Tag: Alireza Faghani

Alireza Faghani on VAR system in Iran.

On the sidelines of the World Cup unveiling ceremony, Alireza Faghani, Iran’s international football referee said: “I am happy that we are one of the countries that have hosted this event and can take advantage of this opportunity. I hope this World Cup will be successful so that we can advance to the next round.”

“Our goal is to referee the Qatar FIFA World Cup final.

The most celebrated and successful Iranian international referee commented on his attendance of referees VAR system qualification: “I, along with my assistants, are the only Iranian referees who passed the course related to the use of video assistant referees VAR.
Regarding his refereeing in the domestic Premier League, he stated: “I can confirm that there have been negotiations in order for us to be available in the Premier League competitions and continue our activities.”

Faghani emphasized the need for VAR in the Premier League: If VAR comes with the current mindset, then nothing will change. When the mentalities and structure are not changed, problems will definitely remain in the league, and if some behaviors and thoughts are not corrected, this process and persistent protests to refereeing will continue.”

On the performance of young referees, he commented:” Just as the teams are focusing on youth, the refereeing community has also added some young referees. They make mistakes like veteran referees, but the point is that coaches need to treat young referees differently. These referees should be given a chance to express themselves.”

Alireza Faghani picked for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Alireza Faghani has been appointed to officiate at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The Iranian international referee will be making his third straight FIFA World Cup appearance,

Iranian duo Mohammadreza Abolfazli and Mohammadreza Mansouri have been chosen as assistants in the competition.

The FIFA Referees Committee announced the lists with the names of the selected match officials for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

A total of 36 referees, 69 assistant referees, and 24 video match officials (VMOs) have been chosen in close cooperation with the six confederations, based on their quality and the performances delivered at FIFA tournaments as well as at other international and domestic competitions in recent years.

For the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Referees Committee has also appointed three women’s referees and three women’s assistant referees.

Stéphanie Frappart from France, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda, and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan, as well as assistant referees Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Díaz Medina from Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt from the U.S. will work in Qatar.

Iran comes out of AFC Annual Awards empty handed

The Asian Football PConfederation Annual Award ceremony was held without any achievement for Iranian football as the Iranian representatives returned home empty-handed.

The top Asian football awards event was held in Hong Kong yesterday (Monday) and various prizes were awarded to top players. Various countries, including Japan and East Asia in general, which have been leading the West for many years, have won numerous awards, but the most prestigious award  (Asian Player of the Year) was given to the Al Sadd and National Qatari Team player, Akram Afif.

Al-Sadd coach Xavi Hernandez received the award on behalf of Afif who is involved in the Gulf Cup football tournament currently held in Doha, Qatar.

Although Iran had candidates in five different categories, the Iranians failed to win any awards. Alireza Biranvand (Asian Footballer of the Year nominee), Sardar Azmoun (Asian Legionnaire of the Year), Mehdi Javid (Asian Footballer of the Year), Katayoun Khosrowyar (Asian Football Coach of the Year) and the Iranian Football Federation (Best Inspirational Federation) were Iran’s representatives. The day before the ceremony, however, Mehdi Taj and the director of the Ministry of Sport’s Information Center had revealed that Beiranvand has not won the award! Despite Iran’s lack of success and absence from the honours awards, an Iranian, Alireza Faghani, currently working and residing in Australia, was selected as Asia’s best referee in 2019. The fact is that award was the result of his individual genius and talent, rather than a proper system and mechanism of producing quality referees like himself (Faghani).

According to the famous French author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry,

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Recent national teams and club football failures such as World Cup qualifying defeats against Bahrain and Iraq, failure of Iranian clubs in AFC Champions League teams, Futsal Club failure, loss of AFC top rankings, not to mention various other failures at age-group football and so on were another stern reminder of lack a predetermined programming, quality, planning and long term systematic strategy in Iran.

The achievement of the existing system, or lack of it to be precise, and the poor mechanism has resulted in the failure to win the men’s and women’s titles of the year, as well as the Asian men’s and women’s coach of the year, which is highly regarded in Asian football but Iran has not won the title for many years. Although Alireza Biranvand is one of Asia’s top male candidates and Katayoun Khosraviar is one of Asia’s top female candidates and Alireza Faghani’s selection as Asia’s best referee is a delight and Iranian football is proud of the presence of such figures, their success is due to their innate talent, individual brilliance, rather than being products of a  Collaborative attitude and system. Their personal efforts are hardly derived from the organized, progressive and systematic football regime.

Alongside the growth and promotion of East Asian football, the Qataris have shown by their impressive achievements in the individual and team sectors that success is not just a matter of genius and talent, but the planning and existence of competent and capable managers who can lead to the achievement of plans and goals. Iran football managers are found wanting in this department and have failed time and again to meet the expectations of the passionate fans.

Recent events and successive failures are another important warnings for Iranian football, proving that the successive qualification for the  FIFA World Cup twice in a row, the AFC Champions League final appearance by Persepolis in 2018, and even the winning AFC footballer of the year in 2004 were all the  outcomes and efforts of talented coaches and footballers, and has nothing to do with management systems or development efforts of Iranian managers or the Ministry of Sports.

It is no secret that besides Iran’s weak Asian football lobby for prizes, the current dilemma is the incompetence of sheer lack of skills by the executives of the football federation incapable of properly executing programs that were practically implemented in countries that are way behind Iran’s capabilities and riches.  Other countries, such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, became West Asia’s flagship solo and team achievements.

With the present incompetent football management at the three most important levels (Clubs, Football federation and the Ministry of Sports) any success will be in isolation, any award-winning will be individual brilliance, any titles will be miracles of those poor passionate Iranian fans that have waited for over 4 decades.

The present Iranian football system will NOT produce winners and champions. However, the bleakest of the news is the fact that there is no prospect in sight of a White Knight on horseback who can save Iran’s football. There are plenty of critics armed with rhetorics, but no strong leader to take control of the situation and develop it like a real professional.

Ali Asghar Hasanzadeh wins AFC futsal player of the year 2018

Iran’s status as a global force in world futsal was further underlined after Ali Asghar Hasanzadeh, who was part of the IR Iran side which finished third in the 2016 FIFA Futsal World Cup, landed his fourth AFC Futsal Player of the Year accolade.

 

World Cup referee  Alireza Faghani also received  the AFC Referees Special Award for his outstanding refereeing in the World Cup. Also , his two assistances in Russia , Reza Sokhandan  and Mohammadreza Mansouri  where honored

After another year of remarkable progress for Asian football, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) celebrated the Continent’s most exceptional achievements in a dazzling AFC Annual Awards 2018 ceremony tonight in Muscat, Oman.

Al Sadd’s Abdelkarim Hassan claimed the coveted AFC Player of the Year Award while China PR’s Wang Shuang clinched the top accolade in the women’s category.

AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said: “We celebrate and applaud all our winners tonight who have work tirelessly to raise the bar each year. Asian football continues to attain world-class achievements, and this is a testament to our players, teams and Member Associations.

“We congratulate them all and all those nominated, and we thank our host the Oman Football Association and the Omani government for staging a truly memorable celebration in this wonderful city of Muscat.”

Kashima Antlers’ Go Oiwa who guided his side to their maiden AFC Champions League title earlier this month was duly rewarded with the 2018 AFC Men’s Coach of the Year award, while AFC Women’s Asian Cup Jordan 2018 winning coach Asako Takakura confirmed her legendary status in women’s football with her sixth AFC Women’s Coach of the Year award.

Former AFC Acting President Zhang Jilong was bestowed with the Continent’s highest accolade – the AFC Diamond of Asia Award – in recognition for his incredible service and leadership over the last four decades to Chinese and Asian football.

The winners of the AFC Annual Awards 2018 are:

AFC Diamond of Asia: Zhang Jilong (CHI)

AFC President’s Special Recognition Award:
• Futoshi Ikeda (JPN)
• Wild Boars F.C. (THA)
AFC Member Association of the Year:
• Inspiring: Japan Football Association
• Developing: DPR Korea Football Association
• Aspiring: Mongolian Football Federation
AFC President Recognition Award for Grassroots Football:
• Inspiring Member Association: Chinese Football Association
• Developing Member Association: Football Association of Singapore
• Aspiring Member Association: Palestine Football Association
AFC Futsal Player of the Year: Ali Asghar Hasanzadeh (IRN)

AFC Coach of the Year:
• Women: Asako Takakura (JPN)
• Men: Go Oiwa (JPN)
AFC Women’s Player of the Year: Wang Shuang (CHI)
AFC Player of the Year: Abdelkarim Hassan (QAT)

Awards not presented in Muscat:

AFC Referees Special Award:
Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Reza Sokhandan (IRN)
Mohammadreza Mansouri (IRN)

AFC Youth Player of the Year:
• Women: Saori Takarada (JPN)
• Men: Turki Al Amar (KSA)
AFC Asian International Player of the Year: Makoto Hasebe (Eintracht Frankfurt and JPN)

Faghani ensures Iran’s presence in the FIFA World Cup 2018

Alireza Faghani has been awarded his third FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 match.

The top Iranian referee will be in the centre of the action for the match between Argentina and France in round 16 of the competition. Faghani has already refereed two matches in the tournament.

In both his showing , the 40 years old Faghani, who was born on 21 March 1978 in Kashmar, a city near Mashhad, delivered excellent performance in the two difficult matches. Faghani would be refereeing his 4th ex FIFA World Cup winners when the likes of Messi and Pogba meet in Kazan on 30th June.

2018 FIFA World Cup – Russia
Date Match Venue Round
17 June 2018  Germany –  Mexico Moscow Group stage
27 June 2018  Serbia –  Brazil Moscow Group stage
30 June 2018  France –  Argentina Kazan Round of 16

Faghani became a FIFA referee in 2008, only a year after officiating in the top flight league in Iran. soon after Faghani moved up the ladder quite rapidly in Asia. After only one year of international experience Faghani took charge of the 2009 AFC President’s Cup Final played between Regar-TadAZ Tursunzoda and Dordoi-Dynamo Naryn which was won 2–0 by the hosts. A year later he was again in charge of a final but this time it was a much more important final in the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup where the winner qualified for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

He was named as the fourth referee for the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup between Brazil and Croatia. He also refereed the 2014 AFC Champions League Final first leg match between Al-Hilal and Western Sydney Wanderers. Faghani was one of the officials of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, refereeing his first match in Group B between Saudi Arabia and China that ended 0–1. Faghani awarded Saudi Arabia a penalty kick but Naif Hazazi missed it.

He reached a significant milestone when he was awarded the refereeing of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final, between South Korea and Australia. Faghani was the referee in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Final between Club Atlético River Plate and FC Barcelona. Perhaps even more important milestone  was the 2016 Olympic football final match between host Brazil and Germany.

Faghani was referee in six matches of the 2017 Liga 1 in Indonesia and two matches of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. In the semi final match between Portugal and Chile he caused controversy by not calling a penalty on Chile’s favor, refusing to use the recently implemented Video assistant referee.

Ali Asghar Hasanzadeh wins AFC FUTSAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2016:

Team Mell’s Ali Asghar Hasanzadeh won the AFC Player of the year 2016 award beating his compatriots Ahamd Esmaeilpour and Farhad Tavakoli for Asia’s best futsal player title. Meanwhile , Iran’s football federation FFIRI boycotted the AFC Annual Awards ceremony in protest against several issues by AFC including the bias of AFC towards Saudi Arabia , discrimination against Iran and finally the lack of recognition of Team Melli players.

Mehdi Taj and Alireza Asadi plus the PR manager of the FFIRI were on the invited list but never made the trip to Abu Dhabi. Despite the fact that Iran has been the best Asian Team for the past 23 months running , no Iranian players were included in the shortlist of candidates. Abu Dhabi, out of all the 7 UAE emirates, has also been quitw hostile towards Iran and fighting against the Al Houthi clan in Yemen .

In the ceremony held in Abu Dhabi, Iranian referees won recognition as  Alireza Faghani, Reza Sokhandan and 
Mohammad Reza Mansouri were awarded AFC Referees Special Award 2016

 

 

AFC Futsal Player of the Year Nominees

  • Aliasghar Hasanzadeh (IR Iran)
  • Ahmad Esmaeilpour (IR Iran)
  • Farhad Tavakoli (IR Iran)

 

AFC Referees Special Award
Men
Alireza Faghani (IR Iran)
Reza Sokhandan (IR Iran)
Mohammad Reza Mansouri (IR Iran)

Futsal Team Melli players rule the annual AFC awards

All the nominee of AFC Futsal player of the year are Team Melli members according to the list published by AFC. In yet another unusual move, the Asian football ruling body has published a second list weeks after publishing what was thought to be the annual awards final list. Apparently there was two parts.

After a great year for Iran’s Futsal team , the three nominations is hardly a surprise with Iran winning the 3rd place in the FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 recently held in Colombia. This is the highest ever futsal achievement in Asian futsal history.

The nominees are: 
AFC FUTSAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

  1. Ahmad Esmaeilpour (IR Iran)
  2. Aliasghar Hasanzadeh (IR Iran)                        
  3. Farhad Tavakoli (IR Iran)
FARHAD TAVAKOLI - Iran Futsal Team
FARHAD TAVAKOLI – Iran Futsal Team

Iranians referees were also  honoured after a landmark year for Asian referees
 

Asian referees have set a new benchmark for excellence in 2016, gracing some of the world’s biggest stages. In recognition for their outstanding performances, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) today awarded six match officials – three men and women – with the AFC Referees Special Award 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
 
The men’s trio from the Islamic Republic of Iran – Alireza Faghani, assistant referees Reza Sokhandan, Mohammad Reza Mansouri – and the women’s team comprising Australians Kate Jacewicz, Renae Coghill and India’s Uvena Fernandes received their awards from the AFC Referees Committee Vice-Chairman, Hany Taleb Ballan Safar (Qatar) at the opening of the AFC Elite Referees and Assistant Referees Seminar taking place in the Malaysian capital.
 Alireza Faghani 3 IRN
AFC President Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa said: “The AFC’s Vision and Mission has underlined our desire to ensure Asian players and officials succeed on the world stage. The performances of our men and women referees this year demonstrate once again our continent as a great force in world football and that our referees – both men and women – have earned global respect
 
“Their achievements serve as a testament to the progressive steps Asian football continues to undertake under the banner of One Asia, One Goal and I am confident that they will continue to do us proud in the years ahead.”
 
Faghani, Sokhandan and Mansouri made history this year as Asia’s first trio to officiate the final of the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament when they took charge of the Brazil versus Germany gold medal match in August in Rio de Janeiro.
 
During the hugely successful AFC Asian Cup 2015 Australia, Faghani and Sokhandan were appointed to officiate the final match between Korea Republic and host nation Australia. The men’s trio also officiated the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup final in Tokyo, which saw Barcelona take on Argentina’s River Plate.
Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh
Ali Asghar Hassanzadeh

 

Alireza Faghani to referee the Olympics Final

Alireza Faghani Iran’s and Asia’s top referee has been handed over the task of refereeing the Gold Medal final match in Rio’s Olympics 2016. 

Faghani , who has already refereed the Asian Cup 2015 was also selected as part of the refereeing team in the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil.

The referring team for the final match between host Brazil and Germany will also include assistant referees Reza Sokhandan and Mansouri .  The match venue on Saturday 20th August will be the great Maracana stadium expected to be sell out. The sensitivity of the match is amplified by the fact that Germany has hammered and humiliated host Brazil two years ago in the same place during the FIFA World Cup 2014

All eyes will be on the Maracana, as Brazil are 90 minutes away from winning a first-ever gold medal in the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament. As if an Olympic gold medal match needed another layer of intrigue, the hosts will have to get past Germany, a nation that defeated Brazil 7-1 in one of the most historic and shocking matches in FIFA World Cup™ history.

Although Matthias Ginter represents the only player on the German Rio 2016 Olympic side who was a member of Die Nationalmannschaft’s World Cup 2014-winning squad, make no mistake, the host nation will view this as a golden opportunity for redemption. For Brazil, captain Neymar has his golden opportunity to help write his name in the history books after he was injured for that semi-final at the World Cup two years ago. 

Faghani referees FIFA Club World Cup 2015

Alireza Faghani, The Iranian referee who took control of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 has added another honor to his list by being appointed as FIFA Club World Cup 2015 referee.

The final match between Barcelona FC and the South American Champions  River Plate of Argentina is played in  Nissan Stadium (Yokohama) on Sunday 20th December.

Fagahi is the considered the top Asian referee and in recognition of his standard and record, FIFA trusted him with the most important match in its club competition calendar where players such as Messi, Neymar and Iniesta face the tough tackling Argentinian team known for their rough play.

Alireza Faghani is assisted on the line by Reza Sokhandan and Mohammad Reza Mansouri for the Final match.

Tabrizi fans victim of the biggest prank!

If that was not the world’s biggest prank , then I don’t know what it.

It all happened early Friday evening in Yadegar Imam Stadium in Tabriz, the home of Tractorsazi team which was playing for the Championship title for the first time in its history. The Tabrizi team needed to win the match against arch rival Naft , themselves needing the 3 points to win the title.

The stadium was over filled to the rim. As usual in Iranian stadiums, there was little regards for safety and regulation. Eyewitnesses in the stadium have mentioned hundreds or thousands of seats that were occupied by two persons. All emergency exits and pathways were occupied by the passionate Tabrizi fans that were ready to enjoy the mother of all celebrations at the end of the game. That would be Tractorsazi’s Persian Gulf League title season 2014/15.

There was a third team involved in the last day title race, and that was Sepahan Esfahan playing at home against Saipa. Sepahan, needed to win but also needed the match in Tabriz between Tractorsazi and Naft Tehran to end in a draw for Sepahan to win the title.

All was going well for Tractorsazi and they were 3-1 up in the second half and well on the way for the celebration of the century. Sepahan two goal advantage against Saipa was meaningless. But then disaster struck.

Team Melli veteran midfielder Andranik Teymourian , the assist provider for the first goal and scorer of  2nd for Tractorsazi  was sent off a couple of minutes after his team’s 3rd goal. The rest was all downhill for the Tabrizi team. Naft scored twice to equalize and make it 3-3 and that was the result after Alireza Faghani blew his whistle at the end of the game.

Millions of TV audiences were astonished by the celebrations that ensued. It was so unreal, illusionary, bordering a joke. Nowhere in the world, have fans celebrated their team becoming second like these fans were doing in Tabriz. A pitch invasion that threatened the safety of the players, huge chanting and celebration for those in the stands who could not join the mass on the pitch , waving flags, scenes of frenzy captured by the Iranian TV was part of this incredible event.

tractorsazi vs. Naft Tehran

To top it all , the local TV commentator, who had no idea why the fans are behaving like that but acted and reasoned that the fans in Tabriz are unique in the world ,  and even celebrate their team losing the style in style !!

There was something that was definitely not right……Surreal , false and comical in all that.

And then the truth was revealed. Someone has played the biggest prank of them all on the unsuspecting Tabrizi fans.

It all started when a few minutes before the end of the match, the Public Address announcement urged the fans to be ready for the celebration. When the match finished, someone has informed the bench of Tractorsazi that the match in Esfahan ended 2-2 while the fact  was Sepahan have won it 2-0.

The euphoria began, the celebrations, while truly incredible and exuberant was all the result of one of the biggest pranks in the history.

The follow up to this incredibly heart breaking episode for the Tabrizi fans, while their rivals had the biggest laugh, was even sillier than the event itself. It goes beyond saying that lying, rumor mongering and fabrication of news is institutional and a way of life in Iran.  At least 80,000 people were in the stadium, many carrying radios and smartphones that have all the information they needed about the match in Esfahan and elsewhere in Iran. How on earth this mass was cheated into believing the lies is itself quite incredible.

One Azerbaijani official claimed that there was a total loss of communication in the stadium, a seriously retarded claim, while others demanded that people responsible for this  are put to trial and severely punished.

faghani red card Teymopurian

Ando Teymourian , in the aftermath of this prank said that Friday was one of his darkest days in football. “Not only the result itself and the loss of the title in the last quarter of the match was heart breaking but the false news that lead the masses in wild celebration and then realizing it was all false, just added a huge insult to the injury. I am really sorry for the fans. I do apologize to every warm blooded Tabrizi fan. This is all I can say.”