Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (Concacaf) have announced the appointment of Ravshan Irmatov from Uzbekistan, as the first Asian referee to officiate in the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League semi-final, which will see Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC take on Liga MX’s Club America in the return leg on April 10, 2018, in Mexico City.
The appointment is part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the AFC and Concacaf last year, which outlined referees’ development among several key areas for closer collaboration between the two Confederations to ensure the continued growth of the game across both regions.
The reciprocal referee exchange will also see a Concacaf referee trio team officiate in Asia’s premier club competition – the AFC Champions League – during the semi-final stage later this year.
AFC Director of Referees, Shamsul Maidin said: “The AFC is proud and honoured to see one of Asia’s elite officiating in the semi-final of the Concacaf Champions League for the first time. Both the AFC and Concacaf have made tremendous strides in world refereeing and the AFC is committed to exploring more opportunities to ensure our referees are presented with the highest standards of match preparation to excel on the world stage.”
Irmatov, the youngest-ever referee to officiate at the FIFA World Cup opening match and five-time AFC Referee of the Year, will lead the referee team alongside counterparts, assistant referees Jakhongir Saidov and Abdukhamidullo Rasulov.
“The appointment of three-time FIFA World Cup Referee Ravshan Irmatov to our Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League semifinal marks a historic moment for refereeing in Concacaf,” said Concacaf Director of Refereeing Brian Hall. “We are honored to have a referee, with his pedigree, lead our teams onto the field at Azteca Stadium. Mr. Irmatov’s appointment will also pave the way for future exchanges that will help strengthen refereeing in both Confederations.”
Irmatov holds the record for being the youngest referee to officiate in the opening match of a FIFA World Cup when he presided over the match between hosts South Africa and Mexico in 2010. Following South Africa and Brazil 2014, he will make his third consecutive World Cup appearance this summer in Russia 2018.
Irmatov is in prime position to extend his record for the most matches undertaken by any referee in FIFA World Cup history, having officiated on the world’s ultimate stage on nine occasions.