TikTok x FIFA Creator Correspondent , World Cup 2026

David Gerson (@refsneedlovetoo): Humanising Referees at FIFA World Cup 2026

Published by WeSpeakSports , June 2026

Referees are among the most discussed, and most misunderstood, figures in football. David Gerson built his entire platform around changing that. Known on TikTok as @refsneedlovetoo, the Georgia-based creator has gathered more than 300,000 followers by doing something deceptively simple: explaining what referees actually do, and reminding audiences that the people in black are human too.

That mission has earned him a spot as one of 30 TikTok x FIFA Creator Correspondents for the FIFA World Cup 2026, an assignment that puts him at the centre of the sport he has spent years illuminating from a rarely explored angle.

A Platform Built on Understanding

David Gerson founded his platform with a clear goal: to humanise sports officials and to explain rulings in terms that ordinary fans could understand. At a time when referee decisions are debated endlessly on social media, often without the context needed to evaluate them fairly, his content cuts through the noise.

With more than 300,000 followers on TikTok, he has demonstrated that there is a genuine appetite for this kind of content. Fans want to understand the game more deeply, and that includes understanding the people enforcing its rules.

Why This Perspective Matters at the World Cup

The FIFA World Cup 2026, hosted across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, will be the largest edition in the tournament's history. With more matches, more teams, and more stakes than ever before, officiating decisions will inevitably be under a global microscope.

David Gerson's presence as a Creator Correspondent means that TikTok audiences will have access to an informed, nuanced voice when those decisions become talking points. Rather than amplifying outrage, his approach tends toward explanation, and that is exactly what the sport needs more of.

Part of a 30-Creator Global Roster

The TikTok x FIFA Creator Correspondent programme selected 30 creators from 4 continents, 11 countries, and 22 cities. Gerson represents the United States alongside several other American creators, but his angle, sports officiating, is entirely his own within the group.

His coverage at the World Cup will include behind-the-scenes access and fan-led storytelling, filtered through the distinctive perspective he has built over years of content creation.

Follow David Gerson at the World Cup

You can follow David Gerson's FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage on TikTok at @refsneedlovetoo.