccer. While I wish reffing was more science than art (don't focus on that comment, there is a complement coming) reading posts here helps me to understand what the ref saw and what he/she might have been thinking. I wish there was an NFL board similar to this one somewhere. Thanks you all again for a great WC watching/reading experience.
As another non-referee who has been following these tournament forums since at least 2014, I wholeheartedly agree
Me too! I'm a fan, ice hockey official, and long time lurker on these boards. Thanks for helping me be a fan of both the game and the officiating. It'll be more than that soon, as my son and I will be registering as new soccer officials next year. He doesn't do hockey, but I'll gladly work soccer with him.
Somebody was asking about referee compensation at the world cup. I know there were some answers, but I am going to quote Polish media which are quoting AS (Spain) in the context of Marciniak. So, who knows how true it is, but this is what went out to the public. 70k USD for referee getting to the WC. 5k USD for group stage match and 10k for a knockout round match. AR - 25k for making it to the WC, 2.5k for a group stage match and 5k for a knockout round match. So, Marciniak will have made 95k USD for his tournament.
I will chip in here too. Thank you MassRef, balu, and anyone else responsible for setting up the World Cup referee discussion threads. And thank you to all of my fellow referees who have participated in the discussions this past month.It is an absolute pleasure to watch the games and the referee performances with you all.
Still waiting for the press release on the Uruguay disciplinary case, but FIFA announced today the Integrity Task Force detected no match manipulation at the 2022 World Cup.
It's not completely analogous and it's several World Cups in the past, but Joao Pinto's long ban for punching a referee at WC02 didn't come until that November. The wheels of justice move slowly at FIFA. I don't know the calendar of standing committee meetings, but I wouldn't expect anything until March or so at the earliest.