Ivanov to whistle bule-red derby

Tehran - A Russian international referee is expected to arrive in Tehran to whistle the red-blue men visit, after the Italian referee Pierluigi Collina refused to visit Tehran due to his business in Italy.

Valentin Ivanov, who has judged France-Cameroon visit in confacup final, will come to Tehran via Turkey.

UEFA boarding committee in a directive has called on members of the confederation to apply foreign referees in derbies, Asefi, member of Iranian Football Federation boarding committee said when asked why a local referee was not called in to judge the derby.

The decision is made by UEFA to ease the pressures put on referees at home.

UEFA has taken the decision because of the post-game problems occuring for referees in a derby, Asefi said.