January 11 – The Asian Football Confederation has confirmed the cast of match officials that will oversee the opening match of the Asian Cup Qatar on Friday.
Widely regarded as one of the most established Asian referees, Alireza Faghani (pictured) has been appointed take charge of the highly-anticipated Group A fixture between defending champions Qatar and Lebanon, which kicks off at 7pm local time and officially gets the 18th edition of Asia’s showpiece tournament underway.
The highly experienced Iranian will be supported by the Australian duo of assistant referees Anton Shchetinin and Ashley Warwick Beecham, while Korea Republic pair Ko Hyung-jin and Yoon Jae-yeol are the fourth official and reserve assistant referee respectively.
Australian Shaun Evans is the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), while compatriot Kate Jacewicz will become the first ever female official to be involved in an Asian Cup match when she takes up her role as assistant VAR.
Faghani will be taking charge of his 13th Asian Cup match in his fourth appearance at the event, having officiated as fourth official for four matches on his debut in 2011, refereed five matches in 2015 – including the Final between Korea Republic and eventual winners Australia – and two in the 2019 edition.
The AFC Referee of the Year in 2016 and 2018, Faghani became a FIFA referee in 2008. He was the man in the middle for four matches at the World Cup in Russia in 2018, including the third-place play-off between Belgium and England, before officiating two matches at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Friday’s opening game will also mark the debut of the Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT) system at an AFC competition, making the AFC the first Confederation in world football to apply it at a Continental Men’s national team level. It will complement VAR which makes its full debut and will be implemented for all 51 matches.
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