Female referees from Iran to judge Olympic qualifiers

Al Bawaba – KUALA LUMPUR, Two female referees from Iran are appointed to officiate the third stage of the 2020 AFC Women’s Olympics Qualification in Asia in China.

Mahsa Qorbani (referee) and Ensieh Khabbaz Mafinejad (assistant referee) will go to China’s Wuhan to judge Group B of the third round of the 2020 Olympics qualifiers in Asian football.

Eight teams have made it into the third round of 2020 AFC Women’s Olympics Qualification. The teams have been drawn in two groups of four to play a round-robin format. Matches of the Group B, which comprises Australia, China, Thailand and Chinese Taipei, will be held in China’s Wuhan on Feb. 3 to 9.

North Korea, South Korea, Vietnam and Myanmar constitute Group A and will compete in South Korea’s Jiju in the same date as Group B.

Winners of each group will take on the runner-up of the other group in two legs and the winners of this play-off games will win the Olympics quota. Japan has already secured its spot in the games as the host country.

Last year, Iranian female referees Gelareh Nazemi and Zari Fathi officiated at the UEFA Women’s Futsal EURO 2019 final tournament.

“This can be a critically important moment Iranian women referees,” said Head of the Refereeing Committee of Iran’s Football Federation Davoud Raf’ati in December 2018, adding that Nazemi and Fathi will depart for Portugal to officiate UEFA Women’s Futsal EURO 2019, adding,

In mid-October, 2018, she successfully officiated one of the most important matches in her career which was the final of the Women’s Youth Olympic Futsal Tournament Buenos Aires 2018 between Portugal and Japan.

“Showing men I could do it was a motivating factor,” 34-year-old Gelareh Nazemi told FIFA.com in an exclusive interview.