Moroccan-born American soccer referee
Ismail Elfath Born (1982-03-03 ) March 3, 1982 (age 43) Casablanca , MoroccoOther occupation IT Software Sales Domestic Years League Role 2012– Major League Soccer Referee International Years League Role 2016– FIFA Listed Referee
Ismail Elfath (Arabic :اسماعيل الفتح ; born March 3, 1982) is aMoroccan -bornAmerican soccer referee for theProfessional Referee Organization . He has been a referee inMajor League Soccer since 2012 and aFIFA listed referee since 2016.
Elfath immigrated to the United States in 2001 at the age of 18 after winning a diversity visa lottery.[ 1] [ 2] University of Texas at Austin with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2006. As of 2022, Elfath resides inAustin, Texas .[ 2]
Elfath was first a Fourth official in MLS in 2011 and made his MLS refereeing debut in 2012.[ 3] [ 4]
Elfath was the referee during an August 2016 match betweenNew York Red Bulls II andOrlando City B where the worldwide first on-fieldVideo Assistant Referee review took place as the system was being tested inUSL .[ 5]
On March 26, 2019, Elfath was selected to referee the2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Poland.[ 6] Ukraine won 3-1 overSouth Korea .[ 7]
On May 17, 2019, Elfath was appointed to officiate in the2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup in the United States following his participation in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[ 8]
Later that year Elfath took charge of the semi-final match at the FIFA Qatar 2019 Club World Cup.[ 9]
Elfath was named theMLS Referee of the Year for the first time in his career on November 18, 2020.[ 10] [ 11]
In July 2021, Elfath took charge of three matches at the Tokyo2020 Olympics , including a quarter -final match between host nation Japan and New Zealand.[ 12]
Elfath was chosen as one of the two referees fromCONCACAF for the2021 Africa Cup of Nations held inCameroon from January 9 to February 6, 2022.[ 13] [ 14]
In the2022 FIFA World Cup inQatar , Elfath refereed two group stage games, theRound of 16 match betweenJapan andCroatia , and was the fourth official for the Final between Argentina and France.[ 15]
^ "Ismail Elfath: From Casablanca to FIFA Referee- Dreams Become Realities" .Muslim American Leadership Alliance . July 18, 2016.Archived from the original on November 20, 2022. RetrievedJune 24, 2019 .^a b "Bohls: Whether it's World Cup or world peace, Austin's Ismail Elfath in the middle of it" .Austin American-Statesman Archived from the original on November 20, 2022. RetrievedNovember 23, 2022 .^ "Ismail Elfath – Professional Referee Organization" . RetrievedJune 24, 2019 .^ FIFA.com."Education & Technical - Referees by Association" .FIFA.com . Archived fromthe original on May 11, 2015. RetrievedJune 24, 2019 . ^ nicholas.murray@uslsoccer.com, NICHOLAS MURRAY- (August 18, 2016)."PRO's Elfath Part of 'Ever-Evolving' History" .USL Championship . RetrievedJune 24, 2019 . ^ "Three U.S. Soccer Referees Selected to Officiate at 2019 U-20 World Cup" .www.ussoccer.com . RetrievedJune 24, 2019 .^ "Concacaf referees earn another distinction with FIFA Under-20 World Cup Final assignment" .www.concacaf.com . RetrievedJune 24, 2019 .^ "Match Officials Appointed for 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup" .www.goldcup.org . Archived fromthe original on May 17, 2019. RetrievedJune 26, 2019 .^ "Ismail Elfath – Professional Referee Organization" .^ "Ismail Elfath named MLS Referee of the Year" .www.mlssoccer.com . November 18, 2020. RetrievedNovember 19, 2020 .^ "Ismail Elfath named MLS Referee of the Year, Corey Rockwell named MLS Assistant Referee of the Year," Major League Soccer (MLS), Friday, October 14, 2022. Retrieved October 14, 2022.^ "Ismail Elfath – Professional Referee Organization" .^ "La liste des arbitres retenurs par la caf le Benin absent" . beninwebtv.com. December 14, 2021.^ Bohls, Kirk."Bohls: Whether it's World Cup or world peace, Austin's Ismail Elfath in the middle of it" .Austin American-Statesman . RetrievedDecember 2, 2022 . ^ Gates, Billy (December 17, 2022)."Austin's Ismail Elfath to be fourth official in 2022 FIFA World Cup final Sunday" .KXAN-TV . Archived fromthe original on December 22, 2022. RetrievedDecember 22, 2022 .
Referees Assistant Referees Video Assistant Referees Assistant Video Assistant Referees
