The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup will come to play minus South African match officials, putting a dent on local referees, who have been the subject of dissatisfaction with every passing week.
Mamelodi Sundowns – who were victims of poor officiating on Sunday as they were knocked out of the Nedbank Cup – will be at the expanded tournament.
According to FIFA, South Africa has 16 match officials on their football panel, who include referees, assistant referees, and video match officials, but none have made the list for the tournament in USA from June 14 – July 13.
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The South African referees on the FIFA list includes Badi Luxolo, Jelly Chavani, Akhona Makalima, and Abongile Tom.
Makalima and Tom are also trained to work as video match officials.
Following a thorough preparation process which included seminars, the FIFA Referees Committee has selected a pool of 117 match officials from 41 FIFA member associations, which includes referees, assistant referees, and video match officials.
From CAF, there are five officials who will run with the whistle on match day, who are Issa Sy (Senegal) Jean Jacques Ndala (DR Congo), Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria), Ibrahim Mutaz (Libya), and Dahane Beida (Mauritania).
Pierluigi Collina, the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina, says they have set the bar high.
“We are coming from high standard performances delivered during the last FIFA tournaments.
“So, the bar is higher and when you get the bar higher, it’s more difficult to keep the standard.
“But we are working very hard and Team One will make a solid contribution to the success of this exciting competition,” Collina told FIFA.
The football governing body also confirmed the below for the 32-team tournament:
“In line with the changes to the Laws of the Game approved by The International Football Association Board (The IFAB), FIFA will implement new rules designed to cut down on time-wasting by goalkeepers.
“If a goalkeeper holds the ball for longer than eight seconds (with the referee using a visual five-second countdown), the referee will award a corner kick to the opposing team (rather than the current indirect free kick for more than six seconds).
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“In addition, following The IFAB’s support for FIFA’s undertaking to test body cameras worn by match officials to identify possible future use and develop quality and safety standards, referees will be equipped with body cameras on a trial basis at the FIFA Club World Cup.
“The live footage from these cameras will be made available to fans across the world via DAZN, the exclusive global broadcaster of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025,” reads the statement.
