Football Australia backs referee Faghani amid abuse over Asian Cup red card

Canberra, Jan 31 (IANS) Football Australia (FA) has showed its support to the Iranian-Australian referee Alireza Faghani who was subjected to online abuse over a red card for Iraq at the AFC Asian Cup.

In a statement issued on Tuesday night, FA said it was working with relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of Faghani and his family after the referee was targeted online following Iraq's elimination by Jordan from the Asian Cup in Qatar on Monday,

"The safety and well-being of all Football Australia staff and members of the Australian football community is our priority," FA said.

"Football Australia is in constant contact with Alireza and is providing him and his family with all the support they require," FA noted.

Faghani, who has served as a FIFA referee since 2008 and represented Australia since 2023, gave Aymen Hussein a second yellow card in the 77th minute for an excessive celebration after the striker gave Iraq a 2-1 lead in their round-of-16 match, reports Xinhua.

Down to 10 men, Iraq were unable to hold their lead with Jordan scoring in the 95th and 97th minutes to win 3-2 and advancing to the quarterfinals.

After the match, some fans on social media targeted Faghani for the decision to send off Hussein, exposing his personal information and creating a petition calling for his suspension that had been signed by over 750,000 people as of Wednesday.

The Asian Football Confederation has said in a statement that it condemns any form of threat, harassment or disclosure of personal information targeting referees, players, officials or stakeholders.

Faghani is refereeing at his third Asian Cup. In 2015, he oversaw the Asian Cup final, which was won by Australia.