The administrative staff for officiating at the event, which is scheduled to take place from July 12 to 21, will be headed by Referee in Chief (RIC) Phillip Pearson of England.

Pearson has been involved in men’s lacrosse for 47 years as a player, coach, referee and administrator.

He has officiated at the highest domestic and international level, including three World Championships as a referee.

"This will be the pinnacle of my lacrosse career to date," Pearson said.

"I am looking forward to meeting many lacrosse family and friends in Netanya, Israel.”

Joining Pearson as deputy RICs are Australia’s Dennis Mulroney, England’s David Doolan and Ireland’s Dick Pepper.

Mulroney has been associated with the game of lacrosse as a player, administrator and on-field official at the local, national and international levels for four decades.

He is a life member of the Australian Lacrosse Referees Association and is currently a member of the FIL Men’s Officiating Committee.

Doolan has participated in lacrosse as a team manager, administrator and on-field official at the local, national and international levels for 14 years.

His international officiating administration experience includes the 2016 Men’s European Lacrosse Championship in Hungarian town Godollo, where he served as deputy RIC.

Pepper begun officiating internationally in Australian city Perth at the 2002 World Championship.

He was appointed as the head referee in Ireland in 2004 and has been in charge of referee development in the country since then.

Pepper has also served as a referee in four other World Championships from 2006 to 2014.

FIL men’s officiating chair Tom Sutton hailed the appointments.

"The Men’s World Championship is always FIL’s flagship event," he said.

"With 50 teams from all over the world playing 200 or so games over a 10-day tournament, delivering a well-officiated World Championship on this scale is no easy task.

"The size of the event has brought many challenges, but we’ve put an experienced RIC team in place that has worked through them all flawlessly.

"I have the confidence this group is ready to handle managing and overseeing all aspects of officiating in Netanya next summer."

Scott Neiss, executive director of the Israel Lacrosse Association, agreed with Sutton’s assessment of the RIC team.

"We are delighted that the FIL has confirmed its appointment of Phil Pearson as Referee in Chief for the 2018 FIL Men’s Lacrosse World Championships," he said.

"Phil and his deputies have long served the international lacrosse community, and it is fitting that he will lead a diverse group of world-class officials in the largest international lacrosse event in history.

"Phil and his team have the experience, the commitment and the ambition to tackle the unique undertaking ahead."

Israel was awarded the 2018 FIL Men's World Championship in May.

It came after English Lacrosse withdrew Manchester as the host city in April, citing financial concerns as the reason.

Fifty countries are expected to be represented in Netanya, where more than 2,000 players are set to compete.