Santiago, Chile – The FIFA Referees Committee has confirmed the official appointments for the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup Chile 2025™, scheduled to take place from 27 September to 19 October. A total of 54 match officials, comprising 18 referees and 36 assistant referees representing 22 FIFA Member Associations, have been selected to oversee the tournament matches.
This year’s edition will also mark the continued implementation of Football Video Support (FVS) — a cost-effective and flexible alternative to the traditional Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system. FVS has already been trialled successfully at recent youth tournaments including the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup™ in Colombia and the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup™ in the Dominican Republic.
“Following the success of the FIFA Club World Cup, we look forward to another exciting tournament, for which we have once again appointed a very strong Team One line-up. From a refereeing perspective, it’s very important that the officials have the opportunity to be involved at a tournament featuring the stars of tomorrow and for us to carry out further testing of Football Video Support (FVS), which has been a great success so far,”
— Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee
Unlike VAR, FVS does not rely on dedicated video match officials or real-time checks of every match-changing moment. Instead, coaches are granted a limited number of review requests per match, which they can use if they believe there has been a clear and obvious error in significant game-changing incidents—such as goals, penalties, red cards, or mistaken identity. Players can also recommend reviews to their coaches, enhancing the collaborative and strategic aspect of the new system.
“Chile is a football-loving country, and we have an excellent opportunity to ensure that this year’s edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup leaves a legacy on a refereeing level. The (FIFA) U-20 World Cup is a highly competitive tournament that requires officials to have a sound reading of the game,”
— Massimo Busacca, FIFA Director of Refereeing
As anticipation builds for one of FIFA’s most prestigious youth competitions, the appointment of top-tier officials and the inclusion of technological support reflect FIFA’s ongoing commitment to fairness, accuracy, and innovation in football officiating.
Source: FIFA
