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3 min readUpdated: Jun 17, 2026 05:19 PM IST
Referee Alireza Faghani, gestures as France's Ousmane Dembele (7) argues during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Senegal in East Rutherford, N.J., near New York, Tuesday, June 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Steve Luciano)
Somewhere in Qom, south of Tehran, there is a poster of Alireza Faghani standing with Donald Trump and Gianni Infantino, all three of them giving a thumbs-up after last year’s Club World Cup final. In the original photograph, Faghani is wearing a medal. In the poster, the medal has been replaced with a potato. The caption reads: “Congratulations on your medal, traitor.”
On Tuesday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey — the same venue as that Club World Cup final — Faghani took charge of France vs Senegal. He denied Kylian Mbappé a penalty after consulting the pitchside monitor, awarded a goal-kick, and France won 3-1. Routine, for a referee officiating his fourth consecutive World Cup, a record no one else holds.
Nothing else about his presence here is routine.
Faghani was born in Kashmar, Iran, the son of a referee. He had a short-lived playing career before picking up the whistle himself in 1994. He became a FIFA referee in 2008 and built a career that took him to four AFC Asian Cups, the 2016 Olympic final, the 2018 World Cup, the 2022 World Cup. In 2019, he moved to Brisbane with his family.
“When I spoke with some friends living in Australia, I felt that living there would suit my family situation better,” he told SBS Persian. “There is a system in place here. Personal views don’t influence the system.”
He did not elaborate on what he meant by personal views. But in 2022, the Islamic Republic of Iran Football Federation removed him from their international referees list. The delisting, according to IranWire and multiple reports, came in retaliation for his support of the Mahsa Amini protests. He began representing Australia as an international referee in 2023. The switch was bureaucratic. The reasons were not.
Then came the Club World Cup final. Trump descended to the pitch for the presentation ceremony. Faghani shook his hand. They posed together, thumbs up, smiling. “A final is never just another match. Grateful for the opportunity to be part of football history once again,” he wrote on Instagram.
Iranian state television commentators did not use his name during the broadcast, and the presentation ceremony was cut short on Iranian state television, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Qom erected the poster.
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IranWire noted the paradox this week: “Few Iranians worldwide view Faghani as an ‘Australian’ referee at the 2026 World Cup; to the public, he remains entirely their own.” Iran officially disowned him. Iran claimed him anyway.
This World Cup, Iran trained in Tijuana because US visas arrived only the day before their first match. The federation president was denied entry. Fans’ ticket allocations were revoked. Iran crossed the border for each game and returned to Mexico the same night.
He was already here.
“I am 48 years old,” he told FIFA before the tournament. “I am trying to enjoy every single moment of it.”
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
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