Female Referees Set To Officiate Men's AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ For The First Time!

Image of Yoshimi Yamashita

According to an announcement from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), women match officials will make their inaugural appearance at Asia's most prestigious men's national team competition, the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™. Japan's Yoshimi Yamashita, one of six women officials historically selected for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, will lead the group of five female match officials.

Among the most experienced male officials are Alireza Faghani, who will be officiating in his third AFC Asian Cup™, and Qatar's Abdulrahman Al-Jassim, who oversaw the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ third-place playoff between Croatia and Morocco.

Excitingly, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system will make its full debut in Qatar. The appointed referees will convene in Kuala Lumpur in October for a final seminar, followed by all specified match officials assembling in Qatar for a seven-day preparatory course before the competition begins.