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CONCACAF President and FIFA Vice President Victor Montagliani, who also serves as Chair of the FIFA Stakeholders Committee, has called on the global football family to support and respect referees at all levels of the sport.
President Montagliani said, “I want to offer my full and wholehearted support to Turkish referee Halil Umut Meler following the awful attack he experienced earlier this week. While this did not occur in our CONCACAF region, I believe it must serve as a wake-up call to global football at all levels of the game.”
“Referees play an essential role in football, and they need our encouragement and our support. I know from my leadership roles at CONCACAF and FIFA that they work extremely hard to reach the top level of the international game. Just this week, four of our CONCACAF referees represented the region at the highest level at the FIFA Club World Cup, officiating the opening game of the tournament. We are proud of them, and they are a hugely positive example to the next generation of referees coming behind them in CONCACAF. However, the all too frequent attacks and abuse referees suffer risks doing irreparable damage to the future of refereeing and to the future of our game.”
“I know that our friends at UEFA are doing positive work in Europe to raise awareness of the importance of referees. When the global football family comes together as a positive force, it can achieve so much. Let us all come together to show even more support and respect to referees at all levels of this great game.”
The FIFA Club World Cup 2023 opening match {Al-Ittihad vs Auckland City} was officiated by an all-female team of CONCACAF referees. The Head Referee was Tori Penso (USA), the Assistant Referees were Brooke Mayo and Kathrynn Nesbitt (both USA) and the VAR was Tatiana Guzman (Nicaragua).
