“I hope that more Iranian referees could officiate big games in the world”: Alireza Faghani

Tehran Times – TEHRAN, Iranian international referee Alireza Faghani, who has officiated the Olympic football final between Germany and Brazil alongside his two assistants Reza Sokhandan and Mohammadreza Mansouri, believes that there is no guarantee for them to officiate at the World Cup despite good performances at the previous games.

“Since Brazil had lost 7-1 in 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-final, this game was very intense. Fortunately, everything went well during the match and I’m satisfied with our performance. I hope that more Iranian referees could officiate big games in the world,” Faghani said.

Faghani believes that referring important games such as Olympic football final will not guarantee future for them.

“Nobody knows the list of the World Cup referees until the very last second. We’ve officiated Club World Cup final and football Olympic final but there is no guarantee to be chosen for World Cup competition. We need to keep this quality and try to have the best performance even in the ordinary games,” the Iranian referee added.

Iranian media believes that after a good performance at Olympic football final Faghani has the chance to referee the World Cup final.

Faghani who is a FIFA referee since 2008, has officiated notable international matches including 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final and 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Final.