MUSCAT: Oman’s international umpiring team led by referee Ahmed al Kaaf produced an outstanding officiating in AFC cup's Group E match between Bahrain and Malaysia at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday. The match ended with Bahrain's Ali Madan scoring an important goal in the dying minutes to revive Bahrain’s hopes of advancing to the knockout stage.
Al Kaaf was the main field referee while Abu Baker al Amri served as assistant referee and Rashid al Ghaithi as second assistant referee. Iraq’s Muhannad Qasim was the fourth referee umpire while UAE's Omar al Ali was VAR referee.
Al Kaaf managed to lead the match on a bright note without any faults and complaints from both teams despite the critical encounter. Bahrain’s Komail al Aswad and Malaysia's Shahrul Saad and Syamer Kutty Abba got yellow cards from the Omani referee. There were neither red cards nor any VAR decisions.
It was the second successful match for Oman's international umpiring team after the first fixture between Syria and Uzbekistan in the opening Group B match. The match ended in a goalless draw and both teams shared one point each.
It was the fourth Asian match for Oman’s international referee Al Kaaf as he had officiated two matches in the previous edition of the AFC Asian Cup in UAE in 2019. The two matches were Jordan against Australia while the second match was between Vietnam and Yemen.
This edition of the Asian Cup featured participation of Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita as first women referee when she officiated the match between Australia and India. She was among the six women officials who were selected for the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022.
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