Omani referees gear up for World Cup qualifiers
Preparation for ICC World Cup League 2 campaign in focus
Published: 10:05 PM,May 18,2021 | EDITED : 08:05 PM,May 18,2021
Oman referees
Adil Al Balushi
Muscat: The international football body Fifa has named Oman’s top international referee Ahmed al Kaaf as field referee accompanied by Abubaker al Amri and Rashid al Ghaithi as assistant referees to officiate Group B matches of the joint qualification of the 2022 Fifa World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup Championship.
The nomination of the Omani referees to officiate the top joint qualifier matches reflects the good record of the domestic umpires during the last championships and tournaments.
The Omani refereeing trio is expected to soon begin the warm-up programme for the matches especially as the referees were affected by cancellation of the 2020-2021 season due to the ongoing pandemic.
Kuwait will host the Group B matches from June 3 to 15 and the group feature Jordan, Australia, Nepal and Chinese Taipei. The hosts will meet Australia on June 3, then will face Jordan on June 7. The concluding match for Kuwait will be against Chinese Taipei on June 15.
In the previous year, Ahmed al Kaaf, Abu Baker al Amri and Rashid al Ghaithi were selected to officiate in the 2020 AFC Champions League finals which took place in Qatar from September 14 to October 3. Among others, the Sultanate’s international referee Mahmood al Majrafi had officiated in the 2020 AFC Cup competitions for Group F matches in Vietnam and included the following teams: Ho Chi Min City FC (Vietnam), Houagang United FC (Singapore), Lao Toyota FC (Laos) and Yangon United (Myanmar).
During the past few years, many of the Omani umpires officiated top events for AFC including AFC Champions League final and AFC Asian Championship final.
Al Kaaf was the main referee for the U-23 AFC final clash between Vietnam and Uzbekistan in China in 2018. The refereeing team also comprised Omanis Abu Baker al Amri, Rashid al Ghaithi and Omar al Yaqoubi as fourth official. Al Kaaf had officiated more than 33 matches at AFC Champions League and 16 games at the AFC qualification for Fifa World Cup.
Muscat: The international football body Fifa has named Oman’s top international referee Ahmed al Kaaf as field referee accompanied by Abubaker al Amri and Rashid al Ghaithi as assistant referees to officiate Group B matches of the joint qualification of the 2022 Fifa World Cup and 2023 AFC Asian Cup Championship.
The nomination of the Omani referees to officiate the top joint qualifier matches reflects the good record of the domestic umpires during the last championships and tournaments.
The Omani refereeing trio is expected to soon begin the warm-up programme for the matches especially as the referees were affected by cancellation of the 2020-2021 season due to the ongoing pandemic.
Kuwait will host the Group B matches from June 3 to 15 and the group feature Jordan, Australia, Nepal and Chinese Taipei. The hosts will meet Australia on June 3, then will face Jordan on June 7. The concluding match for Kuwait will be against Chinese Taipei on June 15.
In the previous year, Ahmed al Kaaf, Abu Baker al Amri and Rashid al Ghaithi were selected to officiate in the 2020 AFC Champions League finals which took place in Qatar from September 14 to October 3. Among others, the Sultanate’s international referee Mahmood al Majrafi had officiated in the 2020 AFC Cup competitions for Group F matches in Vietnam and included the following teams: Ho Chi Min City FC (Vietnam), Houagang United FC (Singapore), Lao Toyota FC (Laos) and Yangon United (Myanmar).
During the past few years, many of the Omani umpires officiated top events for AFC including AFC Champions League final and AFC Asian Championship final.
Al Kaaf was the main referee for the U-23 AFC final clash between Vietnam and Uzbekistan in China in 2018. The refereeing team also comprised Omanis Abu Baker al Amri, Rashid al Ghaithi and Omar al Yaqoubi as fourth official. Al Kaaf had officiated more than 33 matches at AFC Champions League and 16 games at the AFC qualification for Fifa World Cup.