Qatari Referees to Officiate at AFC U-23 Championship in Thailand

Kuala Lumpur, January 06 (QNA) - The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has officially announced the selection of six Qatari referees to participate in the upcoming AFC U23 Championship Thailand 2020. The list features 34 referees including four Qatari referees, namely Abdulrahman Al Jassim; Khamees Mohamed Al Marri; Khamees Mohammed Al Kuwari and Abdullah Ali Al Marri in addition to 26 assistant referees including two Qatari assistant referees, who are Saud Ahmed Al Maqaleh and Taleb Salem Al Marri. The championship is scheduled to kick off on Wednesday, with Iraq taking on Australia, before host nation Thailand play debutants Bahrain. Each referee will be accompanied by two assistant referees and receive support from the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, which is set to make its full tournament debut across all three cities in Thailand - Bangkok, Songkhla and Buriram. The referees will be playing various roles throughout the tournament that includes VAR and Assistant VAR appointments. Qatar are placed in Group B alongside Japan, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Their first match will be against Syria on Thursday, followed by two other matches against Saudi Arabia on January 12 and Japan on January 15. The Jan 6-26 event is a qualifier for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (QNA)