Committees
Chairperson Hany Taleb B S Al-Raeesi led the Committee in commending the numerous innovative programmes introduced and implemented throughout the years – all with the aim to educate, train and enhance the capabilities and skillsets of the Continent’s match officials, so many of whom have been entrusted in record numbers to oversee some of the most high-profile matches in world football.
Underlining the Continent’s world-class officiating standards in the past week, members of the Committee were unanimous in applauding the AFC and Australian trio of Alireza Faghani, Anton Shchetinin and Ashley Beecham, who were appointed to oversee the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 Final between eventual winners Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain.
The FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup Dominican Republic 2024, the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Colombia 2024 – both of which saw DPR Korea crowned champions – and the FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024 are just some of the most recent tournaments to feature the Continent’s match officials in the decisive stages.
The Committee also hailed the pivotal role of the first-of-its-kind AFC Referee Academy in bringing to life the Confederation’s Vision and Mission of developing top-level match officials and providing crucial development support to the AFC Member Associations (MAs) since its launch in 2017.
An impressive total of 246 men and women referees from 44 AFC MAs have graduated or are in the midst of benefitting from the AFC Referee Academy’s all-inclusive curriculum, with 104 referees registered on the FIFA international list, as well as 58 alumni already part of the Elite Panel.
Marking yet another milestone, the best in-class Academy, which commenced its sixth batch in November 2024, was also praised for paving the journey for participants from four MAs for the first-time, namely, Brunei Darussalam, Macau, Philippines, and Timor-Leste, further underlining the Confederation’s dedication towards Continental-wide development and inclusivity.
Members of the Committee were also updated on various tailormade seminars and recruitment courses that have been designed and delivered to further strengthen the refereeing standards of the Confederation’s MAs since the last meeting.
These include the AFC Elite Futsal Referees Seminar 2024, the AFC Elite Women Referees & Assistant Referees Seminar 2024, the AFC Video Assistant Referees Course 2024, the AFC Elite Referee Instructors’ Certification, the AFC Video Match Officials Selection 2025 and the AFC Women Referees & Assistant Referees Selection 2025.
