Asian match officials handle Germany-Mexico encounter

AFC – MOSCOW, Asia’s Alireza Faghani was tasked with refereeing the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group F encounter between defending champions Germany and Mexico, which the Mexicans won 1-0, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on Sunday.

The experienced Faghani, who hails from the Islamic Republic of Iran, was assisted by compatriots Reza Sokhandan Reza and Mohammadreza Mansouri, with fourth official Mohammed Mohammed AbdAlhammadi,hamed Alhammadi , the fifth official, both from the United Arab Emirates.

Faghani is in his second FIFA World Cup, having featured in Brazil 2014 where he was the fourth official for seven matches, including the opening match between the hosts and Croatia.

In his impressive career, the 40-year-old has officiated the finals of the 2014 AFC Champions League, 2015 AFC Asian Cup, 2015 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Football Tournament.

Faghani started his career in 1994 and became a FIFA referee in 2008. By 2009 he become an elite referee and went on to build his career by officiating in the AFC Cup, AFC Champions League and two years later, participated in the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil as a support referee.

The 2016 AFC Referee of the Year also officiated in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final and the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Continental Play-off match between Syria and Australia.

Asia has five referees, 10 assistant referees and 1 VAR on duty at the World Cup in Russia.