News / Sports

Three Iranians among best Asian football referees

Sunday, 21 August 2016 12:42 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 21 August 2016 12:47 PM ]

Iranian soccer referee Bijan Heydari (file photo)

Iranian referees Hassan Akrami, Bijan Heydari and Payam Heydari have been elected as among the best people in Asia responsible for enforcing the Laws of the Game and officiating soccer matches.

The head of the Referees Committee of the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI), Fereydoun Esfahanian, said on Sunday that the trio has passed successfully passed the tests administered by the Asian Football Confederation, and entered their names in the latest list of elite referees of the governing body of association soccer in Asia and Australia.

Esfahanian went on to say that the three Iranian soccer referees claimed the achievements during a course in the Malaysian capital city of Kuala Lumpur, which started on August 5 and ran until August 10.

On Saturday, Iranian referee Alireza Faghani together with linesmen Reza Sokhandan and Mohammad Reza Mansouri officiated the final men's soccer competition of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The game between Brazil and Germany at the Maracanã Stadium, with 78,000 raucous spectators in attendance, finished 1-1 after extra time.

Brazilian professional footballer Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, commonly known as Neymar, struck the winning penalty into the top corner before breaking into tears.

Brazil claimed a first ever Olympic football gold medal with the 5-4 shootout victory, exacting revenge for a degrading 7-1 World Cup semi-final defeat to Germany two years ago.

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