In 2014, FIFA announced that they would remove the maximum age requirement. This was confirmed in 2015. FIFA reserves the right to require referees over the age of 45 to undergo additional technical assessments as well as specific medical examinations and fitness testing on a case by case basis. Sarkis Demirdjian was the longest serving FIFA-listed referee by 20 years and 10 months, from September 1962 until July 1983. As of 2016, a total of 3,378 referees from 201 associations worldwide have FIFA international status.