Alireza Faghani

Alireza Faghani (Persian: عليرضا فغانى; born 21 March 1978) is an Iranian-Australian international football referee and former player, who has been on the international referees list for FIFA since 2008.

Alireza Faghani

Faghani refereeing Germany vs. Mexico in 2018 World Cup
Born	(1978-03-21) 21 March 1978 (age 47) Kashmar, Iran
Other occupation	Municipality employee
Domestic
Years	League	Role
2000–2008	Azadegan League	Referee
2007–2022	Persian Gulf Pro League	Referee
2019–	A-League Men	Referee
International
Years	League	Role
2008–	FIFA listed	Referee

Faghani has officiated in the Persian Gulf Pro League for several seasons until 2022, important matches such as the 2014 AFC Champions League final, the 2015 AFC Asian Cup final, the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup final, the 2016 Olympic football final match. He has refereed matches in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2019 AFC Asian Cup, 2022 FIFA World Cup, and 2023 AFC Asian Cup.

Faghani had migrated to Australia in September 2019, and now referees in the A-League Men, and as an Australian referee in international tournaments since 2023.^[1]

Early life

Faghani was born on 21 March 1978 in Kashmar, a city near Mashhad. His nickname is Behrooz (بهروز). His father, Mohammad Faghani (محمد فغانی) was also a football referee. He has a younger brother named Mohammadreza, who referees in Sweden.

Playing career

Faghani was part of the youth team of Bank Melli, and also played for Shahab Khodro, Etka, and Niroye Zamini. He also played in Iran's League 2, the third tier of Iranian football.

Refereeing career

Faghani became a FIFA referee in 2008, only a year after officiating in the top flight league in Iran. After only one year of international experience Faghani took charge of the 2009 AFC President's Cup Final which was played between Regar-TadAZ Tursunzoda and Dordoi-Dynamo Naryn which was won 2–0 by the hosts.^[2] A year later he was again in charge of a final in the 2010 AFC Challenge Cup.

He was named as the fourth referee for the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup between Brazil and Croatia.^[3] He also refereed the 2014 AFC Champions League Final first leg match between Al-Hilal and Western Sydney Wanderers. He was also 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 refereed the 2009 Bangladesh Super Cup final between Dhaka Mohammedan and Dhaka Abahani on 27 March 2009.^[4]

He was appointed to referee the 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final, which was contested by South Korea and Australia. Faghani was the referee in the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Final between Club Atlético River Plate and FC Barcelona. He was also the referee in the 2016 Indian Super League Final between Kerala Blasters and ATK.^[5] Faghani reffed 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.

Faghani was appointed to be a referee for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.^[6] After the conclusion of the round of 16, it was announced that Faghani was one of 17 referees who had been selected to be assigned matches for the remainder of the tournament.^[7]

He was also referee of the 2018 AFF Championship final between Vietnam – Malaysia in its 2nd leg. On 5 December 2018, it was announced that Faghani had been appointed to referee at the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.^[8]

In 2019 he and his family migrated from Iran to Australia, and he was subsequently signed on by the A-League to the full time match official panel. Since 2023, he is on the FIFA list of international referees from Australia.^[1] Faghani's decision to represent Australia was believed to be linked to his support for the Mahsa Amini protests, which resulted in the FFIRI delisting Faghani as an Iranian referee in retaliation.^[9]

In 2024, Faghani was selected to referee the 2023 AFC Asian Cup opener, representing Australia.^[10] During Jordan's 3–2 win over Iraq in the round of 16, Faghani controversially gave Iraqi striker Aymen Hussein a second yellow card for his goal celebration in the 76th minute.^[11][12] After the game, a petition by Iraqi fans on change.org was made to call on Faghani's suspension, which accumulated over 800,000 signatures.^[13] The Asian Football Confederation issued a statement saying Faghani's decision was correct.^[14] Faghani received a torrent of social media abuse, leading to Football Australia issuing a statement saying that they are taking steps to protect and support their official.^[13][15]

On 14 April 2025, Faghani was named as a match official for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, representing Australia.^[16]

Matches

FIFA World Cup

Alireza Faghani presents a yellow card during the France vs Argentina match in the round of 16 of 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Alireza Faghani referring the Serbia vs Brazil match in the group stage of 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Alireza Faghani referring the France vs Argentina match in the round of 16 of 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Alireza Faghani referring the Japan vs. Turkmenistan match in the 2019 AFC Asian Cup.

2018 FIFA World Cup – Russia
Date	Match	Venue	Round
17 June 2018	Germany 0–1  Mexico	Moscow	Group stage
27 June 2018	Serbia 0–2  Brazil	Moscow	Group stage
30 June 2018	France 4–3  Argentina	Kazan	Round of 16
14 July 2018	Belgium 2–0  England	Saint Petersburg	Third place play-off

2022 FIFA World Cup – Qatar
Date	Match	Venue	Round
24 November 2022	Brazil 2–0  Serbia	Lusail	Group stage
28 November 2022	Portugal 2–0  Uruguay	Lusail	Group stage

FIFA Confederations Cup

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup – Russia
Date	Match	Venue	Round
22 June 2017	Germany 1–1  Chile	Kazan	Group stage
27 June 2017	Portugal 0–0  Chile (0–3 p)	Kazan	Semi-finals

Summer Olympics

2016 Summer Olympics – Rio de Janeiro
Date	Match	Venue	Round
4 August 2016	Mexico 2–2  Germany	Salvador	Group stage
10 August 2016	Denmark 0–4  Brazil	Salvador	Group stage
20 August 2016	Brazil 1–1  Germany (5–4 p)	Rio de Janeiro	Gold medal match

AFC Asian Cup

2015 AFC Asian Cup – Australia
Date	Match	Venue	Round
10 January 2015	Saudi Arabia 0–1  China	Brisbane	Group stage
13 January 2015	Kuwait 0–1  South Korea	Canberra	Group stage
16 January 2015	Iraq 0–1  Japan	Brisbane	Group stage
23 January 2015	Japan 1–1  United Arab Emirates (4–5 p)	Sydney	Quarter-finals
31 January 2015	South Korea 1–2 (a.e.t.)  Australia	Sydney	Final

2019 AFC Asian Cup – United Arab Emirates
Date	Match	Venue	Round
9 January 2019	Japan 3–2  Turkmenistan	Abu Dhabi	Group stage
20 January 2019	Jordan 1–1  Vietnam (2–4 p)	Dubai	Round of 16

2023 AFC Asian Cup – Qatar
Date	Match	Venue	Round
12 January 2024	Qatar 3–0  Lebanon	Lusail	Group stage
29 January 2024	Iraq 2–3  Jordan	Doha	Round of 16

FIFA Club World Cup

2013 FIFA Club World Cup – Morocco
Date	Match	Venue	Round
14 December 2013	Raja Casablanca 2–1 (a.e.t.) Monterrey	Agadir	Quarter-finals
21 December 2013	Guangzhou Evergrande 2–3 Atlético Mineiro	Marrakesh	Third place match

2015 FIFA Club World Cup – Japan
Date	Match	Venue	Round
16 December 2015	América 2–1 TP Mazembe	Osaka	Match for fifth place
20 December 2015	River Plate 0–3 Barcelona	Yokohama	Final

FIFA Intercontinental Cup

2024 FIFA Intercontinental Cup – Qatar
Date	Match	Venue	Round
14 December 2024	Al-Ahly 0-0 (5–6 p) C.F. Pachuca	Doha	FIFA Challenger Cup

Statistics

Tournaments	Contester	Years	Matches		Average		Average
FIFA World Cup	FIFA	2018, 2022	6	26	4.50	0	0.00
FIFA World Cup qualification (AFC)	FIFA	2011–	13	45	3.46	0	0.00
FIFA Confederations Cup	FIFA	2017	2	11	5.50	0	0.00
Summer Olympics	IOC–FIFA	2016	3	9	3.00	0	0.00
Friendlies	FIFA	2014–	11	38	3.45	2	0.18
AFC Asian Cup	AFC	2015, 2019, 2023	9	35	3.89	2	0.22
AFC Asian Cup qualification	AFC	2015	2	6	3.00	0	0.00
FIFA U-20 World Cup	FIFA	2013	2	6	3.00	0	0.00
FIFA Club World Cup	FIFA	2012, 2013, 2015	4	18	4.50	1	0.06
AFC Champions League	AFC	2010–2018	64	255	3.98	8	0.13
AFC Champions League qualification	AFC	2011	1	3	3.00	0	0.00
Indian Super League	AIFF	2016	1	3	3.00	0	0.00
Liga 1	PSSI	2017	6	14	2.33	1	0.17
Persian Gulf Pro League	FFIRI	2007–?	?	?	?	?	?
Hazfi Cup	FFIRI	2015–2016	1	7	7.00	0	0.00
Azadegan League	FFIRI	2000–2008	?	?	?	?	?
A-League Men	FA	2019–	87	335	3.85	10	8.7
Totals		2007–	212+	831+	3.92	24+	0.11
Matches as referee are correct as of 30 January 2024[17]

Honours

• Iranian Referee of the Year: 2011, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• Asian Referee of the Year: 2016, 2018