The Asian Football Confederation announced the participation of nine referees from the Asian continent in managing the matches of the Futsal World Cup /Uzbekistan 2024/.
The continental federation said in a statement today: “The Asian Football Confederation has repeated its success in sponsoring world-class referees, by appointing nine referees from the Asian continent to participate in managing the matches of the 2024 Futsal World Cup in Uzbekistan.” He pointed out that the 2024 edition of the tournament, which will be held starting today and will continue until October 6, is the fourth time it will be held in the Asian continent.
The federation said in its statement that the nine referees participating in the tournament are: Thai referee Pornarong Jarairod, who will officiate a match between Paraguay and Costa Rica later today. Also, Chinese referee An Ran, Australian Ryan Shepherd, and Iranian Mehrabia Afshar Ebrahim, who are set to make their second appearance at the Futsal World Cup, after officiating matches in the last edition in 2021 in Lithuania, and Vietnamese Dong Quoc Truong, who will also participate in the Futsal World Cup for the second time, after participating in the 2016 edition in Colombia.
Another Asian referee has also been appointed for the Futsal World Cup for the second time in a row, Fahad Bader Ali Mohammed Al Hosani from the UAE, who will serve as the time referee when Uzbekistan take on the Netherlands tomorrow (Sunday).
Meanwhile, Anatoly Rubakov, from the host nation, will make his international debut tomorrow, Sunday, when he takes charge of the New Zealand-Libya match. The Uzbek referee will be accompanied by Japanese Hiroyuki Kobayashi.
Liu Jianqiao from China, who was also part of the 2024 edition of the AFC Futsal Championship, has also been appointed as a support referee.
Just weeks after China’s Dong Fangyu made history as the first AFC Referees Academy graduate to officiate at a World Cup match, following her appointment to officiate at the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia, the appointment of nine Asian referees at the FIFA Futsal World Cup underscores the continent’s commitment to providing dedicated support to match officials as it seeks to increase Asian representation on the international stage.