Saudi Arabia, 15 January 2026 – The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced the officiating team for the quarter-final match between U23 Vietnam and U23 UAE at the AFC U23 Asian Cup 2026, drawing considerable attention with its latest decision.
According to the AFC’s official appointment, Iranian referee Payam Heydari will take charge as the main referee. He will be assisted by fellow Iranians Farhad Farhadpoor and Ali Ahmadi. The fourth official is Faisal Sulaiman A Albalawi of Saudi Arabia. The VAR officials will be Muhammad Taqi from Singapore and Jumpei Ida from Japan.
Payam Heydari is a highly experienced FIFA referee, with more than a decade of officiating at major AFC competitions. Notably, this will be the second match involving U23 Vietnam at the 2026 tournament that he has overseen. During the group stage, Heydari was also in charge when U23 Vietnam defeated U23 Kyrgyzstan 2–1.
In that match, Heydari awarded U23 Vietnam a penalty, which Khuat Van Khang successfully converted to open the scoring in the first half.
The quarter-final clash between U23 Vietnam and U23 UAE is scheduled to kick off at 22:30 on January 16, at Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Huu Tien
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