Russia 2018: no Premier League referees selected by FIFA among the 36 referees of the 2018 World Cup

"The FIFA Referees Committee has selected 36 referees and 63 assistant referees, representing 46 different countries, for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia (organised from 14/06 to 15/07/2018)," announced FIFA on 29/03/2018. The list of match officials does not include any Premier league referees.

It will be the first time that a referee from that a British referee has not participated in the World Cup since 1938, according to British media sources. At the 2014 World Cup in Brazil no French referees were selected.

"The choice of the final group of match officials selected to officiate at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia was based on each referee’s skills and personality, as well as his level of understanding of football and ability to read both the game and the various tactics employed by teams," said FIFA.

Additionally The FIFA Referees Committee will soon announce a list of officials selected to act as VARs (Video Assistant referees). "The selection process will take into account the candidate’s VAR experience in domestic leagues, FIFA competitions and FIFA refereeing seminars since the…