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Ravshan IrmatovUzbek football referee
Date of Birth: 09.08.1977
Country:  Uzbekistan |
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Biography of Ravshan Irmatov
Ravshan Irmatov is an Uzbek football referee and instructor. He is currently serving as the First Vice President of the Uzbekistan Football Association since July 15, 2019. He holds the record for the most matches officiated as the head referee in the history of the FIFA World Cup, with a total of 11 matches. He has been named the Best Referee of the Year in Uzbekistan 10 times and the Best Referee of the Year in Asia 5 times. In addition, he has been awarded the "Global Soccer Awards" for the Best Referee of the Year in the world. In 2013, he was ranked among the top 10 referees in the world by the IFFHS. Irmatov has also received the highest honors and orders of Uzbekistan.
Early Life and Career
Ravshan Irmatov's father, Saifiddin Gazievich Irmatov, was a well-known football referee in the Uzbek SSR, who officiated matches in the Soviet Union championship. He advised his son to pursue a career as a referee. Irmatov began his refereeing career by officiating matches in the first division of the Uzbekistan championship, and later in the top division of the country. In 2003, at the age of 25, he became a FIFA referee. In the same year, he officiated matches in the FIFA U-17 World Cup. In 2007, he officiated in two matches of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, and a year later, he worked as a referee in the FIFA Club World Cup final.
Notable Achievements
Irmatov has been a referee in multiple AFC Asian Cups and AFC Champions League matches. From 2008 to 2011, he was named the Best Referee in Asia, becoming the first referee in AFC history to receive this award four times in a row. In 2013, he was ranked among the top 10 referees in the world by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics. In 2010, Irmatov officiated the opening match of the FIFA World Cup between South Africa and Mexico. He went on to officiate four more matches, including the semi-final match between Uruguay and the Netherlands. He became the third referee in history to officiate five matches in one World Cup. He is known for his excellent game reading ability, psychological resilience, and decisiveness on the field.
Later Career
In 2011, Irmatov was appointed to officiate the finals of the AFC Asian Cup (Japan vs Australia) and the FIFA Club World Cup ("Santos" vs "Barcelona"). In 2012, he was invited to the Olympic Games in London, where he officiated three matches, including the match for third place. In 2013, he participated as a referee in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil. He officiated four matches at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, including the quarter-final match between the Netherlands and Costa Rica. During the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia, he served as a video assistant referee for the Asian zone. In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, he officiated the group stage matches between Argentina and Croatia, and Spain and Morocco. As of June 25, 2018, Irmatov held the record for the most matches officiated in the FIFA World Cup, with 11 matches as the head referee. In January 2019, he was invited to officiate matches in the AFC Asian Cup held in the UAE. He officially ended his refereeing career at the end of 2019 and was honored in a ceremony at the AFC headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on November 27, 2019.
