Iranian-Australian referee Alireza Faghani will be in charge of the Club World Cup final between Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, scheduled for Sunday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, FIFA announced.
Faghani, who was born 47 years ago in the Iranian town of Kashmar, also officiated the tournament’s opening match between Inter Miami and Egypt’s Al Ahly (0–0), as well as Bayern Munich vs. Boca Juniors (2–1) in the group stage and the Palmeiras vs. Chelsea quarterfinal (1–2). Faghani emigrated to Australia in 2019.
Faghani’s long refereeing career
A FIFA official since 2008, Faghani was the referee for the gold medal match at the 2016 Rio Olympics between Brazil and Germany, and he took part in the 2018 World Cup in Russia and the 2022 edition in Qatar. He has twice been named Asian Football Confederation Referee of the Year.
On Sunday, Faghani will be assisted by his fellow Australians Anton Shchetinin and Ashley Beecham. The fourth official and reserve assistant will be Argentinians Facundo Tello and Gabriel Chade, respectively. The VAR team will be led by Germany’s Bastian Dankert, joined by Tatiana Guzmán of Nicaragua and Croatia’s Ivan Bebek.
The final between PSG, last season’s Champions League winners, and Chelsea, this year’s Conference League champions, will kick off on Sunday, July 13, at 3:00 p.m. ET at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford.