Pierluigi Collina, the Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, revealed that Iranian-Australian referee Alireza Faghani would shoulder the task of officiating Sunday’s Club World Cup final. “When we decide (on) the referee for a final, we always take into consideration several factors… of course, the performances delivered during the competition,” Collina said, as per FIFA.

It was a fitting moment for Faghani as he opened the tournament this year. “We chose Alireza Faghani and the rest of the team, because we think – we are convinced – that this is the best team for the final,” Pierluigi Collina added. Yet, during the final, fans disagreed with Collina’s assessment of the 47-year-old.

“Not sure why the referee is not booking the PSG players. He’s only booking Chelsea players,” posted Far Sports Group’s Frank Khalid. However, the philanthropist and Blues fan wasn’t the only one who felt this way. Vince, a social media reporter on X, also posted about what he thought was bias from the Club World Cup final referee as PSG struggled late, with no answer to Chelsea’s three goals.

“This Ref hasn’t given PSG even a card despite numerous professional fouls,” he wrote on X, and the fans agreed. “Exactly! PSG hacking players left and right and the ref’s just watching. No consistency at all… But Chelsea is staying composed,” commented one fan, agreeing with Khalid and Vince, aka @blue_footy on X.

“Every tournament, it’s a privilege for us to be a part of the tournament. As I said, we had two weeks’ preparation. We worked on all aspects: team tactics, practical and, also, medical,” Faghani said after landing the Club World Cup final gig. However, fans weren’t so convinced by the selection or the preparation. From apparently overlooking shirt-pulling to aggressive fouls from PSG players, they continued questioning the official.

Fans took issue with multiple decisions during the Club World Cup final

“He is just frustrating our players,” complained one fan, who thought Faghani was not being impartial with his decision. Fans started pointing to the specific decision they didn’t agree with, and apparently, the players on the field didn’t agree either. Chelsea’s Pedro Neto didn’t like what he saw and got into an argument with Alireza Faghani late in the first half. The result?

Unfortunately, Neto earned himself a yellow card for his troubles. This is not new, as Neto earned a yellow for the same thing in November last year when the Blues played against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Yet, this time, the fans didn’t agree with the Club World Cup final referee. “Gave Neto a yellow for complaining. The ego on this ref,” a fan wrote on X.

Another soccer fan agreed. “Yes, it is not equitable, this card distribution. They are allowed to do tactical fouls, but we can’t. Mad,” commented the Chelsea fan, for Faghani’s booking of a Chelsea player while the PSG squad became increasingly desperate in their attempts to take back control. “We are clearly playing against 12 men,” complained another fan.

Yet, when the FIFA Club World Cup official did take action against a PSG player, he pulled a straight red card. With the clock winding down and the Champions League winners struggling to find an answer, João Neves crossed the line with his foul on defender Marc Cucurella. Alireza Faghani initially missed this one as well, as VAR came into action.

After reviewing the footage, the 47-year-old found that Neves had pulled Cucurella’s hair and sent him to the bench. However, that didn’t stop things from devolving even further by the end of the match. Chaos broke out as PSG failed to clinch the Club World Cup title. What’s worse? Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique seemingly lashed out at Chelsea’s João Pedro on the field.

“I’m 47 years old. This will be one of my last tournaments. It’s a pleasure, really, to be a part of the FIFA (Club World Cup) tournament, and I try to enjoy every moment,” Alireza Faghani said after getting the honor of closing out the Club World Cup. This is probably not what he had imagined would happen when saying those words.