No sooner than their flights touch down on the tarmac of their respective home airports, the four top Asian referees will start working hard again to boost Asian refereeing to greater heights.

Uzbek Ravshan Irmatov, the youngest referee during the just-concluded world football extravaganza, told the-afc.com: “The World Cup is now a part of history. After a short rest, we will have to start all over again and work with even greater zeal to achieve new heights.”

The 32-year-old Irmatov returned home to a warm welcome accorded by his fans, family, friends and the local media at the Tashkent International Airport on Wednesday.

For the reigning two-time AFC Referee of the Year, the stint at the World Cup in South Africa was purely a job that had to be done well.

Responding to the-afc.com’s question on whether he enjoyed the quality of the game or was concentrating fully on his task, Irmatov said: “Each and every minute of the game was completely focused on the performance of my duties.”

Irmatov also commended the performance of his three fellow Asian referees.

“I must say that all referees representing the AFC have worked at a very high level,” said the AFC Elite Referee.

On the imminent introduction of technology into refereeing, Irmatov said he would rather focus on his job and abilities as a referee than get into the raging debate.

“My work at the moment is to go out on the field and referee. Such a discussion is not in my competence.”

Irmatov’s fellow Asian referee at the World Cup, Malaysian Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh told the-afc.com last week that he wanted to produce more Malaysian referees for the World Cup about 15 years from now.

Retiring at the end of 2011, Subkhiddin plans to hold refereeing camps for students during school holidays nationwide to achieve this dream and invite Irmatvo to be a role model.

On this invitation, the Uzbek, well-known among colleagues for his humility and eagerness to learn, said: “I think I’m too young to think about it. As long as health allows, I will continue refereeing.”

Irmatov officiated in the most number of matches among Asian referees with five games - three group matches including the opening match between hosts South Africa and Mexico, one quarterfinal (Argentina vs Germany) and one semi-final (Uruguay vs Netherlands).

Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura's had four matches under his belt, including three group matches and one quarter-final (Brazil vs Netherlands).

Another AFC Elite Referee, Khalil Al Ghamdi, of Saudi Arabia, was the man in the middle for two group matches.

School teacher Subkhiddin has the highest number of appearances among all Asian referees after being appointed as the Fourth Official in eight matches.