In 2025 it will be available only to international referees and the heads of Referee Departments across the globe. Close to 500 users have signed up to start using it. Maybe 2026 could be the year we are ready to open a part of RefWorld to all the referees in the world. For more info watch the RefWorld tutorial.
RefWorld has been our long awaited module that brings our partners, along with referee departments and top referees across the globe into one space. The goal is to share opinion and to learn from one another, to see how we interpret the laws of the game in different parts of the world.
You will be surprised how much our understanding of refereeing does differ already in one country, not to mention inside a continent or across the globe. For teams and players this could mean getting a different decision depending on who happens to referee their match. Unifying theoretical know-how becomes even more important when there are video assistant referees involved.
To bring the understanding of refereeing closer together and create more unity - this is what RefPal and Ref World are all about.
There are more than 50000 unique incidents in the RefPal database, which are all divided into topics and subtopics across the leagues. This allows us to start comparing similar incidents, making a difference in between them and reasoning why one scenario differs from another. Throughout 2025 we will be providing you with different topics and choosing the most interesting clips from the RefPal leagues to compare and to learn from.
A key component in any learning process is participation. This is where, YOU, come into play. Each week you can evaluate all the clips and then at the end of the week you can see the global opinion. Your answers are confidential and are not seen by anyone.
RefPal does not have a mandate to say what is correct or wrong, we underline that you should follow your federation and confederation for guidelines. But what makes RefPal work like no other platform is the gamification part of it. To make the learning process more enjoyable we have created an evaluator committee that consists of the Head Referees of all the RefPal countries. In addition in some cases the video assistant referees opinion will be considered. Together they form up a so called RefWorld official mark.
Comparing your opinion to the Official mark and to those of the other users is where the next phase of learning takes place. The gamefication part will also make it more interesting for you to participate as you can see how your theoretical know-how compares to the other users.