Is an international badge enough to qualify a referee to lead a World Cup match? And was the absence of Saudi referee Khaled Al-Turais from any match in the 2026 World Cup just a technical decision related to one referee, or does it reveal a deeper crisis in the project of producing Saudi referees?

The question is not about Al-Turais alone, but about the entire picture of Saudi refereeing. Saudi football, which today possesses one of the strongest leagues in Asia, attracts elite players and coaches, and offers weekly matches with huge fan and media pressure, has in return failed to produce a local referee with a strong presence in the biggest football tournament in the world.

The group stage and the round of 32 of the 2026 World Cup ended without a Saudi center referee leading any match, despite his presence on the list of referees selected for the tournament, while a number of his Asian counterparts received successive opportunities, with some extending their presence to the knockout stages. While on the surface it appeared as a technical decision by the FIFA Referees Committee, a deeper reading reveals that the absence began years before the World Cup, not in the last referees' camp.

Saudi referee Khaled Al-Turais speaks angrily with England coach Tuchel (dpa)

According to sources close to Asharq Al-Awsat, the Saudi Football Federation made efforts and contacts with the FIFA Referees Committee in the final days before the tournament, hoping to give Al-Turais a chance to officiate one of the World Cup matches, but the committee stuck to the technical classification it had set before the start of the competition and refused to make any changes to the list of referees selected to lead matches.

The sources confirm that the final referees' camp in Miami, USA, during the 10 days before the tournament's opening, was a decisive station in determining the assignment map. Referees there underwent physical, technical, and psychological tests, in addition to precise assessments regarding speed of decision-making, referee personality on the field, pressure management, and ability to handle the pace of World Cup matches.

Chinese referee Ma Ning shows a yellow card to a Curaçao player (Reuters)

According to information obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, Emirati Omar Al-Ali and Chinese Ma Ning emerged from those assessments as the most ready to get matches in the tournament, which was later reflected in the committee's decisions, as each got the opportunity to officiate World Cup matches, while the Saudi referee remained outside the list of center referees throughout the competition.

In an attempt to explain why Al-Turais did not get any match, a message circulated via several sports news accounts stating that nine referees from Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Peru, and Colombia did not lead any matches as center referees in the 2026 World Cup, and that FIFA plans to benefit from them in future international tournaments and assignments, considering their presence in the World Cup as part of a future preparation program.

However, this justification seems insufficient to explain Al-Turais's absence from officiating any match, especially since a number of referees participating for the first time received actual opportunities within the tournament, while some moved on to lead matches in the knockout stages. This reflects that the main criterion for the FIFA Referees Committee was not merely a future preparation plan, but rather an accumulated technical file, starting from the quality of matches the referee officiated before the World Cup, passing through his assessments in the final camp, and ending with his ability to convince the committee that he is ready for high-pressure matches.

Australian referee Alireza Faghani during his management of the match between France and Senegal (AP)

Here begins the real story.

At the local level, Khaled Al-Turais officiated 18 matches in the Saudi Professional League last season, but most were medium-level matches or between teams far from the title race or big crowd clashes. He missed derbies, clasicos, and matches that usually constitute the real test of a referee's personality and ability to control the pitch and make decisions under pressure from stands, media, and benches.

In the King's Cup, Al-Turais only got one match, in the round of 16 between Al-Nassr and Al-Ittihad, an important match, but it remained an isolated case in his local file, and did not turn into a graded series of assignments in big matches, finals, and decisive rounds, which are the stations any referee needs before becoming qualified to lead World Cup matches.

In contrast, last season saw about 80 matches in the Saudi league assigned to foreign referees, most of which were derbies, clasicos, direct confrontations between big teams, or sensitive matches in the competition race. Thus, the most important matches of the Saudi league practically turned into a preparation platform for elite referees of the world, while the Saudi referee remained away from the experiences that shape his personality and give him the required international experience.

The foreign referees who officiated matches between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr and Al-Ahli, and other big matches, were simultaneously boosting their files before international refereeing committees, before many of them later appeared in the World Cup. As for the Saudi referee, he was often a spectator at his country's strongest matches, a paradox that summarizes an important aspect of the local refereeing crisis.

The situation was no different at the continental level, as Al-Turais did not get to lead big matches in the AFC Champions League Elite, and he missed top-tier matches between Asian national teams in the World Cup qualifiers, which are a main criterion in evaluating referees nominated for global tournaments.

Even in the 2023 Asian Cup held in Qatar, the Saudi referee's participation was limited. Al-Turais officiated only two matches in the group stage, the first between Iraq and Japan, and the second between Malaysia and South Korea, before being absent from all knockout matches. In contrast, a number of top Asian referees continued to lead matches in the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final, matches that add significant weight to any referee's international record.

The assignment list in the 2026 World Cup reveals the size of the gap between Al-Turais and a number of his Asian competitors; Iranian-Australian Alireza Faghani officiated 3 matches, including one in the round of 16. Jordanian Adham Makhadmeh led 3 matches, including one in the knockout stages. Qatari Abdulrahman Al-Jassim officiated two matches, while Emirati Omar Al-Ali, Chinese Ma Ning, and Uzbek Ilgiz Tantashev received actual opportunities to officiate matches in the tournament, at a time when the Saudi referee remained completely outside the scene of center referees.

Qatari referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim officiated the match between England and Panama (AFP)