Monday 9 July 2018

2018 FIFA World Cup - Referee Appointments - Cüneyt Çakır to officiate CRO - ENG Semifinal

Referee appointments for Semifinals at 2018 World Cup. Cüneyt Çakır will officiate the semifinal involving Croatia and England. 
Match #62
Moscow, 11 July 2018 20:00 CET
Croatia - England
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Fourth Official: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Fifth Official: Sander van Roekel (NED)
VAR:
AVAR1:
AVAR 2:
AVAR 3: 

173 comments:

  1. Kuipers it's 4th official.

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  2. I'm a bit unhappy that if Kuipers was to be involved in a SF then why not on the pitch instead of a QF? That's disappointing!

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    1. @Soham I told you yesterday it would be 1976 😉 in 2nd semi-final. But you were half right too, 1973 is the 4th official..

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    2. I'm so sad you see... 2 of my favourite referees are now out from the Final 😢

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    3. @Soham, I feel your sorrow and welcome to the club; I was disappointed as well today hearing that Skomina has left Moscow. But that is the nature of the game; out of 32 national teams only one will win the World Cup and out of 35 referees only one will officiate the final match 😉.

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    4. At least one of them whistled 4 games in the tournament and one got his 2nd WC semi-final... So not too bad after all :)

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    5. 👍 All in all not a bad season at all if we also add EL Final for one of them and 1/2 CL for the other 😉.

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    6. Yes but I thought Cakir will feature in more World Cup matches, he featured in only 4 (3+1)... Kuipers featured in 6 matches (4+2) so not a bad tournament for him at all, just that Netherlands and Belgium restricted his progress both in 2014 and 2018 respectively!

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    7. Now I want Faghani to referee the Final... That will be a proud Asian moment for me!

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    8. I agree, Faghani would deserve the Final match without a doubt! 🤞

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  3. Definitely, I think there's 90% chance a non-UEFA referee will handle the Final.

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    1. I see Faghani or Ricci as the options there!

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    2. Maybe we'll still have a chance to see Brasil in the final match.. 😉😃

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    3. Why have you all left out Pitana for the FINAL ? And why are you ruling out Kuipers for the FINAL - just because he is 4 th official for a semi ? Is that a criteria to rule him out ?

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  4. Congratulations to Cakir for becoming the second person in history to officiate two semifinals! He is an excellent referee.

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  5. It was supposed to be a UEFA referee cakir or kuipers to officiate the final under these circumstances Cakir. But collina is still imclined to make a surprise let's see.

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  6. I had called Cakir "the man of the semifinals", now again, another one. Incredibile story with him... EURO 2012, WC 2014, WC 2018... many CL semifinals...
    In terms of finals, he has "only" Champions League and Club World Cup matches...

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  7. Interesting news : Intimidades #Rusia2018: En principio Çakir y Cunha iba a dirigir cada uno la otra semifinal, pero evitando que Mauricio Espinoza dirigiera a Inglaterra intercambiaron las designaciones.

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    1. Source : Arbitro Internacional

      It says that Cakir was planned for France v Belgium and Cunha was planned for England v Croatia but due to eventful history of Espinosa with England, the appointments were swapped!

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    2. You were faster than me :D.
      Interesting to know.

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  8. Well may be it did leak to this Dutch website asI earlier wrote. The final and 3-4 game will shared between AFC, CONCACAF and CAF. I do not think Ricci will have another game. Feghani is definitely the favorite for right now and he deserves it. 3-4 place game will most probably go to CAF

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  9. According to Arbitro İnternacional, Çakır and Cunha were planned for the other SF match they were finally appointed, changed because of Cunha AR2 Mauricio Espinoza involved in 2010 GER-ENG incident.

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  10. Although finals are always more under the limelight semifinals are tougher to referee.iyi şanslar Cüneyt. Good luck Cüneyt

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    1. Ahmet, I totally agree. I've rarely had a difficult final. I've had some very challenging semi-finals -- games in which both teams will try anything to get through (often resorting to aggressive physical and verbal tactics). In SF, neither team is used to losing and you often end up with a "sore" loser who will blame most of their folly on the folks in black (or yellow, blue, green, red).

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  11. I hope that it means that Geiger WON’T GET the Final because given his « performance » during COL-ENG, even sooner in the WC, it will be a disaster for football fans !

    I bet on Ricci if France is going into the final, because Faghani had already 2 games with French team so a 3rd one can’t be good for both teams ! Or maybe Pitana for the Opener-Final combooo !

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    1. Faghani did France only once as the main referee... In Uruguay v France he was the 4th official only!

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    2. Rizzoli reffed Argentina three times, including the final, in 2014!

      And of course, the last time an Argentine had the opener, he was also given the final (Elizondo 2006).

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    3. Faghanni did France vs Argentina round of 16. Yes, Rizolli did Argentina games thrice in 2014 including quarter final against Belgium and the Final.

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    4. Faghanni did France vs Argentina round of 16. Yes, Rizolli did Argentina games thrice in 2014 including quarter final against Belgium and the Final.

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  12. Well, if final referee was selected before QF matches, Faghani will be there. If final is for the best QF referee, Sandro Ricci should get it.

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  13. They put Cunha on the « big » SF and Çakir on the « small » SF... Unbelievable...

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    1. Don't think there is something like "big" or "small" semifinal. But anyway, I think Cunha for England-Croatia and Cakir for France-Belgium would be no problem, although Espinoza and England incident...

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    2. Awefl assignments for QF and SF

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    3. I think CRO-ENG could get quite challenging!

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  14. So after this appoitment ,we can conclude that Kuiper will not be in charge of final match. We will se if referee will be from Uefa- Mazic, from Afc- Faghani, Conmebol-Pitana. I exclude concacaf referees from the option that they can be in final.

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    1. Not sure you can rule out Kuipers just because he is 4th official for semi . Yes, Pitana's stakes for the FINAL , are now very high, though.

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  15. Colina, gives Faghani the final. He did great jobs in hardest matches. No VAR. Who can believe that Fra Arg without VAR

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    1. This was my first thought...

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    2. Happy to hear that Chefren :)

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    3. If Kuipers was to be appointed as a 4th official then why not 4O in the Final instead of SF? 🤔 Maybe he just wasn't good enough in this tournament!

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    4. Soham, just look at his matches. All of them were not challenging matches although he did a good job. But still we cannot predict Colina ;)

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    5. I think that some appointment are a bit... random. Like 4th official

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    6. @Unknown What has difficulty of previous matches got to do with a 4th official appointment? He is probably one of the leading referees in this WC as you can say from the fact that him and Pitana are the only ones till now to get 4 matches... A 4O appointment in Final would be a better farewell than that it in a SF, not that it makes a huge difference but still! :D

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  16. Congratulations to Cüneyt Çakır. Well deserved appointment. I was hopeful for a final, but second consecutive semi final at world cup is also a big achievement. I hope you stay two more seasons in Turkey and end your career with a Euro 2020 final. Good luck...

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    1. I too hope he doesn't leave for China :( In that case I will miss him a lot :(

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    2. I think he will try to get the Euro 2020 final!

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    3. Don't be sad he will be more closer to you :)))

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    4. Young referees to the fore from next season - say Michale Oliver from England , Danny Makelle , who is a VAR , in this World cup. Clement Turpin also falls under the young refs. May be we can say , Ok Cakir has given his best for FIFA and UEFA. Most people may agree that Marc Clattenburg would be doing important matches in this World cup including the FINAL if England weren't involved in the FINAL, if he was still with UEFA.

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  17. There is definitely a pattern in the fact that Çakir and Cunha were saved for the semis.

    If this pattern os also applied to the final, then we won't see a QF referee next Sunday and Faghani becomes the natural choice.

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    1. I really hope it's Faghani or Ricci...

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    2. My prediction is Faghani is The referee for final and Ricci FO.

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    3. I'll be really if Asia finally gets a World Cup final referee :)

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    4. But mostly Quarter final refs have refereed in Finals in previous World cups , including Collina himself in 2002 , this if I am not mistaken.

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  18. So the same officials as Nigeria/Argentina. Congrats to all.

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  19. Don’t forget Rocchi also for the final

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    1. If Rocchi will get the final, it will be a big surprise, but acceptable decision. But I think the final is between Faghani and Ricci, they both deserve it.

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    2. You have ruled out Pitana for final , easily ?

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    3. Rizzoli don´t merited Final in Brazil;
      Rocchi neither......but two are italians....

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  20. Honestly, I expected cakir at final. And for this englsnd croatia sf faghani. But fifa always make some surprises. But it is ridicilous to give france - belgium sf match to cunha. He is not near to top 10 refs in the world and they gave him wc semi final. Totally unfair. Of they had to give one sf to concacaf why they didnt gave it to ricci or pitana. How cunha can be better than the other 11 taht still there? Rocchi, malang, faghani still no qf or sf. After cunha appointment i am expecting mr. geiger at the final.

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  21. I still believe Ricci will handle final and Faghani 3rd place match. In the match that doesn't involve Croatia 4th ref will be Mazic, and in other match it will be Diedhiou. That's my final predictio. Should be no place for Conger, definitely no for Geiger, and I believe also for Rocchi (his chance was 4th ref in Cakir's match). About Pitana - well big question mark...

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  22. How about Rocchi for the Final?

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    1. I never believe that Collina appoint an Italian referee in second straight World Cup final.

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    2. Performances don't merit it... That's all I can say!

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  23. Kuipers 4th means 100% sure no final for him or is there still a possibility he gets Another match?

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    1. 99.99% sure no final for him!

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    2. I don't think so anymore,,whistled 4 games and 2 games as 4th official, already handled 6 games

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  24. Soham at least you can see your two fav refs on the field at the same time:) enjoy it will never happen again :))

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    1. Yes it's really sad to think that these names are only there for maximum 1 or 2 more years and then they will retire forever :')

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  25. Looking the comments and interesting there is not a single word for Mazic. He is the favourite for 4th official at the final.

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    1. Soham is grieving now, so we don't want to add salt to his wound :)
      Mazic will be involved somehow in the game where CRO is not playing, and we will see how.

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    2. Just to clarify, I want Kuipers to get the best appointments of course but at the same time I don't want Mazic or any other referee to do poorly or something like that ever just because my preferences Kuipers or Çakir won't do the Final!

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    3. I wouldn't ever expect that from neither of us.

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    4. That's why no question of adding salt to wound :)

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  26. If Croatia gets out my bet is Mazic for final with Faghani as 4th official.

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    1. That would be as excellent choice.

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    2. I want Faghani for final

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    3. Mazic is great referee, but he missed a penalty in QF in my opinion, so probably no final...

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    4. He didnt miss it, if that was crucial mistake he would be sent home. Since VAR didnt do anything he can still get final :)

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    5. Since Faghani missed nothing and had the toughest and most challenging game of the tournament, hands down he is the most deserving name!

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    6. I really wonder where was Faghani challenged, in which match? I remember him in Brasil-Serbia. Nothing happened there, absolutely easy match to handle. In France-Argentina he had problems in last 10-15 minutes only, and he struggled there. Interesting that everyone forget that. It is very strange that people have selective amnesia. Also, as 4th official he did nothing to help Pitana when there was big mass on the pitch. Where was he, what was he doing? And it was close to him.
      I think he will have his chance in Qatar - Asian soil, he'll have 44 then. Now, 3rd place match for him I believe.

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    7. From Germany-Mexico only memorable scene was pushing Kroos in the chest.
      Hope that Ricci get the final (if not mazic, of course).

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    8. Well, I remembered that in Serbia-Brazil was also one potential penalty situation, but Faghani didn't react and VAR too.

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  27. Can Cakir referee WC 2022. His DOB is Nov. 1976. He will be 45+ <46 by then.

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    1. WC 2022 will in November 2022 so Cakir may stay on till then... But I think he should let it go and give the young UEFA referees the chance to participate! He has nothing left to achieve!

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    2. Plus everything depends on whether he takes up the offer from China or not!

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    3. I think two semifinals in two WC means a great achievement for Cakir, but on the other hand is little sad for him he missed the final...

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    4. FIFA has removed the rule of refs to retire from FIFA officiating at 45 , in 2015. Age bar rule removed. But I did not see any ref over 45 , referreing in this World cup , though.

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  28. I don't expect another conmebol or uefa referee for final,,AFC first time has chance for final in wc history with faghani,and Collina will give this award to AFC,(and it will be surprise Because faghani deserved it already),4th official ricci or mazic

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  29. I could imagine Pitana at the final with Faghani as 4th official. Don't ask me why, but Pitana is Pitana. I could only say it for Germany - everyone knows Pitana and most of them like his style. If you ask someone for Faghani, maybe 25% would give the right answer. So, as I already mentioned, Pitana is Pitana and if you ask me: Pitana for final

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  30. As if it wasn't already clear enough, this appointment makes it 100% certain: Conger for the 2018 World Cup Final.

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  31. Best officiating at Quarterfinals, our poll:

    1) Mazic 48
    2) Kuipers 47
    3) Ricci 42
    4) Pitana 16

    I know that poll had some problems, indeed the number of voters is really low. I apologize for that. Now the new poll about WC final referee seems to be OK, already 126 votes.

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    1. "I know that poll had some problems, indeed the number of voters is really low."

      "That poll" already suffered some problems during the WC 2006 when the number of yellow cards for the same player in a match was indeed really high. ;-)

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  32. Where is the poll can't see it ?

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    1. Bugra, if you on a mobile, go to the bottom of the page to "view web version" et voilà you'll see the poll..

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    2. Nice to see Çakir and Kuipers are still 2nd and 3rd in that poll as of now although everyone of us knows that they won't get the Final :')

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    3. Soham if we make kuipers 1. In that pool, Collina can change final referee:)) go kuipers

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    4. I'll be very surprised if Collina decides his appointments by seeing poll results in the blog :D :D

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  33. Deserved appointment for Cakir.
    Very Big surprise will be to see Faghani or Pitana in final with ENG.
    Also Mažić with CRO.
    But,maybe it's time for Collina to finally break all barriers.

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    1. I think that Faghani , Pitana and Mazic really dont care about nationalities. and I think Kolina has full confidence in them .
      If Kolina assigned Mazic to BRA-SER game, I am 100% sure that BRA would have the best refereeing in the world. The same goes for Pitana and Faghani.

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  34. Can confirm that Anderson is coming home with Marrufo and Rockwell.

    So Geiger stays with Fletcher only.

    My bet is that Geiger is AVAR1 on the Final or 3/4 playoff with Fletcher as AVAR2.

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    1. What is your source on this?

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    2. One of the referees in question who is coming home.

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  35. My prediction VAR for the final:
    VAR: Irrati
    AVAR1: Makkelie
    AVAR2: Fletcher
    AVAR3: Geiger
    You can switch Makkelie and Geiger in case.

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    1. Why do you think that Makkelie (or Geiger) shall be AVAR1 in the final - neither has fulfilled this duty before during that competition.

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    2. Uhh, so you really think Irrati will handle the most sonorous semifinal as well as the WC final as main VAR? I know Rosetti and Collina obviously are very, very, very impressed by their compatriots, but handling both France-Belgium ánd the big final as main VAR would really be too much in my humble opinion.

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    3. Makkelie did the FIFA Club World Cup (final) and WC U20 (AVAR in final). He has also several years of experience in Dutch Cup matches. So he is defenately more experienced then Irrati.

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    4. Given that this topic is very important, the first WC with VAR, I will open a poll and a discussion about that soon.

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  36. Faghani was not challenged.

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  37. Unbelievable! Cakir expected, but why wasting Kuipers as a 4th official in a Sf?!?
    I start wondering how on earth do they "calculate" these appointments?

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    1. No wasting as such , Collina has been at times been 4 th official. In refereeing being 4 th official is a part of the job.

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  38. If I am not wrong, Asian referee was never in charge of a final match in a World Cup. At the moment, you have Faghani in a great form, did some very important matches earlier in the tournament including FRA-ARG. I think for the first time in 88 years of world cup, referee from Asia will be appointed for the final match.

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    1. Alireza Faghani will definitely have Final or 3rd place game.
      He deserved it !

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  39. http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/424195/Alireza-Faghani-on-retirement-after-2018-World-Cup

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    1. Don't think he will retire so early!

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    2. If he gets the final now, i can see him retiring. There is nothing bigger than that he can achieve in his career

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  40. If Rocchi gets the final it would be a complete farce. Surely, Collina will appoint on merit and not just give it to his compatriot.

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  41. Maybe i don`t understand something in refereeing, but why appeareance in World Cup SF as 4th official exclude referee(Kuipers) from officiating final?

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    1. There is no logic to it but it's a convention in general that the main referees and 4th officials of the semi-finals generally don't get the final... I would have loved to see an exception this time though :(

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  42. According to me the final referee Faghani with all Italian team Var

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  43. Infantino must exonerate Collina and Busacca
    for the next World Cup. If he is decent and
    valiant.

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    1. Rumours say that Infantino intends to replace Collina and Busacca by Spaniard Alberto Monty Python after the World Cup.

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    2. Why? I think Refereeing committee is doing good job. Refereeing overall, and especially in the KO stage was excellent. No major mistakes. VAR is really helping with avoidance of major mistakes.
      QF Refs : Mazic , Kuipers, Ricci and Pitana were all PERFECT.
      SF Refs : I think they had to balance a bit with South American Referee, because SF teams are UEFA only - which is perfectly OK.
      Cakir is TOP CLASS ref - so I have no problem with him as well.
      The only guy who really got what he deserved , despite the fact that he is also a TOP CLASS reff, was Felix Brych - not because he missed a very very fishy PK situation, but because he did not want to check it out with VAR , which can be interpreted as arrogance.

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  44. Between what is contained in these two stories I have serious issues with Zwayer at this tournament and the fact that he has been retained for the final 4 matches!
    https://refereeingworld.blogspot.com/2018/07/marelli-serious-var-error-in-brazil_7.html
    https://refereeingworld.blogspot.com/2018/07/refereeing-crash-between-brych-and.html

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    1. Brych and Zwayer are not talking to each other anymore? >.<

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    2. Let us pray Zwayer will not be in VAR charge in the final. He does not deserve it. He - that is discussed in Germany very clearly - did NOT help Brych in any way when he had to. It looks like being the way I warned weeks before: Zwayer could use any chance to ruin the career of a comrade he sees as a concurrence hindering Zwayer from getting nr1 in Germany.

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  45. No need to suffer for Kuipers and almost sure Pitana. It won`t be fair if they handled 3 matches at KO stages, and 5th as ref for the final for one of them, they were not twice better than all the referees included(even if i exclude my view on Spain-Russia game). What they done is a big achievement. Probably for Collina SF=1/8 + Qf.
    Cakir - "SF man", well that is probably because he looks like the referee for the decade.

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  46. I have a question for the serbians(mostly, sm else could know).
    How football tiers you have and did Mazic perform at the lowest level from time to time(or which is the lowest he participate in)?

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    1. There are : Premier League (The first League) , The First Serbian League (The Second League) ,then Serbian Regional Leagues , Zonal Leagues, Municipality leagues. So all in Total 5-6 Tiers , depending on how you count it. Mazic did perform in 4th Tier , referring a local Derby in Late 2016. Of course - he was a SUPER STAR on the pitch :) and the players were amazed just with his presence :)
      On a serious note, Mazic and his team (Djurdjevic and Ristic) are THE BEST OF THE BEST that Serbian football can offer at the moment. As a former referee (15 years, 1100 games) I want to stress that I am especially proud of Ristic, with whom I used to perform at the games in 3rd and 4th tier. He has grown n to THE ULTIMATE Assistant Referee. I am really thrilled with his precision and successful evaluations of the Offside situations in WC and CL (final).
      I really hope that Team Mazic will be given the WC Final as a crown on a fantastic refereeing career.

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    2. Nice to hear it, thanks. It looks like Balcan countries has similar attitude about best national referees.
      I think he will be appointed at the final, but not as head referee.

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  47. OT: Yesterday A. Čeferin held an interview with the German press agency (DPA) and regarding the VAR he said: ''There are of course the pros and cons of the VAR system. I think there is no way back. In one way or the other it will be implemented in the European competitions. We are not against VAR but we simply are not sure that the rules of its use are clear enough. But I still think that VAR has worked pretty well at he World Cup so far''.

    This is a short summary of the interview published on the Slovenian web site, but maybe the readears of this blog from Germany may add some additional interesting information from the interview.

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  48. Soham don't be sad, because I think Collina has another big surprize. Cakir will get the final.

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    1. I really appreciate your national pride, however, to be realistic, the chances for Cakir are near 0 now. He deservingly got a SF and I think he will do well, but he won't get the final.

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    2. I'm not really sad... I think referee management overall in this tournament has been very good... I like some names more than the others that's right but at time I always acknowledge that it's not possible to see everyone for Final... The main thing is whoever have performed well have got good KO stage appointments and that's why I feel the overall distribution of matches to referees have been very fair and deserved in this tournament... It's not possible for all the deserving referees to get the Final simultaneously so it's at least satisfying to see that almost all the big names have excelled in their own way and got appointments that they deserved... The overall picture of refereeing both in terms of appointments as well as performances have been much more positive this time than in 2014 so all in all I'm happy! :)

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  49. I'm between Faghani and Cakir(despite SF) for final. 3rd place is for Malang I think.

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    1. Impossible to see a referee both for SF and Final...

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    2. To be honest, Cakir hasn't been anything so special that he has to be given a semi-final and also Final!

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    3. Totally agree with Soham. A QF would be perfect for him, not more. Ha doesn't deserve de final, with all the respect.

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    4. SF is deserved IMO... But nothing so extraordinary that all conventions see to be broken to appoint him for Final as well!

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    5. For what I see, I'd liked more Kuipers in SF than Çakır with the turkish in a QF.

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    6. There are many factors to this... Committee couldn't take a risk of saving Kuipers as Belgium is still alive... Imagine if they kept him for a SF, now that Belgium is there, he would've stayed at 3 matches... Now he has at least done 4 games in this WC with 2 in the KO stage and also a couple of more games as 4th official... So that's not a bad tournament for the Dutch at all and I think the appointments were good!

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  50. Guys you can't believe because of a 177x bet on Faghani for final match I'm reading this blog's comments 100 times a day :) pray for me please...

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    1. Sandro Ricci will get the Final! :D

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    2. But you said you love to see Faghani in final, is this message official or just for kidding?

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    3. Just for kidding of course :D

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    4. Au man, what an on-time kidding, you killed me :(

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    5. You should pray to Collina now :D Only he can save you :D

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    6. I bet on Faghani when Colina said "I remember myself when I see Faghani inside the field", now I only praaaay.

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    7. Did he really say that? :o When? :o

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    8. Yes, I was reading about it here in local newspapers of Iran

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    9. I still think Ricci will get it although I would love to see Faghani get it!

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    10. I myself think Ricci will be used for 3rd/4th place match

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  51. O.T jon moss will officiate the fa cup community shield come August 5 between man city and Chelsea

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    1. Is it announced?? Pretty weird appointment and makes no sense... They should've given it to Paul Tierney I feel!

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    2. Who was appointed fourth official and Stuart attwel as VAR

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    3. Moss will be joined at Wembley by assistant referees Adam Nunn (Wiltshire FA) and Eddie Smart (Birmingham FA) and fourth official Paul Tierney (Lancashire FA). The reserve assistant referee is Dan Cook (Hampshire FA).

      The video assistant referee (VAR) is Stuart Attwell (Birmingham FA) with Andrew Halliday MBE (Army FA) the assistant VAR.

      Maybe this game was one season too soon for Tierney, happy for Moss, one of my favourite referees, only in England you can find this format of referee.

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    4. But it was an ideal opportunity to try Tierney out in a game involving the top six teams with nothing much riding on it... Could've been an ideal test for him considering he showed much promise throughout the last season... I hope Tierney is more frequently appointed to the Premier League next season and it will be interesting to see how he performs in such circumstances!

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    5. Speaking about Tierney, he is appointed to second leg of first qualifying round for EL in Maribor

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    6. Maribor v Partizan... Good game for him!

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    7. Partizani not Partizan :D

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    8. Yes sorry... Partizani from Albania... Not the Partizan from Serbia :D

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  52. I must said that I will be very proud if see Faghani in final as a main referee.

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    1. Faghani is never referee for Final.. i suppose that pitana or ricci can the final refeere..

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    2. That will imply overappointment of CONMEBOL referees and that would be very unfair on the other confederations!

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  53. Pitana won't get more matches, but he'll get a fourth official for sure,Faghani has whistled the hardest matches of group stage and the hardest match of this tournament (Fra-Arg) without using VAR even for 1 time, he was really successful and you'll see how he can get the final match.

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  54. VAR: Danny Makkelie (NED)
    AVAR1: Bastian Dankert (GER)
    AVAR2: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
    AVAR3: Felix Zwayer (GER)

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