👀 Two Brazilian referees in the running for world's best award | OneFootball

Wilton Pereira Sampaio and Raphael Claus are among the contenders for the award of the best referee in the world by the IFFHS, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

A member of the Goian federation, Wilton, 43 years old, has officiated 24 national games this season: 18 in the Brazilian Championship, five in the Copa do Brasil, and one in Série C.

Claus, 46, is from the São Paulo federation and has officiated 27 matches in CBF tournaments since January. Eighteen of them in the Brasileirão, four in Série B, and five in the Copa do Brasil.

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They were the representatives of Brazilian refereeing in the last World Cup.

Wilton officiated four matches in Qatar. Claus was in charge of two.

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This is not the first time the duo has competed. Claus was ninth in 2024, followed by Wilton Pereira. The Frenchman François Letexier won.

They were also among the nominees in 2023 but outside the Top 10.

Only two Brazilian referees have won the award: Romualdo Arppi Filho, who won the first edition (1987), and José Roberto Wright (1990).

The final result will be announced on December 10 after a vote by a jury composed of journalists and experts who are members of the IFFHS.

The International Federation of Football History & Statistics also has various other awards.

Check out all the nominees 👇🏽

Clement TURPIN - France

Espen ESKAS - Norway

Felix ZWAYER - Germany

François LETEXIER - France

Istvan KOVACS - Romania

José Maria SANCHEZ MARTINEZ - Spain

Maurizio MARIANI - Italy

Michael OLIVER - England

Sandro SCHÄRER - Switzerland

Slavko VINCIC - Slovenia

Szymon MARCINIAK - Poland

Dario HERRERA - Argentina

Esteban OSTOJICH - Uruguay

Facundo TELLO - Argentina

Jesus VALENZUELA - Venezuela

Piero MAZA - Chile

Raphael CLAUS - Brazil

Wilton SAMPAIO - Brazil

César Arturo RAMOS - Mexico

Ivan BARTON - El Salvador

Dahane BEIDA - Mauritania

Mustapha GHORBAL - Algeria

Alireza FAGHANI - Australia

Abdulrahman AL JASSIM - Qatar

Campbell-Kirk KAWANA-WAUGH - New Zealand

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

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