September 14 – The AFC has named a record 74 officials for the Asian Cup 2023, to be played in Qatar January 12 to February 10 next year, including the first time appointment of five women officials.
It will also be the first time the VAR has been used for all matches, having been introduced at the quarter final stage at the 2019 finals in the UAE.
A total of 35 referees and 39 assistant referees – including two standby nominees for each position – from 18 Member Associations have been selected.
Japan’s Yoshimi Yamashita – one of the first women to referee at a men’s World Cup along with France’s Stephanie Frappart and Rwanda’s Salima Mukansanga as officials at the Qatar 2022 finals – leads the women’s officials at the AFC Asian Cup.
Among the most experienced men selected to officiate are Alireza Faghani, who will be officiating in his third AFC Asian Cup, as well as Qatar’s Abdulrahman Al-Jassim, who oversaw the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 third-place playoff between Croatia and Morocco.
As part of their preparation for the finals, the appointed referees will gather in Kuala Lumpur in October for a final seminar before all appointed match officials assemble in Qatar for a seven-day preparatory course prior to the competition.
More than 20 seminars and workshops have been organised to ensure consistency and uniformity in officiating across all levels since the conclusion of the 2019 edition.
The 24-team Asian Cup will be played across nine venues with the opening match and final being played at the Lusail Stadium, the venue for the 2022 World Cup final.
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