The Solomon Islands will be on the global football stage once again, this time through the whistle of one of its finest referees.
Ben Aukwai has been named among 27 referees worldwide selected to officiate at the FIFA U-17 Men’s World Cup 2025 in Qatar. The tournament runs from 3–27 November, and will feature the brightest emerging stars in world football.
Aukwai, widely regarded as one of Oceania’s top match officials, will join an elite team of referees at one of FIFA’s most prestigious youth tournaments.
He won’t be the only Oceania match official in Qatar. OFC Assistant Referees Malaetala Salanoa (Samoa) and Gareth Sheehan (New Zealand) are among the 54 assistant referees confirmed by FIFA.
On the pitch, New Zealand, Fiji, and New Caledonia will fly Oceania’s flag at the tournament, the first edition featuring 48 teams.
Football Video Support (FVS) will be used at the tournament after being successfully trialled last year at the FIFA Women’s U-20 World Cup™ in Colombia and the FIFA Women’s U-17 World Cup™ in the Dominican Republic.
FVS was developed following numerous requests from Member Associations for an alternative, cost-effective way of using technology to support match officials. Unlike the video assistant referee (VAR) system, FVS does not involve dedicated video match officials, and therefore not all match-changing incidents are checked. Instead, the onus falls on the respective head coaches, who are allowed to make a limited number of review requests per game when they feel that there has been a clear and obvious error in relation to a goal, a penalty decision, a direct-red-card incident or a case of mistaken identity. Players can also recommend that their coaches request a review.