Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Despite closing 2011 with a bang at the FIFA Club World Cup in Tokyo, four-time AFC Referee of the Year Ravshan Irmatov remains focused on his tasks this year and will work hard to keep himself in top form for future continental and world matches.
Irmatov, who refereed the final match between eventual winners Barcelona and Brazil’s Santos on December 18, was glad for the trust given by FIFA but what is important now is what lies ahead this year.
“I did not expect to get the appointment but I was very happy to get it,” Irmatov, who was attending the Elite Men’s Referees’ Course, part of the programme of the AFC Elite Education seminar 2012 in Kuala Lumpur, told the-afc.com.
“To me, the appointment was not just a show of confidence in me but to all Asian referees. This is a big responsibility for all of us in the Asian refereeing family to work in more and more important world matches.
“However, I need to focus on this year which will showcase a lot of big matches such as the 2014 World Cup qualifiers, Olympic qualifiers and the AFC Champions League.
“This is why we are preparing hard in the EES course we are attending, where we are covering all the important areas such as the technical, tactical, Laws of the Game, practical training and more.”