KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 1 — The quality of Malaysian referees continues to gain international recognition as two Malaysian officials have been selected by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) to conduct two friendly matches involving the Under-22 Japanese squad this month.

FAM secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam in a statement said the national footballing body had selected Mohd Amirul Izwan Yaacob as the referee for the Tier One International match between Japan and Venezuela at the Panasonic Suita Stadium in Osaka on November 19.

Stuart said that Mohd Amirul Izwan was also selected as the fourth official for the Tier Two International friendly between Japan and Colombia at the Hiroshima EDION Stadium on November 17.

"Mohd Yusri Muhamad will serve as the assistant referee for both matches which is part of the Kirin Challenge Cup 2019,” Stuart said.

He said the two referees were selected after the Japan Football Association (JFA) sent an invitation to FAM to conduct games involving the Samurai Blue squad.

The International Football Federation (Fifa) had previously selected Mohd Amirul Izwan as referee and Mohd Yusri as an assistant referee to handle in the 2022 World Cup / 2023 Asia Cup second qualifying round Group B match between Kuwait and Taiwan at the Jaber al-Ahmad Stadium in Kuwait on Nov 14.

Two other Malaysian officials, Mohamad Mu’azi Zainal Abidin and Razlan Joffri Ali, were selected by Fifa, as a second assistant referee and a fourth official, respectively, for the match in Kuwait.

Four other Malaysian officials, namely Muhammad Nazmi Nasaruddin (referee), Mohamad Zairul Khalil Tan (assistant referee), Mohd Arif Shamil Abd Rasid (second assistant referee) and Suhaizi Shukri (fourth official) were appointed by Fifa to handle the Group F match of the qualifiers between Myanmar and Mongolia at the Mandalar Thiri Stadium, Mandalay, Myanmar on Nov 19.

"FAM hopes that the officials selected will be able to perform their duties well and remain consistent in their assigned tasks, and the knowledge and experience gained can be used to assist the development of referees in Malaysia,” added Stuart. — Bernama