Paolo Valeri and Massimiliano Irrati have been confirmed as VAR officials for the next Women’s World Cup in France from 7th June to 7th July. FIFA today confirmed the full list of referees, assistants and VAR operators for the competition, with Valeri and Irrati both representing Italy. All of the tournament’s 15 VAR officials are men, while all 27 of the referees are women.

Born in 1978, Valeri has been an international referee since 1 January 2011, featuring in the Europa League and Champions League. He was also a VAR official at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and at the 2019 Asia Cup up until the final between Japan and Qatar. Domestically, he’s also taken charge of the 2015-16 Supercoppa Italiana final.  

As for Irrati, he won the Luca Colosimo prize for best Serie A referee back in 2016 before then becoming an international official one year later. That summer, he was confirmed as an additional assistant for the European Supercup, while he was also a VAR official at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.