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Enter the corridors of the Singapore Football Association [FAS] and it is clear they take great pride in their achievements – and with good reason too. Lining the walls are plaques honouring the landmarks and history-makers of local football, be it players, administrators or referees.
A new name is now about to added to this inspiring homage. Muhammad Taqi Aljaafari Bin Jahari will shortly be heading to the 2022 FIFA World Cup – Qatar where he will feature among world football’s elite as a Video Match Official (VMO).
Impressively, Taqi will be the fifth Singaporean to officiate at a FIFA World Cup.
With four AFF Championships to their credit – a figure better only by regional giants Thailand – Singaporean football has a surprisingly lengthy history of accomplishment. Much like the city-state itself – one of the smaller nations in the world by area – Singapore football has more than made the most of its limited resources.
For Taqi, appointment as a video match official at Qatar 2022 is part of a refereeing journey that has included an AFC Asian Cup, and a FIFA U-20 World Cup among a lengthy list of achievements. Notably, Taqi, in addition to being an elite VMO, has been a key figure in the ongoing implementation of video technology in the Singapore Premier League.
Using FIFA Forward-funding, Singapore is set to become just the third nation to introduce VAR technology in the region. Not only will the local competition benefit, but the upcoming implementation has helped Taqi to now be in a position to represent Asia in the specialised field of a VMO.
His appointment is emblematic of the worldwide changes in the field over the past four years. Most of the VMOs at Russia 2018 hailed from Europe and South America due to the limited number of FIFA Member Associations that had implemented VAR at the time.
“It is a dream come true to be at the World Cup, especially [given] the World Cup is the largest competition or largest tournament or largest sport[ing event], I would say, in the world, and everybody is watching these matches,” Taqi said.
The 35-year-old’s journey to Qatar 2022 has been as gruelling as any of his colleagues, having endured multiple international trips and numerous quarantine periods of 14, and even 21 days.
