Irmatov was born on 9 August 1977, in Tashkent in a footballer's family. His father was also a referee, working in
Soviet competitions. He has been a full international referee for
FIFA since 2003 and is considered one of the elite referees in the world. He was selected as a referee for the
2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada, where he refereed the group-stage match between
Gambia and
Mexico, as well as the match between
Chile and
Congo. He was also selected as the fourth referee for
the final match between Argentina and the Czech Republic at the
BMO Field in
Toronto. He was named The Best Referee in Asia for four consecutive years (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and also in 2014), and was selected to officiate the final of both the
2008 and
2011 FIFA Club World Cup. Irmatov was selected as a referee for the
2010 FIFA World Cup and was in charge of the opening match between
South Africa and
Mexico on 11 June. Irmatov equalled the record for number of matches in charge in a single FIFA World Cup when he took charge of the
Netherlands-
Uruguay semi-final. He took charge of the World Cup 2010 Group C Fixture, where
England met
Algeria in Cape Town – thus becoming the youngest official to take charge of an opening World Cup match since 1934 and the youngest referee of
2010 FIFA World Cup. Irmatov also officiated at the
2011 AFC Asian Cup and was selected to referee the final between Australia and Japan. Irmatov was selected as a referee at the
2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. In the
Group A match between
Brazil and
Italy on 22 June, he blew his whistle to award Italy a penalty and was seen pointing at the penalty spot. A second later, as play continued,
Giorgio Chiellini scored with a low shot, with Irmatov instead pointing to the halfway line to signal a goal. Irmatov admitted to his mistake after the game saying: “While I was whistling for a penalty, out of the corner of my eye I saw the goal and I thought advantage should be played and gave the goal.” On 27 December 2015, at
Globe Soccer Awards ceremony in Dubai Ravshan Irmatov was named as
Best Referee of the Year in 2015. On 31 December 2015, the president of Uzbekistan
Islam Karimov signed a decree “On awarding Ravshan Irmatov with the order
Buyuk Hizmatlari Uchun” (For outstanding services). On 4 March 2016, Irmatov was named
Referee of the Year 2015 in Uzbekistan by the Football Federation for 10th time after survey results among sport journalists. In 2023, Irmatov was elected to be the AFC executive committee representative of the central zone. ==Honours==