Senior sailor of Indian Navy to referee AFC Asian Cup qualifiers

Senior sailor with the Indian Navy has been selected to referee the AFC Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers, scheduled to begin from June 8 in Malaysia.

Antony Abraham is a Master Chief Petty Officer - Physical Training and is presently serving onboard Indian Naval Ship Sujata based at Kochi, the Indian Navy said.

"The Master Chief is one among the two international referees in the services. He started his career as a referee in 2005, qualified as a national referee in 2012 and for FIFA in 2015.

He is one among 18 FIFA qualified referees present in India," the Navy said in a release.

He has served as a referee in various national and international tournaments/league matches such as Santosh Cup, Federation Cup, ISL, World Cup Qualifiers and other FIFA events.