Muhammad Nazmi Bin Nasaruddin (born 26 February 1990) also known as Nazmi Nasaruddin, is a Malaysian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

since 2016 and has also refereed a number of

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League Elite (abbreviated as the ACL Elite) is an annual continental club association football, football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's List of top-division football clubs i ...

matches. Nazmi was selected to be referee of the Final of the

2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup The 2023 AFC U-20 Asian Cup was the 41st edition of the AFC U-20 Asian Cup (including previous editions of the AFC Youth Championship and AFC U-19 Championship), the biennial international youth football championship organised by the Asian Footb ...

held in Uzbekistan. Nazmi refereed the matches in the

2016 AFC Solidarity Cup The 2016 AFC Solidarity Cup was the inaugural and only edition of the AFC Solidarity Cup, an international association football, football tournament. It took place between 2–15 November 2016 in Malaysia. The tournament was created by the Asian ...

2018 AFC U-16 Championship The 2018 AFC U-16 Championship was the 18th edition of the AFC U-16 Championship, the biennial international youth association football, football championship organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for the men's under-16 national team ...

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

and the

2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship The 2022 EAFF E-1 Football Championship was an association football tournament organized by the East Asian Football Federation. It was the 9th edition of the EAFF E-1 Football Championship, the football championship of East Asia. The finals were ...

. He has also officiated in the V. League 1 and

BRI Liga 1 Liga 1 (), officially known as BRI Liga 1 for sponsorship reasons, is the men's top professional football division of the Indonesian football league system. Administered by PT Liga Indonesia Baru (), Liga 1 is contested by 18 clubs and operate ...

Refereeing career

Nazmi has refereed in the

Malaysia Premier League The Malaysia Premier League () was the second-tier professional football league in Malaysia. It replaced the Liga Perdana 2 in the Malaysian football league system. The Malaysia Premier League was contested by 12 clubs. The season usually ra ...

and

Malaysia Super League The Malaysia Super League (), known simply as the Super League (), is the men's top professional Football in Malaysia, football division of the Malaysian football league system. Administered by the Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnersh ...

since 2011, being promoted to the FIFA international referee list in 2016. He officiated numerous matches in the

and the

AFC Cup The AFC Champions League Two (abbreviated as the ACL Two or ACL2) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation. It is the second-tier competition of Asian club football, ranked below the AFC C ...

, as a fourth official before becoming the main referee in the

2020 AFC Champions League The 2020 AFC Champions League was the 39th edition of Asia's premier club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 18th under the current AFC Champions League title. Ulsan Hyundai won their second Cham ...

group stage fixture between

Al Shorta Al-Shorta Sports Club () is an Iraqi sports club based in Al-Rusafa, Iraq, Al-Rusafa, Baghdad. It has teams in 19 different sports, and the best known section of the club is the football team, whose origins date back to 1932. Al-Shorta was for ...

and Al Wehda. In February 2017, he officiated a

2017 AFC Cup The 2017 AFC Cup was the 14th edition of the AFC Cup, Asia's secondary club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Defending champions Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya defeated Istiklol in the final to win their second AFC Cu ...

match, the group stage tie between Yadanarbon and

Home United Lion City Sailors Football Club, commonly referred to as the Sailors or LCS, is a Singaporean professional football club based in Bishan. It competes in the Singapore Premier League, the top tier of the Singapore football league system. Founded ...

. In 2019, Nazmi also officiated in a number of international friendlies match between in the

Oceania Oceania ( , ) is a region, geographical region including Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Outside of the English-speaking world, Oceania is generally considered a continent, while Mainland Australia is regarded as its co ...

continent. In 2023, Nazmi was also selected to officiate a match in the

2023 V.League 1 The 2023 V.League 1, known as the Night Wolf V.League 1 () for sponsorship reasons, was the 40th season of the V.League 1, the highest division of Vietnamese football and the 23rd as a professional league. The season started on 3 February 2023. ...

season and the

. On 14 September 2023, the AFC announced that he and 32 more other referees to the be the main referee in the

in Qatar. On 24 January 2024, he was selected to officiate a match between

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Nazmi got another opportunity in the Round of 16 ties between

Uzbekistan , image_flag = Flag of Uzbekistan.svg , image_coat = Emblem of Uzbekistan.svg , symbol_type = Emblem of Uzbekistan, Emblem , national_anthem = "State Anthem of Uzbekistan, State Anthem of the Republ ...

and

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. On 31 August 2024, Nazmi was selected to officiate the 2024 Vietnamese Super Cup Final between Thép Xanh Nam Định and Đông Á Thanh Hóa becoming the first foreigner refereeing in the cup history to officiate in the final. In September 2024, Nazmi was selected by

Liga Indonesia Baru PT Liga Indonesia Baru () or shortened as LIB, is an Indonesian company created by the Indonesian Football Federation, PSSI, to operate and organise Indonesian football competitions, namely Liga 1, Liga 2, Liga Nusantara and Elite Pro Academ ...

to officiate three matches in Liga 1 where he gave three red cards in total. In October, he was selected by AFC to officiate an

2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite The 2024–25 AFC Champions League Elite (ACL Elite) was the 43rd edition of Asia's premier club football tournament, organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the first since it was rebranded as the AFC Champions League Elite. The ...

match in the West region. On 3 March 2025, he was selected to officiate a Round of 16 tie between Emirati side Al Wasl and Qatari side

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club () is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the capital city Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in the top level of Qatari football, the Qatar Stars League. Locally, it i ...

Notable matches

AFC tournament

Others notable matches

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Malaysian football referees Malaysian people of Malay descent Sportspeople from Penang 2023 AFC Asian Cup referees {{Malaysia-footy-bio-stub