Former FIFA referee reacted to the non-participation of Russian referees in the 2022 World Cup

MOSCOW, May 19, Vasily Bogdanov.Former FIFA referee Aleksey Nikolaev said that the absence of Russian referees in the lists for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was expected and sad. On Thursday, the International Football Federation (FIFA) published a list of referees who will work at the upcoming World Cup, it included 36 chief judges, 69 assistant referees and 24 people who will be in charge of the video assistant referee (VAR) system. Russian judges were not included in the list. Also, for the first time in history, women will work at the meetings of the men's tournament. «There is nothing special to comment on. Once again we were convinced of how everything is arranged now. It remains only to remember with sadness that we once had a large and friendly referee family. There were «Is there any hope that one of the Russians will be on the final list? It's better to ask Sergey Karasev if he expected to get there. If he went to Qatar, it is absolutely deserved,» said Nikolaev. refereeing corps at the World Cup, this decision is in step with the times. We decided that they can fit and not spoil the game. It will take time to understand this. Although there are already examples of female referees working at the highest level. For example, Stephanie Frappart, who has been refereeing in the French Ligue 1 for several years, or our Anastasia Pustovoitova,» the source added. The World Cup in Qatar will be held from November 21 to December 18, 2022.