FIFA World Cup 2026 - Any Celebration of Officials From the Middle East and Africa?

In my 2021 article Uncelebrated Sports Officials in the Middle East & Africa, I argue that “while research shows that investment in sports has started shifting from the North to South and West to East, it has been observed that the latter has been more active than the former as far as sports-related activity is concerned.”

I took a bolder step to opine —This is especially the case with popular sports such as football where Middle East investments have been active from outright team purchases (e.g., Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain), stadium naming rights (Etihad Stadium and Emirates Stadium), sponsorships (FC Barcelona/Qatar Airways), and the prized hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. In my summation, I stated — “however, the regions have had very limited, if any, impact in terms accredited officialdom” on the big stage.

That stage remains football — arguably the biggest sports globally and formed of regional and continental football federations under the umbrella of the Zurich-based FIFA — Fédération Internationale de Football Association (French for the International Federation of Association Football) founded as far back as 1904.

As my research interest in sports — notably football — is now going through a resurgence, I did a quick image search for this post, and here’s what I found for my poster protagonist — a FIFA-accredited referee, Fahad al-Mirdasi, admitted was given a lifetime ban in Saudi Arabia after admitting soliciting a bribe from a Saudi club, according to the Saudi Football Federation, as reported in Arabian Business in May 2018.

Three recent events prompted this post — the first is the concluded 2025 FIFA Arab Cup in Qatar, which marked Morocco’s second triumph at the tournament since title in 2012.

Second, the same Morocco hosted the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and advanced from the group stage through the knockout rounds, reaching the final for the first time in two decades, where they faced Senegal and lost.

Third, is the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, and the 23rd FIFA World Cup — a quadrennial international men’s soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament will take place from June 11 to July 19, 2026 — and will be jointly hosted by sixteen cities — eleven in the United States, three in Mexico, and two in Canada. The tournament will be the first to be hosted by three nations.

The question then is — will any officials from Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) based Asian Football Confederation (AFC) be on official duty? Need I add that the current President is Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim AL KHALIFA of Bahrain.

The FIFA Member Associations (MAs) are at the centre of football’s global ecosystem, representing 211 countries and territories across six continents.

“These MAs are responsible for the development and governance of football within their territory, including organising competitions, nurturing grassroots programmes, and promoting the sport at all levels.” — FIFA