Kazan: Islamic Republic of Iran’s Alireza Faghani has been appointed to officiate the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 semi-final clash between Portugal and Chile at the Kazan Arena on Wednesday, June 28.
The 39-year-old will be joined by Iranian assistant referees Reza Sokhandan and Mohammadreza Mansouri as well as fourth official Fahad Al Mirdasi of Saudi Arabia. Uzbekistan’s Ravshan Irmatov and Abdulah Alshalwai from Saudi Arabia have also been appointed as Video Assistant Referees (VAR) with Jair Marrufo from the U.S.A. completing the team as the Assistant VAR.
Faghani, Sokhandan and Mansouri, who were earlier selected to oversee the FIFA Confederations Cup Russia 2017 Group B match between Germany and Chile, made history in 2016 as Asia’s first trio to officiate the final of the Men's Olympic Football Tournament when they took charge of the Brazil versus Germany gold medal match in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2015, the men’s trio from Iran were also tasked to manage the FIFA Club World Cup final between Barcelona and River Plate in Tokyo. Faghani and Sokhandan were assigned to the final match between Korea Republic and host nation Australia during the hugely successful AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia.
Photo: FIFA/Getty Images
Source: the-afc.com