“I thank all my teachers (refereeing instructors) for guiding me this far,” said the 31-year-old Irmatov, a former player, after receiving the award from AFC Executive Committee member Bakhtier Rakhimov. “My success would not have been possible without them.”

A FIFA-accredited referee since 2003, Irmatov is one of the rising stars of Asian refereeing and beat Japan’s Yuichi Nishimura and Malaysia’s Mohd Salleh Subkhiddin to the award coveted by all men in black in Asia.

“This is a great honour for me and will spur me to do my best in the future,” said Irmatov, who has been included in the provisional list of referees for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“The award has given me a great responsibility but more energy to work hard.”

“2009 is the Year of the AFC Referee and it is important to me as I will continue to prove myself.”

“The quality of Asian refereeing has improved considerably, thanks to AFC efforts like education courses and seminars,” added Irmatov, who has refereed in the FIFA U-17 and U-20 World Cups.

“My aim is to make Asian football proud of its referees.”