Washington: The Referees Committee of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) appointed a Qatari officiating team to oversee the match between Portugal's Benfica and New Zealand's Auckland City, scheduled for Friday evening. The match is part of the second round of Group C fixtures in the FIFA Club World Cup, currently hosted by the United States.
The Qatari refereeing crew will include Salman Falahi as the match referee, assisted by Ramzan Al Naemi and Majid Al Shammari as first and second assistant referees, respectively.
Qatar's presence at the Club World Cup is marked by four officials: Salman Falahi (referee), Ramzan Al Naemi and Majid Al Shammari (assistant referees), and Khamis Al Marri, who will serve as a Video Assistant Referee (VAR). Their selection underscores the rising status of Qatari refereeing on the global stage, earned through outstanding performance and continuous professional development for participation in top-tier regional and international competitions.
The Qatari officials were chosen as part of a pool of 117 referees from 41 national associations across various continents. The list includes 35 referees, 58 assistant referees, and 24 video match officials. All were carefully selected following a series of rigorous training workshops organized by FIFA's Referees Committee to ensure the readiness of "Team One" - the collective name for the tournament's officiating crew.
