Serbia vs Brazil referee: Alireza Faghani takes charge of Group E decider

Man in the middle: Alireza Faghani
Getty Images
Joe Krishnan27 June 2018

Alireza Faghani will take charge of the Group E clash between Serbia and Brazil at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on Wednesday.

Brazil will book their place in the last 16 if they avoid defeat, while Serbia could jump above Switzerland with a point but will likely need victory to progress.

Faghani, who made his World Cup debut officiating Mexico's shock 1-0 victory against Germany, will be the man in the middle again as Brazil look to book their place in the knockout stages.

Faghani is a referee with international pedigree, having refereed the finals of the 2014 AFC Champions League, 2015 AFC Asian Cup, 2015 Club World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. He was also a fourth official at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The 40-year-old has a reputation for dishing out several cards in games and is not often far away from controversy. In the 2017 Confederations Cup match between Portugal and Chile, he failed to give the South American side a penalty and refused to use VAR, which was being trialled at the tournament.

A former footballer in Iran's second tier, he joined Fifa's list of referees in 2008. Despite the recent controversy, Faghani is now arguably one of Asia's finest officials; he was named Asian Referee of the Year in 2016 and awarded Iranian Referee of the Year in 2014 and 2017.

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