Asian Cup: Jordan team heavily penalized for match against Vietnam; UAE accuses Qatar of using illegal players

World Cup record referee to officiate 2019 Asian Cup final

Mr. Irmatov works at a World Cup match. Photo:FIFA.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced that the referee for the final match between Japan and Qatar on February 1 is Ravshan Irmatov. This is not a surprising choice because the Uzbek referee is the most experienced and trusted referee at the continental level. Irmatov has been voted Referee of the Year by the AFC five times (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014).

At the world level, he has officiated matches in three consecutive World Cups from 2010 to 2018. The 41-year-old referee holds the record for the most World Cup matches with 15 (including four qualifying matches). At the 2018 World Cup, Irmatov officiated the Argentina-Croatia and Spain-Morocco matches in the group stage.

Joining Irmatov in the final were his compatriots Abdukhamidullo Rasulov and Jakhongir Saidov as assistants. The fourth referee was Ma Ning (China). The video assistant referee (VAR) team was headed by Paolo Valeri (Italy). The two assistants were Muhammad Taqi bin Jahari (Singapore) and Christopher Beath (Australia).

UAE accuses Qatar of using illegal players

Almoez Ali was accused of not being eligible to play for Qatar.

One of the two Qatar players accused by the UAE of playing illegally is Almoez Ali. The 22-year-old striker is the tournament's top scorer (8 goals), including the goal that helped Qatar crush the UAE 4-0 in the semi-finals. The other is defender Bassam Al Rawi. The 21-year-old scored the only goal from a free kick as Qatar beat Iraq 1-0 in the round of 16.

The UAE accused the two players of not being eligible to play for the Qatar national team. Accordingly, Ali, born in Sudan, and Al Rawi, born in Iraq, have not lived in Qatar long enough and do not have the family ties to play for this country.

"The AFC has received a complaint from the UAE Football Association regarding two Qatari players," the AFC said in a statement. "The request will be considered in accordance with AFC regulations."

UAE filed a complaint just two hours after losing to Qatar. The AFC gave the UAE Football Association 48 hours to provide evidence on two Qatari players, according to an Abu Dhabi-based newspaper.The National.

Jordan team was heavily fined by AFC in the match against Vietnam

The 2019 Asian Cup Round of 16 match between Jordan and Vietnam has ended, but the sadness of the loser has not yet subsided. In addition to losing to Vietnam on penalties, Jordan has recently received additional penalties from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Specifically, Jordan was fined $4,500 for allowing a fan to enter the stadium to celebrate with the players. In addition, Jordan's assistant Stephan van der Heyden pushed the referee at the end of the match and was invited to the stands. He had to pay a fine of up to $5,000 and was banned from directing two matches. Thus, the total fine for the Jordan Football Federation is $9,500.

Thailand officially appoints new coach

The Football Association of Thailand has just announced the appointment of Mr. Sirisak Yodyardthai as the official coach. Previously, at the 2019 Asian Cup, Mr. Sirisak Yodyardthai was chosen as the interim coach to replace the fired coach Milovan Rajevac.