Iraqi Football Federation recruits Arab referees to promote the Pro League and ease fan pressure

The Iraqi Football Federation announced it has resorted to enlisting international referees from Arab countries as part of a plan to market the Pro League, exchange experience among refereeing teams, and reduce pressure on Iraqi referees in high-attendance matches.

Hussein Turki, deputy director of the federation’s referees department, said marketing the league is not limited to attracting players and promotional campaigns, but also includes bringing in international referees from different countries, which broadens the audience following the competition in their home countries. He noted that referees were brought in from Egypt, Kuwait and Jordan.

Turki explained that the move is also based on mutual cooperation with peer federations through exchanging refereeing teams, noting that bringing a Jordanian team to the Iraqi league was reciprocated by sending Iraqi referees to officiate matches in Jordan. Among those participations was the involvement of four Iraqi referees — two central referees and two assistant referees — in a women’s tournament held in Amman.

He said one of the objectives of bringing in international referees is to manage some matches that face heavy pressure from spectators, the media and social media platforms, stressing that this does not imply any deficiency in the level of local refereeing and that Iraqi referees have the ability and competence to manage matches well.

He added that the selection of referees from outside Iraq is coordinated with the Iraqi Football Federation by studying the lists of referees in the relevant countries, reviewing their levels and classifications, and choosing the leading names in their countries to ensure recruiting teams with competence and experience to officiate league matches.