Taqi Jahari to be 1st Singaporean to officiate in both men's and women's World Cups
SINGAPORE — Singapore football referee Taqi Jahari, who was a video assistant referee in last year's FIFA World Cup in Qatar, has again been appointed by the world football governing body as a video match official at this year's Women's World Cup.
With this appointment, Taqi is set to become the first Singaporean to officiate in both the men's and women's World Cups. He will also be the second Singaporean official to referee at the Women's World Cup, after Abirami Naidu in the 2015 edition.
FIFA made the announcement of the match official appointments in a media release on Monday (9 January), with its referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina saying, "The criteria we have used is ‘quality first’ and the selected on-field match officials represent the highest level of refereeing worldwide.
"From the selected referees, we expect a rigorous and focused preparation for the Women’s World Cup."
In total, 33 referees, 55 assistant referees and 19 video match officials will officiate at the Women's World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand from 20 July to 20 August. Taqi is also the only Southeast Asian referee on the list.
During the Qatar World Cup, the 36-year-old Taqi was the only Singaporean among 129 officials selected for the 64-match tournament, and one of 24 officials who operated the video assistant referee (VAR) system.
He served as an assistant VAR referee in three games: Tunisia's 1-0 win over France, Spain's 7-0 win over Costa Rica and Brazil's 2-0 win over Serbia. He was also a support VAR in the Netherlands’ 1-1 draw with Ecuador and Argentina’s 2-0 win over Mexico.
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