Alireza Faghani to Officiate 2018 FIFA World Cup

Iranian referee Alireza Faghani has entered the list of referees who will judge the Russia 2018 World Cup.

Faghani, 39, has been officiating in Persian Gulf Pro League for seven seasons and is in the international arena since 2008, Mehr News Agency reported.

He has refereed important matches including the 2014 AFC Champions League Final, 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final, 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Final and the final football match in  2016 Olympics.

After becoming a FIFA referee in 2008, Faghani has moved up the ladder relatively  fast, especially in Asia. After only one year of international experience, Faghani took charge of the 2009 AFC President’s Cup Final. A year later he was again in charge of a final but this time it was a much more important final in the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup where the winner qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

He was named the fourth referee for the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup between Brazil and Croatia. He also judged the 2014 AFC Champions League Final first leg match. Also one of the officials of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, he judged his first match in Group B between Saudi Arabia and China.

The Iranian referee was appointed to judge the 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final between South Korea and Australia. He was the referee in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Final between Club Atlético River Plate and FC Barcelona.

Perhaps the most important match in which he was the main referee was the 2016 Olympic football final match between host Brazil and Germany. Faghani was referee in two matches of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia as well.

He was honored as Referee of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation in 2015. Also, he was named Referee of the Year in 2013-14 and 2016-17 by the Football Federation of Iran.