KUALA LUMPUR: The integrity and professionalism of Malaysian match officials have continued to gain international recognition with the involvement of three national referees at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League East Zone tournament, which began in Doha, Qatar on Nov 19.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), in a post on its Facebook today, said the three are Fifa referees Amirul Izwan Yaacob and Muhammad Nazmi Nasaruddin and Fifa assistant referee Mohd Yusri Muhamad.
Amirul, 34, was the referee for the Group E match between Australia’s Melbourne Victory and China Super League’s Beijing Guon on Nov 27, apart from acting as the fourth official in three other matches.
Nazmi, 30, refereed the Group F clash between South Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai and Australian club Perth Glory on Nov 24 and acted as the fourth official in two other matches.
Yusri, 41, was the assistant referee for four matches: Beijing Guon vs FC Seoul on Nov 21, Ulsan Hyundai vs Perth Glory (Nov 24), Melbourne Victory vs Beijing Guon (Nov 27) and Yokohama F Marinos vs Suwon Samsung Bluewings (Dec 1).
FAM said the three were also given additional duties to handle the sole Group E World Cup 2022/Asian Cup 2023 qualifying match between Qatar and Bangladesh in Doha on Dec 4, with Amirul serving as the referee, Yusri as assistant referee and Nazmi as the fourth official.