A local preparation program prepares the UAE refereeing team for the 2026 World Cup

Emirates Today learned that the Emirati refereeing team participating in the 2026 World Cup, led by international referee Omar Al Ali, assistant referee Mohammed Ahmed Youssef, and video referee Mohammed Obaid Khadem, is preparing during the coming period to participate in a local preparation camp organized by the UAE Football Association, as part of good preparation before heading to the United States of America at the end of this month, to participate in managing the 2026 World Cup, which is considered the largest in the history of football with the participation of 48 teams.

In the same context, the Referees Committee of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) has prepared a 10-day program to prepare the referees participating in the management of the tournament matches, and it includes lectures on the new amendments to the law of the game, in addition to technical training and physical fitness tests, with the aim of raising readiness before playing the matches of the global event.

As for the video technology referees participating in the World Cup, their gathering will be based in the American city of Dallas, according to the program approved by FIFA.

The 2026 World Cup finals, which will witness the participation of 48 teams for the first time, will be held between June 11 and July 19 in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Appearing in the management of professional league matches is an important part of the local preparation of the Emirati refereeing team, as referee Omar Al Ali officiated the last summit confrontation between Al Wahda and Al Wasl, which ended with a 3-2 victory for Al Wasl in the 24th round, while referee Mohammed Ahmed Youssef was present as first assistant in the same match.

The Emirati refereeing team enjoys great support from the Football Association, the Referees Committee and the sports community in the country, in order to make an honorable appearance in the largest international football event, especially since it is the eighth participation of Emirati referees in the World Cup, starting with Ali Bujasim (1994, 1998, 2002), Issa Darwish (2006), Saleh Al Marzouqi (2010), and Muhammad Abdullah Hassan (2018 and 2022).

On the other hand, video referee Mohammed Obaid Khadem is participating in a Kuwaiti refereeing team led by referee Abdullah Jamali to officiate the final match in the AFC Champions League 2, which brings together Al-Nasr Saudi Arabia and Gamba Osaka of Japan on the 16th of this month in Saudi Arabia.

This participation comes as part of Khadem’s preparations for the upcoming World Cup, in which he is participating as a video referee.