Mohammed Mohammed Abdulla from the United Arab Emirates is among four AFC referees selected to officiate in the FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2020.

Joining the Emirati in Doha will be assistant referees Mohamed Alhammadi and Hasan Almahri, also from UAE, while Qatar’s Khamis Al Marri has been appointed as a video match official.

Mohammed Abdulla, who was named Referee of the Year at the Globe Soccer Awards in 2019, was in charge of the 2020 AFC Champions League quarter-final tie, which saw eventual champions Ulsan Hyundai FC of Korea Republic defeat China PR’s Beijing FC 2-0 in Doha.

The Emirati earned his first break in the 2011 AFC Cup contest between TSW Pegasus and Song Lam Nghe An and has not looked back since, emerging as one of the top referees in the region.

His rise in the sport has seen him become a mainstay in the AFC Champions League before taking charge in the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup semi-final in Chile as well as the AFC Cup final in 2017 and the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea Republic.

Mohammed Abdulla officiated the 2018 FIFA World Cup Group C match between France and Peru alongside compatriots Mohamed Alhammadi and Hasan Almahri, which saw the eventual champions edge their South American opponents 1-0 at the Ekaterinburg Arena in Ekaterinburg, Russia.

A total of seven referees and 12 assistant referees have been selected for the tournament and together with them, FIFA has also selected seven video match officials (VMOs) to operate the video assistant referee (VAR) system during the tournament.

The selected match officials will complete their final preparations in Qatar the week before the first match kicks off. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, FIFA and the host country will provide the required safeguards to protect the health and safety of all involved in the competition.

The FIFA Club World Cup Qatar 2020 will kick-off on February 1 with the final to take place in Education City Stadium on February 11.

The confirmed list of AFC match officials are as follows:

Referee:
Mohammed Mohammed Abdulla (UAE),

Assistant Referees:
Mohamed Alhammadi (UAE), Hasan Almahri (UAE)

Video Match Official:
Khamis Al Marri (QAT)