On Sunday it has been heard that Alireza Faghani has been excluded from the list of international referees by the Referees Committee of the Iranian Football Federation. The news was confirmed on Monday, 8 November, the deadline for the 2021 FIFA List nominations. Some former Iranian referees and current experts reacted with concern and asked the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) to solve the problem and even called higher sports authorities, such as Sports Ministry, for addressing the issue.
One of the world’s top referees, Faghani, decided last year to move from Iran to Australia from for family reasons. The Australian football federation offered him a contract to officiate in the Hyundai A-League 2019-20 season as a full-time referee. Most Iranian refereeing experts believe that, by removing Faghani, Iranian football has no chance to have any other representative to officiate in the 2022 World Cup. That’s why the FFIRI’s Referees Committee should reinstate Faghani onto the list of international referees of Iran.
An extremely well-respected international match official, Faghani refereed two matches at the AFC Asian Cup 2019, as well as four matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, including the third-place play-off match between Belgium and England, two matches at the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, and also the gold medal match at the 2016 Olympic Games Men’s Football tournament between Germany and Brazil. He was named the AFC Referee of the Year twice, in 2016 and 2018. To remove a referee of such high caliber as Faghani has put the Iranian football federation under pressure and drew heavy criticism from media and experts against the directors of the federation and the members of the Referees Committee. Accordingly, Heydar Baharvand, the football federation's acting president, ordered the Referees Committee to urgently review the issue. He asked the committee to examine the possible ways of nominating Faghani as Iran’s international referee. He also demanded the committee to request instructions through FIFA to solve the problem. Faghani’s international experience is a huge asset for the Iranian football, especially the Iranian refereeing community. His presence on the FIFA List is necessary to pave the way for future Iranian referees.
Source: Tehran Times