While the players and coaches of Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain are gearing up to play in the pinnacle of global club football as they ready for action in the Club World Cup final, so too are the match officials.
Referees from around the world will join forces to ensure the match result is as competitively legitimate as possible, as three continents will be represented by the officiating crew.
Helming the team is Iranian-Australian referee Alireza Faghani, who has been selected to officiate the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final on Sunday at MetLife Stadium in the United States.
The Sporting News brings you all the essentials regarding the match official and the team supporting his efforts on the pitch.
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Australian referee Faghani selected for Club World Cup final
The man with the whistle at the 2025 Club World Cup final comes with a wealth of experience as a FIFA match official.
This will not be the first major international final for Alireza Faghani, who has been in charge of many top-tier games around the world. In fact, it’s not even his first Club World Cup final.
The 47-year-old was born and raised in Iran, beginning his refereeing career in the Persian Gulf. He was registered as a FIFA-credentialed official in 2008 and rose the AFC ranks quickly, taking charge of the 2014 AFC Champions League final first leg between Western Sydney Wanderers and Al Hilal, the 2015 AFC Asian Cup final, and the 2016 Olympic men’s football final between Brazil and Germany which ended in a penalty shootout.
Faghani was also selected to officiate the 2015 FIFA Club World Cup final in Japan, where Barcelona brushed aside River Plate 3-0. Thus, when Faghani takes charge of Sunday’s match, he will become the second referee to officiate multiple Club World Cup finals after Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan had the whistle in 2008 and 2011.
In 2019, Faghani moved to Australia, where he has since been one of the A-League’s top match officials. He officiated six matches across the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, including the 2018 third-place playoff between Belgium and England.
Faghani is the second Australian to take charge of FIFA’s club showpiece match after Chris Beath did so in 2021.
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Alireza Faghani history refereeing Chelsea and PSG
Sunday’s referee has already officiated a match at this summer’s Club World Cup featuring one of the participants.
Alireza Faghani took charge of Chelsea’s quarterfinal victory over Palmeiras, which the Blues won 2-1 thanks to a Weverton own-goal in the final 10 minutes.
That was one of three games Faghani has already overseen at this competition, with the final being his fourth. He was also in charge of two group stage games, including the tournament’s opening match between Inter Miami and Al Ahly, which finished goalless. Faghani showed both Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets yellow cards for dissent, indicating he is not afraid to stand up to big characters.
While Faghani has never refereed a match involving PSG before, he has seen a few of these players. The Australian was in charge of Brazil’s 2-0 win over Serbia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup, a match that PSG captain Marquinhos started for the victors.
Referee crew for 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final
While Alireza Faghani will take the whistle at the Club World Cup final, he will be supported by a number of other individuals from Australia and around the world.
Included in the crew are two Australian assistant referees, which is common as the three on-field officials are often teamed together from the same nation.
The fourth official will be Argentine referee Facundo Tello, who himself refereed two games at this Club World Cup. Heading the VAR team is German referee Bastian Dankert, who controversially gave England a penalty against the Netherlands in last summer’s Euro semifinal for a foul by Denzel Dumfries on Harry Kane.
- Referee: Alireza Faghani (AUS)
- Assistant referee: Anton Shchetinin (AUS)
- Assistant referee: Ashley Beecham (AUS)
- 4th official: Facundo Tello (ARG)
- VAR: Bastian Dankert (GER)
- Assistant VAR: Tatiana Guzman (NCA)
- Support VAR: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
