Al-Huwaish and Al-Turais pass the referees’ course as candidates to participate in managing the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 WC

2025-01-30
20:08:53

The two Saudi international referees, Mohammed Al-Huwaish and Khaled Al-Turais, passed the referees’ course for candidates to participate in managing the matches of the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2026 World Cup, under the supervision of the Italian Pierluigi Collina, Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, the Qatari Hani Ballan, Vice Chairman of the Committee, and the Swiss Massimo Busacca, Director of Refereeing at FIFA.
The course, hosted by the UAE Football Association under the supervision of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), witnessed the participation of 32 referees from the Asian, African and Oceanian federations. Theoretical lectures were given on the law of the game, discussing refereeing cases and matters related to match management, while practical applications were held during the morning period, during which two matches were held daily on the UAE Football Association's stadiums, managed by the participating referees. Video Assistant Referees (VAR) technology was also provided to monitor the cases, while the evening period witnessed technical and physical training and tests.
Referee Abdullah Al-Shehri also passed the VAR course, which was held in the Qatari capital, Doha, during the period from 19021 January, with the participation of 19 VAR referees from the Asian and African federations, including 11 referees from the Asian continent.
The FIFA course program for video assistant referees and candidates to participate in the 2026 World Cup included theoretical lectures and analysis of refereeing cases, in addition to reviewing the instructions that the referee must follow and implement in order to manage the matches in the best possible way.
The President of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), Yasser bin Hassan Al-Misehal, congratulated the three international referees on passing the FIFA tests, wishing them success in their mission to qualify for international competitions.
Al-Misehal appreciated the efforts of the Referees Committee in the SAFF in developing Saudi refereeing, praising the successes it has achieved in the recent period that contributed to the appearance of Saudi referees in an honorable manner regionally, continentally and internationally, stressing the continuation of support for Saudi referees and harnessing all capabilities for them in order to achieve more successes.