Tehrantimes - International referee Alireza Faghani believes that Iranian referees have the potential of officiating at the world’s most important competitions.

“This is the first time FIFA Referees Committee has invited a referee team for the Olympic Games from Iran. I’ve not officiated in Olympics before but I know after the FIFA World Cup, the Olympic Games is the most important competition. Now we have the chance of refereeing in the Olympics and we’ll try our best to have a decent performance in the competitions,” Faghani said.

“It’s difficult to say how many games we will officiate at the Olympics but I can assure you that we’re completely ready to referee as many games as they ask. Iranian refereeing has a great potential in Asia and even in the world and I hope we see more Iranian referees in world class competitions,” he added.

Faghani who became a FIFA referee in 2008, has officiated notable international matches including 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final and 2015 FIFA Club World Cup Final.

The Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 represents the first important step on the road to the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 for match officials.

The Olympic Football Tournament Rio 2016 will take place from August 3rd – 21st, with the competition’s men’s and women’s finals taking place in the iconic Maracana stadium.

Seven stadiums in total will host Olympic Football Tournament competitions including 2014 FIFA World Cup host venues: Belo Horizonte, Manaus, Salvador and Sao Paulo.