This Sunday, in the final of the 2025 Club World Cup, Paris Saint-Germain will face Chelsea at New York’s MetLife Stadium (kick-off 9pm CET, broadcast on DAZN). The referee for the match has been chosen: Australian Alireza Faghani (47). He has a wealth of experience, including 220 matches in the Persian Pro League, 6 World Cup matches and 7 Club World Cups.
Yellow cards –
With Mr. Faghani at the whistle, we can expect yellow cards to be handed out relatively “normally” during the match. Indeed, while the average in Ligue 1 per match is 3.53 (standard deviation 0.39), Sunday’s referee has given an average of 3.57 yellows per match throughout his career in the Persia Pro League (Transfermarkt figures). That’s almost the average, so let’s hope it’s with the right decisions and dialogue.
Direct red cards –
The man on the whistle on Sunday was a little harsh on direct red cards. Indeed, Faghani’s career total is 0.14 red cards per match, whereas the French average per match is 0.17 (standard deviation 0.07). There’s nothing shocking about that, it’s just that they have to be fair reds.
Second yellow cards –
Alireza Faghani has a habit of sending a player off after his first yellow card in a match, as he has given the same player a second caution an average of 0.11 times per match. This is well above the French average of 0.09 (standard deviation 0.03). So he’s not afraid to exclude, with “average” yellows to start with.
Penaltys –
Finally, when it comes to penalties, the man on the whistle on Sunday is well below the French average, with 0.20 penalties whistled per match, compared with the Ligue 1 average of 0.34 (standard deviation of 0.08).
