TEHRANTIMES - Alireza Faghani has been our No 1 referee for the last 20 years, representing Iran abroad.

He made history by officiating the Sunday’s FIFA Club World Cup final, where Barcelona defeated River Plate 3-0 at the International Stadium in Yokohama, Japan.

Faghani controlled the match well and kept his cool in the heat of battle, however there was a hint of handball as Lionel Messi controlled the ball from Neymar and opened the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark.

21 years ago, Iranian referee Mohammad Fanaei was as a linesman for the final of the FIFA World Cup between Brazil and Italy, where the Brazilian team defeated the Azzurri 3-2 in penalty shootout.

He had already worked as an assistant referee at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Fanaei was subsequently an assistant referee in two matches during the 1995 King Fahd Cup (pre-cursor competition to the FIFA Confederations Cup), including the Final between Denmark and Argentina.

In 1994, he was named ""Linesman of the Year"" in the Asian Football Confederation.

Nowadays, Faghani is the best Iranian referee who is representing the country abroad.

Faghani was named as the fourth referee for the opening match of the 2014 FIFA World Cup between Brazil and Croatia.

He also refereed the 2014 AFC Champions League Final first leg match between Al-Hilal and Western Sydney Wanderers.

The 37-year-old is also one of the officials of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, refereeing his first match in Group B between Saudi Arabia and China.

Faghani was appointed to referee the 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final, which was contested by South Korea and Australia.

Without a doubt, Faghani will be selected as an Asian referee in the 2016 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He has became a real ambassador for Iran refereeing.