The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) presented the 2018 AFC Referees Special Award to the men’s trio from Iran - Alireza Faghani, assistant referees Reza Sokhandan and Mohammad Reza Mansouri – at the Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
The trio were honoured for their appointment to the third-place playoff between Belgium and England in Saint Petersburg at the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018, where the AFC were represented by a record 16 match officials. AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who presented the trio with their awards on the eve of the biggest-ever AFC Asian Cup which kicks off tomorrow at the Zayed Sports City Stadium said: “There is no better way to honour Asia’s finest match officials than to do it here in the UAE on the eve of the biggest ever AFC Asian Cup. Each year, Asian refereeing continues to set new standards of excellence and the incredible performances of our match officials reinforce the Continent’s position as global leaders in refereeing. The achievement of our trio is inspiration not just for our match officials, but also is a level of excellence that players, officials and coaches aspire to and it is the AFC’s aim to build on this incredible momentum and undeniable promise. We have invested in our referees and the AFC will invest even more in the next two years to ensure our referees remain at the top of the world game and develop even further”.
Source: AFC
