The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced that its Referee Academy has reached an important milestone in developing refereeing expertise, after selecting 15 Asian referees to officiate matches at the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2025 in Qatar, scheduled from November 3 to 27.

This edition marks the first full participation of a referee team entirely composed of Referee Academy graduates in an international FIFA tournament, indicating the AFC’s ongoing commitment to developing a qualified referee base at both continental and international levels.

Among the referees representing Asia are Saudi referee Faisal Suleiman Al-Balawi, Qatari referee Mohammed Ahmed Al-Shammari, South Korean Choi Hyung-Jae, Japanese Hiroki Kasahara, and Uzbek Rustam Lutfulin, all graduates of the AFC Referee Academy class of 2017.

Al-Balawi regularly officiates in the Saudi Roshn Pro League and has served as the fourth official in the AFC Champions League Elite and in the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, in addition to managing matches at the 2025 AFC U-17 Championship. Meanwhile, Qatari referee Mohammed Al-Shammari officiated the final of the same tournament and served as a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the AFC Champions League Elite and AFC Champions League 2.

South Korean Choi Hyung-Jae participated as a VAR assistant in the Asian qualifiers and managed matches at the 2025 AFC U-20 Asian Cup in China, alongside Hiroki Kasahara who officiated the final between Australia and Saudi Arabia.

The team also includes Uzbek referee Rustam Lutfulin, who has extensive experience managing continental matches including the AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League 2, Asian qualifiers, and the AFC U-23 and U-17 Championships.

The refereeing team is completed by 15 assistant referees representing five Asian countries, including Saudi Arabia’s Faisal Nasser Al-Qahtani and Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Dakhil; Qatar’s Khalid Khalaf and Faisal Eid Al-Shammari; South Korea’s Bang Ji-Yul and Chun Jin-Hee; Japan’s Takeshi Asada and Satoshi Mishiyama; and Uzbekistan’s Sangar Shayusupov and Akmal Giyasov, all of whom have extensive experience in continental and domestic competitions.

This appointment is part of the AFC’s efforts to enhance refereeing standards across the continent and develop a qualified referee base capable of managing international matches according to FIFA standards.