FIFA announces referees for Club World Cup

FIFA on Wednesday announced the referees who will officiate the matches of the upcoming Club World Cup set to be held in the United Arab Emirates in December.

The FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2018 is scheduled to kick off on December 12, while the final will be played on December 22, Football`s international governing body said on its website, reports Efe news agency.

"Six refereeing trios, one from each confederation, will officiate the matches," read the statement."FIFA has also selected six more referees to operate as video assistant referees (VARs) during the tournament."

The list includes top-level referees Ryuji Sato (Japan), Mehdi Abid Charef (Algeria), Jair Marrufo (United States), Wilton Sampaio (Brazil), Matt Conger (New Zealand) and Gianluca Rocchi (Italy).

Meanwhile, the chosen VAR referees are Mohammed Abdulla Mohammed (UAE-AFC), Mark Geiger (USA-CONCACAF), Mauro Vigliano (Argentina-CONMEBOL), as well as UEFA`s Pawel Gil (Poland), Massimiliano Irrati (Italy) and Danny Makkelie (Netherlands).

The referees` list also included a total of 12 assistant referees, two from each continental confederation. La Liga outfit Real Madrid are the defending champions of the tournament, having emerged victorious in the last two editions as well. 

At the same time, this edition may prove to be a formidable challenge for newly appointed Los Blancos manager Julen Lopetegui with the side struggling to make their presence felt in recent times.