Who is Japanese referee Ryuji Sato and how many World Cups has he officiated at?
A regular in the J-League, Sato has been reffing for over a decade and is set to appear this summer in Russia
RYUJI SATO is making the step up to World Cup competition this summer.
The Japanese referee will be familiar to many who watched last years under-20 World Cup and the Asian qualifiers for Russia 2018.
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Here's all you need to know about the 41-year-old from Nagoya.
Who is Ryuji Sato?
SATO has been a referee for over a decade and began his career in the lower-Japanese leagues.
After gaining Fifa-listed status in 2009, Sato has been taking charge of games around Asia and in 2012 was in the middle for the AFC Challenge Cup final.
Now a regular face in the J-League, the Japanese whistler very rarely dips into his pocket and is one of the more leniant refs in the list of 36 named by Fifa.
In preparation for the World Cup he's officiated qualifiers featuring Iran, Syria and South Korea.
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Has he officiated at the World Cup before?
THIS is going to be Sato's first major championships - although he is no stranger to big games.
Fans of the under-17 World Cup will also recognise him from the semi-final clash between Mali and Spain.