Hani Taleb Ballan, Chairman of the Referees Committee of the Arabian Gulf Cup Federation, confirmed that there are many criteria in selecting the 26 Gulf referees, the most important of which is focusing on the elite referees in order to produce the tournament in the best possible way from an arbitration standpoint. He spoke about all arbitration matters in press statements, and Hani Ballan said: “The Gulf Cup Championship is very important for everyone, and therefore everyone seeks to make it successful in all aspects, and arbitration has a major role in the success. The success of arbitration is certainly part of the success of the tournament.
He added: “The referees’ committee was very careful in selecting the refereeing teams for the tournament, and we were keen to invite elite referees from Asia, Africa, and also from Europe, as we invited refereeing teams from Africa for the first time in the Gulf Cup tournaments, and this is in accordance with a cooperation agreement between us and the African Union.” We have two crews from Africa, one from Mauritania and another from Algeria, in addition to a European crew from Romania, a crew from Turkey, and 7 crews representing countries in the region.
He added: “We focused on the elite referees and the performance and classification of the referees who were selected. Most of the referees participating in managing the tournament matches are nominated to manage the 2026 World Cup matches, and this is certainly an addition to the tournament.
The Chairman of the Referees Committee of the Arabian Gulf Cup Federation continued his speech, saying, “The tournament is dear to all of us, and we want it to succeed and excel in all aspects, whether organizational, technical, or arbitration, and as I said, the success of the arbitration is part of the success of the tournament.”
He concluded by saying that we will have many activities throughout the tournament, such as the Referee Refinement Course, which lasted for four days and witnessed theoretical and practical lectures. The theoretical lectures included an explanation of the Law of the Game articles, and many important related concepts, situations and cases of offside, correct positioning and movements within the field. Pitch, hand touch, player management and tactical errors, in addition to practical applications.
The course activities also included physical fitness tests, practical applications in the presence of players and using the “mouse” technology, which were held at the Al-Sahel Club stadiums. There will also be an analytical meeting after each round to analyze the matches and find out the pros and cons to provide a distinguished refereeing performance in the important tournament.
