Iranian football referee who officiated Chelsea-PSG finals called 'traitor' for posing with US President: 'He should have killed Trump'

An Iranian football referee has sparked anger in his home country after he was seen striking a pose with US President Donald Trump at the FIFA Club World Cup final held in the US on Sunday. Trump and first lady Melania Trump were at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey to watch the match, which saw Chelsea defeat Paris Saint-Germain. 

The match was officiated by Alireza Faghani, one of the prominent referees in the world. He was seen interacting with Trump, receiving his award. Faghani also posed for a picture with Trump, wherein he was seen mimicking a pose struck by Trump. Faghani also put up the picture on his Instagram handle, "captioning how grateful he was to be part of the football history".

However, the incident sparked widespread protests in his homeland, with conservative media calling him a traitor. Faghani does not represent Iran anymore after he left the country in 2019 due to disagreements with Iran's Football Federation. 

Iranian Media activist Mohamed Mirzaei criticised Faghani's photo with Trump on Twitter: "A traitor to his homeland is someone who, because of a souvenir photo, forgets what a criminal did to his homeland and fellow countrymen."

Alireza Dabir, the head of the Iranian Wrestling Federation, too harshly attacked Alireza Faghani in a tweet, suggesting he should have killed the US President. "If there were any honour, he would have torn out the killer’s throat instead of shaking his hand," he wrote. 

Another Iranian propagandist created an AI image of Faghani slapping the US President. "Imagine if #Faghani, instead of bowing and chatting with the aggressor of his homeland’s soil, had slapped Trump in defence of 1,100 martyrs! He would have forever become a hero, not just for Iran but for all the free people of the world," he added. 

Born in Iran, Faghani has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2008. He has also officiated tournaments such as the 2016 Olympic final and the FIFA World Cups in 2018 and 2022.