By Vince Rugari and Frances Howe
A-League referee Alireza Faghani has been labelled a “traitor” by the Iranian government through a series of posters criticising him for exchanging pleasantries with Donald Trump after the FIFA Club World Cup final.
Faghani, who migrated from Iran to Australia in 2019 for family reasons, has long been considered one of football’s top officials and was given the job of refereeing last week’s Club World Cup final in New Jersey, which Chelsea won 3-0 over Paris Saint-Germain.
Donald Trump with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and referee Alireza Faghani (to the right of Trump).Credit: AP
But his post-match interaction with the US president, who presented the trophy to Chelsea’s players and then controversially remained on stage with them as they lifted it for the first time, has not gone down well in his former country.
Trump also shook hands with the match officials, presented them with their medals and, with FIFA president Gianni Infantino, posed together in photos with Faghani and his assistants, in which all of them made thumbs up gestures.
For this, Faghani has attracted the ire of Iranian state media and the city of Qom, south of Tehran, where posters based on one of the pictures of him standing with Trump have been erected, along with the message: “Congratulations on your medal, traitor.”
The picture has been digitally altered, replacing Faghani’s medal with a potato. Beside it are the logos of the Qom Municipality and the region’s cultural, artistic, and sports organisation.
The Fars News Agency reportedly wrote on its Telegram channel on Saturday: “Just days after the Israeli and American attack on Iranian soil and the martyrdom of over a thousand Iranians, Alireza Faghani warmly greeted Trump after receiving his award and mimicked his pose in the commemorative photo.”
The commentator covering the Club World Cup final on Iranian state television avoided using Faghani’s name, referring to him instead as “the referee”, and the live broadcast of the ceremony was also abruptly cut short, according to reports.
Football Australia said in a statement it was “incredibly proud” of Faghani.
Faghani, 47, lives in Brisbane and has been working in the A-League Men since migrating - a decision he said his family made primarily so that his children could study at Australian universities. He has been officially listed as an Australian referee for international tournaments since 2023.
Before leaving Iran, he refereed at two men’s World Cups, and covered the men’s final at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, and the finals of the 2015 Asian Cup and 2014 AFC Champions League (first leg), and was widely regarded as one of the best referees in the world.
Though many Australian referees have officiated on the world stage, none had taken charge of a senior men’s FIFA final until Faghani’s appointment for the Club World Cup decider, which he has said would be one of his last major tournaments.
“A final is never just another match! Grateful for the opportunity to be part of football history once again,” Faghani posted on his Instagram, along with a photo of him, Trump and Infantino.