General Assignments Discussion

Mexico : South Africa - SAMPAIO (BRA) Korea Republic : Czechia - OMAR (EGY) Canada : Bosnia Herzegovina - TELLO (ARG) United States : Paraguay - MAKKELIE (NED)

So, at minimum, semi-final for Sampaio if he performs (provided Brazil isn't there)? The list of opening match referees and how far they went in the tournament since '98. 1998: Jose Garcia-Aranda - Semi-final 2002: Ali Bujsaim - 4th on a quarterfinal (no whistle in KO round) 2006: Elizondo - Final 2010: Irmatov - Semi-final 2014: Nishimura - No knockout games and we know why 2018: Pitana - Final 2022: Orsato - Semi-final

So, at minimum, semi-final for Sampaio if he performs (provided Brazil isn't there)? The list of opening match referees and how far they went in the tournament since '98. 1998: Jose Garcia-Aranda - Semi-final 2002: Ali Bujsaim - 4th on a quarterfinal (no whistle in KO round) 2006: Elizondo - Final 2010: Irmatov - Semi-final 2014: Nishimura - No knockout games and we know why 2018: Pitana - Final 2022: Orsato - Semi-finalYou believe in this stuff far more than I do now. But sure, if he *performs* and Brazil isn't around, he's got to be a favorite for a late-round match. You don't give a guy an opener, signalling he's one of your best, and not at least consider him for a late round match if he does what you expect. That said, as writing on this site shows, I think Sampaio is a frustrating sort of referee. There's a type of match he can handle well, but I don't think he's a world class official and I actually think he's the third-best Brazilian at this tournament by a significant amount. So, based on his overall abilities and body of work, I hope he hits a few walls in the tournament so he isn't rewarded further in the way you suggest. I think a lot of Sampaio's standing comes down to internal CBF and CONMEBOL politics, rather than merit.

You believe in this stuff far more than I do now. But sure, if he *performs* and Brazil isn't around, he's got to be a favorite for a late-round match. You don't give a guy an opener, signalling he's one of your best, and not at least consider him for a late round match if he does what you expect. That said, as writing on this site shows, I think Sampaio is a frustrating sort of referee. There's a type of match he can handle well, but I don't think he's a world class official and I actually think he's the third-best Brazilian at this tournament by a significant amount. So, based on his overall abilities and body of work, I hope he hits a few walls in the tournament so he isn't rewarded further in the way you suggest. I think a lot of Sampaio's standing comes down to internal CBF and CONMEBOL politics, rather than merit.I don't think he's great either, but we've only had two not get a semi-final and one of those was due to such a bad penalty decision that it made him unassignable the rest of the tournament. I think a World Cup Final is a bridge too far for him as well, but if it's going to be someone from South America it surely has to be him unless the other Brazil referees are just so much better.

Does anyone know where the referees will be stationed in between matches? Dallas? Or will they be geographically spread out?

Miami is home base. I thought I heard the main VRO was supposed to be in New Jersey, but that might have changed? @Mikael_Referee , do you have some of the details? I do wonder about temporary staging. I will say that getting referees across country in business class on short notice during summer t-storm season has to be one of the most stressful and least recognized jobs of the tournament. It looks like Vancouver, Guadalajara and Monterrey are the only three destinations that don't have directs from MIA on American Airlines, which is the official tournament airline. I wonder if referees can use the other airlines that go direct (Air Canada and Aeromexico) or if they have to connect and/or stage for those assignments.I would love to read an article or watch some video showing how they do it. Logistically seems like a nightmare at a tournament this scale. I guess that's why they're announcing the appointments 3 days out instead of the usual 2?

I'm wondering if FIFA has a deal with the airlines to have all the tickets booked already. A sort of "we don't know which CR we're sending to Seattle for this game, bur we know somebody is going to have to make this trip so we need a seat reserved" sort of thing.If everyone is truly traveling to and from Miami after every match, this seems viable at a base level. But, man, that's a lot of travel. And, again, summer travel in the US gets messed up not infrequently. I guess that very lack of having connections could help (imagine having to rely on being consistently in and out of Dallas and/or Chicago all summer). But it's also not difficult to see how things can get screwed up. Also, not to get too close to the Artan argument in the other thread, but you've also got to deal with CBP and other immigration issues in-and-out of Mexico and Canada. Plus (and I hope this is solved) none of your non-PRO officials will have TSA Pre-check or Clear by default. Maybe there are default holds on a bunch of AA flights; I still don't envy the person in charge of travel logistics for referees this tournament.

2014: Nishimura - No knockout games and we know whyElucidate.

I'm wondering if FIFA has a deal with the airlines to have all the tickets booked already. A sort of "we don't know which CR we're sending to Seattle for this game, bur we know somebody is going to have to make this trip so we need a seat reserved" sort of thing.

Brazil : Morocco - VINCIC (SVN) Qatar : Switzerland - MARTINEZ (HON) Haiti : Scotland - GHORBAL (ALG) Australia: Türkiye - VALENZUELA (VEN)

Overall, the policy of bringing out perceived "big guns" early is there, though Omar kind of sticks out, but then again you need to find a place for everyone and I imagine that's not a place to burn Elfath or Barton early so CAF does make sense.I wish I had put it into writing, but I had Omar and Jayed as two of the biggest candidates for this game in my mind. It's a great place to use one of your mid-tier CAF referees because it's not a Germany-Curaçao type of game where you want to put your weakest link (e.g. Atcho), but it's also not a big match at all. Most of the football world will be asleep and the rest of it will be more focused on the hosts' opening matches. I don't think it will necessarily be an easy game, so it's a great environment to give Amin Omar a test run to see if he can be trusted for something more in the spotlight later in the tournament.

Miami is home base. I thought I heard the main VRO was supposed to be in New Jersey, but that might have changed? @Mikael_Referee , do you have some of the details?The thirty VMOs left yesterday for the International Broadcast Centre in Dallas, where they will be based for the tournament, having sat with the referees in Miami through a ten day-long seminary period of instruction by FIFA. After the Club WC where everyone spent much of the tournament travelling, special arrangements have been made for the daily debriefings by Collina. Besides that, I can't add too much more to the specifics, besides agreeing that logistics is an unenviable task!

Does anyone know where the referees will be stationed in between matches? Dallas? Or will they be geographically spread out?Miami is home base. I thought I heard the main VRO was supposed to be in New Jersey, but that might have changed? @Mikael_Referee , do you have some of the details? I do wonder about temporary staging. I will say that getting referees across country in business class on short notice during summer t-storm season has to be one of the most stressful and least recognized jobs of the tournament. It looks like Vancouver, Guadalajara and Monterrey are the only three destinations that don't have directs from MIA on American Airlines, which is the official tournament airline. I wonder if referees can use the other airlines that go direct (Air Canada and Aeromexico) or if they have to connect and/or stage for those assignments.

So next batch coming should be Qatar-Switzerland, Brazil-Morocco, Haiti-Scotland, and Australia-Turkiye. The Qatar match is probably a more minor name from Africa or South America. Australia-Turkiye feels like similar geography but a bigger name. That leaves the C matches. Probably a more minor name on Haiti-Scotland and a big UEFA name, as we've all seen for awhile, on Brazil-Morocco. There are historical arguments that you don't put a British referee in a group with Scotland, but if that is untrue, I'd think Oliver has a very good shot there. Otherwise, Marciniak or one of the French referees, I'd imagine.

Overall, the policy of bringing out perceived "big guns" early is there, though Omar kind of sticks out, but then again you need to find a place for everyone and I imagine that's not a place to burn Elfath or Barton early so CAF does make sense.I'm surprised it wasn't Ghorbal, but this match basically had to be a CAF referee (confed neutrality and UEFA/CONMEBOL being used on all other early matches), and Amin Omar did well at the Arab Cup in two very difficult matches. I think they feel secure enough on the Egyptian to give him a very important match for the 'expectation setting' of the tournament (but far from the top in terms of the two teams), but also as a test for his feasibility in later-stage matches.

Elucidate.Go to 1:04 in this video.