The Asian Football Confederation (AFC)’s commitment to ensuring the world-class standards of Asian refereeing was reinforced today at the first meeting of the AFC Referees Committee for the term 2023-2027.
Led by Chairperson Hany Taleb B S Al-Raeesi, the Committee approved the establishment of the AFC Elite Video Match Officials Panel, which will be tasked to ensure that the AFC’s Video Match Officials (VMOs) are evaluated through a more stringent and precise process prior to their appointments to the AFC competitions.
Members of the Committee were also updated on the AFC Member Association (MA)’s International Referees Quota for 2025-2026 as well as the members of the AFC Referees Appointment Sub-Committee for the term 2023-2027.
The Committee was also briefed on the appointments of the AFC’s match officials across seven AFC Competitions since October last year.
At the same time, members were pleased to note the growing pool of Asia’s match officials appointed not only to FIFA tournaments in record numbers but also acknowledged those who have been selected to oversee all-important deciding contests across the biggest stages in world football, as envisaged under the AFC’s Vision and Mission.
Since October last year, the AFC’s match officials have been appointed to the Final of the FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2022, the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup India 2022 as well as the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Third Place Play-off match.
The length and breadth of the ever-expanding refereeing development programs – all aimed at elevating the standards of the AFC’s MAs – was also highlighted, as was the Confederation’s resolve to embrace the latest technology to further strengthen its support to its MAs.
In addition to the AFC Referee Academy, the AFC Refereeing STAR Programme, the AFC MA Refereeing Administration Project as well as the numerous courses and seminars organized since November last year, the Committee praised the game-changing impact of the Online Coaching Sessions, with as many as 107 virtual sessions conducted for the benefit of the AFC’s MAs since its introduction in 2022.
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