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.jpg) Al-Kaf in 2020 | |||
| Full name | Ahmed Abu Bakar Said Al-Kaf[1] | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1983-03-06)6 March 1983 (age 42)[2] Oman[1] | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2008– | Omani League | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2010– | FIFA-listed | Referee | |
Ahmed Abu Bakar Said Al-Kaf (Arabic:أحمد أبو بكر سعيد الكاف; born 6 March 1983) is anOmani professionalfootballreferee. He has been a full international forFIFA since 2012.[3] He has served as the referee of numerous matches, such as the2016 AFC Champions League final betweenJeonbuk Hyundai Motors andAl Ain FC, the second round of the2018 AFC Champions League Final, and the 2024 match betweenBahrain andIndonesia. In April 2025, it was reported that Al-Kaf was removed from the list of referees to officiate the2025 FIFA Club World Cup.[4]
Ahmed Al-Kaf was born on 6 March 1983 in Oman. He graduated among the top three in the Future Referees Project, kickstarting his refereeing career. He also trained in thePremier League.[5] After receiving his FIFA license in 2010, he became a full international two years later.[3] Al-Kaf was entrusted with officiating various international matches;[6] he served as the referee of theAFC Champions League final twice, having officiated the2016 AFC Champions League final match betweenSouth Korean teamJeonbuk Hyundai Motors andEmirati teamAl Ain,[7] as well as during the second round of the2018 AFC Champions League Final.[8] Al-Kaf was one of 46 referees from the first and second divisions of Oman who participated in a football referees' camp located in theDhofar Governorate. The camp included fitness examinations, theoretical lectures, practical applications, and tests regarding legal subjects.[9] Throughout his career, Al-Kaf has officiated 114 matches, issuing a total of 343 yellow cards and 10 red cards.[6]
The AFC had assigned Chinese refereeMa Ning to officiate the final match on 27 January 2018, but he was replaced by Al-Kaf a few hours before the final began.[10] On 3 March, Al-Kaf and Abu Bakr Al-Omari were praised by Saad bin Mohammed bin Said Al-Mardhouf Al-Saadi, Minister of Sports Affairs, for their contributions made in their football refereeing careers. Al-Saadi cited Al-Kaf's officiation of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship final as the main reason why he was chosen to receive this honor.[11]
On 8 November 2019, it was reported that Al-Kaf would officiate the match betweenThailand andVietnam. He was nicknamed "national referee" and "AsianCollina" by Vietnamese football fans, who praised his calmness and neutrality during matches.[12] During the match, Tien Dung passed Thai goalkeeperManuel Bihr to score a goal, but Al-Kaf declared this incident a penalty, stating thatĐoàn Văn Hậu had previously brought Bihr down in the box.[13] The match resulted in a tie of 0–0, causing Thailand to lose their second place ranking toMalaysia.[14]
In January 2020, Al-Kaf was questioned for several dubious rulings made in the2020 AFC U-23 Championship Quarter Finals between Saudi Arabia against host, Thailand. During the 78th minute of the game, he was accused of awarding Saudi Arabian footballerAbdullah Al-Hamdan[15] a free kick just outside the box.[16] TheFootball Association of Thailand sent an official letter to theAsian Football Confederation (AFC), questioning the fairness and integrity of officiating in the match.[17] Afterwards, Al-Kaf later changed the free kick to a penalty aftervideo assistant referees (VARs) confirmed it as such.[15]
On 14 February 2024, Al-Kaf was among the referees chosen to officiate the2026 FIFA World Cup finals.[18] On 10 October 2024, Al-Kaf came under heavy scrutiny after he was accused of making biased decisions in the match between Bahrain and Indonesia in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualification; while the game was originally planned to go on for 6 more minutes, he allowed the game to continue for 9 additional minutes.[19] This led toMohamed Marhoon scoring a 2–2 equalizer with only 20 seconds remaining.[20]
As a result of Al-Kaf's decisions during the game, defenderShayne Pattynama nearly started a fight with Bahraini team members, leading to the referee team being escorted off the field by security.[20] Al-Kaf's ruling was protested by Indonesian netizens, who coined the incorrect mathematical equation "90+6=99" as an inside joke.[20][21][22] TheFootball Association of Indonesia (PSSI) had sent a complaint letter to FIFA, with executive member Arya Sinulingga stating "[Al-Kaf] extended the adding time just to allow Bahrain to score an equalizer".[23][24]
We affirm its absolute rejection of such out-of-context behavior by a number of fans and some relevant parties, warning of the consequences of these out-of-context behaviors, stressing the commitment of the Omani staff throughout their honorable history to the utmost levels of professionalism and applying the highest levels of transparency, integrity and impartiality in line with international standards. This is what qualified them to become referees of the Asian elite.
TheOman Football Association (OFA) would later condemn the "use of threatening and intimidating language" towards Al-Kaf by Indonesian fans,[26] demanding he be protected due to death threats[27][28][29] while claiming that the association was looking into the incident with the relevant authorities.[30] Additionally, Bahraini football players were subject to online harassment and hacking operations, according to theBahrain Football Association, which the AFC was aware of.[31] The PSSI later requested the AFC to assign referees from neutral zones for the World Cup qualifiers.[32]
On 14 October 2024, Omani journalist Khamis Al-Balushi reported that Al-Kaf was removed from Asian Elite Champions League Duties.[33] In April 2025, Al-Kaf was removed from the list of referees officiating the2025 FIFA Club World Cup.[4] In response, the Chairman of the OFA personally contacted the President of the AFC to discuss the exclusion of Al-Kaf[34] and the rest of the Omani referee team.[35]
| Preceded by | AFC Champions League Second-leg Final referee 2018  Ahmed Al-Kaf | Succeeded by |
