Sunday 29 December 2019

Viktor Kassai has decided to retire

Hungarian UEFA Elite referee has released some statements to the official site of Hungarian football federation. 
"I'm ending a thirty-year career as referee to face new challenges. I want to thank everyone inside the federation,  the heads of refereeing and the colleagues who have helped me in this period, because without them I would not have been successful in my career. I have spent more than twenty years on the Hungarian football and in international matches, I already got so much about everything I could ask for. This has been a so long time. I have decided to start a new era in my life. I don't want to get away from football, lately I have trained in sport management and I hope to be successful in this field too."

Viktor Kassai has been a FIFA referee since 2003.
These are the remarkable steps and achievements in his long international career:
2008 Olympic games football men tournament Final appointment
2009 FIFA World Cup Play Off Bahrain - New Zealand
2010 FIFA World Cup: 4 games including a semifinal (Germany - Spain)
2011 UEFA Champions League final Barcelona - Manchester United
2012 EURO  2 games
2016 EURO 3 games including a quarterfinal (Germany - Italy)
2016 FIFA Club World Cup Semifinal
2013 and 2017 FIFA Under 20 World Cup


Source:
https://jatekvezetes.mlsz.hu/hir/uj-kihivasokra-koncentral-a-jatekvezetokent-visszavonulo-kassai-viktor

36 comments:

  1. Sad news. A top class referee who gave too much to the game.

    I really hope that he will stay close to refereeing even on some other fuction. He certainly can give valuable advises to younger referees.

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  2. Wow, this is a surprise. He was in a good form lately, i expected him even at euro in the summer

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  3. Probably one of the best European referees (if not the best) in the early 2010s.

    Thank you so much!

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    Replies
    1. Fully agree with Quilava and everyone above here. One of the greatest and most reliable referees between 2010 and 2016. Good luck to Kassai for his future!

      Delete
  4. I wish him all best for the future. He was a best referee.

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  5. About Manchester City goal, to clarify: referee never touched the ball.
    So impossible to stop the game for a dropped ball there.
    https://twitter.com/rennydee/status/1211369421505216512

    ReplyDelete
  6. Article that sums up recent tight offside decisions in premier league:

    https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2019/12/29/5e09256a268e3e2c318b4581.html

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  7. "Good luck" from Ukraine!

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  8. Celtics - Rangers, Ref: Kevin Clancy

    A few highlights from the Glasgow derby of 29/12

    10' prevention
    32' pen + YC to CEL - holding
    90+5' SYC RAN - simulation

    Overall a positive performance by Clancy and his ARs

    https://streamable.com/pqcrr

    ReplyDelete
  9. OT
    Matchweek 18 of the Premier League featured 4 VAR reviews (all of them VAR-only, of course). Go to the following link to watch a full video of every review, get all information about each of them and get statistics about VAR in the league. https://thefref.weebly.com/var-at-premier-league.html
    (Sorry for the delay.)

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  10. Watford - Aston Villa, Ref: Simon Hooper

    https://streamable.com/k0k55

    Many interesting situations to assess

    27' penalty appeal AVL - VAR confirms
    51' no handball AVL #6
    51' YC WAT #6
    57' SYC WAT #6 - SPA/impeding the progress of an opponent
    64' penalty, WAT continuing the game with AVL player down - VAR checks but cannot step in anyway
    71' goal WAT - VAR checks previous contact with WAT #29 and AVL #10 and confirms the goal

    IMO all decisions above were taken correctly by Hooper himself.
    Besides this I should mention a couple of confrontations around 74' IIRC and during stoppage time (90+5'). Hooper was too passive, at least a couple of YC for unsporting behaviour were missing. I couldn't find clips unfortunately.

    Your thoughts?

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  11. Congratulations for a very successful career and I wish him the best in the future!

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  12. I'm surprised by the lack of comments on the actual article. Very sad to read from Kassai's retirement. A pioneer of game management in football refereeing, and a role model to all referees re what it means to fall to the floor after quick successes, but stand up again and recover (EURO16). Thank you for many inspirational moments Viktor!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess some readers are even too young to know the old Kassai from 2010's period!

      Delete
    2. Thanks for your comment, I agree with you.

      I hope the tribute on here in the next days will do justice to his complex and fantastic career!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous, i even remember Kassai as a 4th official at UEFA EURO 2008:)

      Delete
  13. Replies
    1. Al-Hilal Riyadh - Al-'Adalah
      Ivan Kružliak (Viktor Kassai)

      Delete
  14. Such a shame to see one of the best referees of his era decide to retire. I feel the early part of this decade (2010 WC) showed his true class. I feel he was definitely going to be considered for the Euros this summer so will possibly give an opportunity to a referee who was likely to miss out - hopefully we might find out soon!

    Best of luck Viktor!

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  15. OT
    Matchweek 19 of the Premier League featured 3 VAR reviews (all of them VAR-only, of course). Go to the following link to watch a full video of every review, get all information about each of them and get statistics about VAR in the league. https://thefref.weebly.com/var-at-premier-league.html
    (Sorry for the delay.)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good luck for the future, Víctor. A fantastic referee

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  17. Happy New Year to every reader of our blog!!!All the best for you next year! No fouls and red cards in your life:)

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  18. New year, new life. Happy New Year!

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  19. I also wish every reader a happy new year and I‘d like to give special thanks to the administrators of this blog who did (and surely will do) a tremendous job. This page is the only place to discuss objectively about referees with others. Let‘s keep this privilege in the new decade!

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  20. Very bad luck for Ivan Kružliak - he was injured in 68' of the Al-Hilal Riyadh - Al-'Adalah game, replaced by Khaled Salawi (local, non-FIFA, 1983 born) who was fourth official.

    You can view the collision here:
    https://youtu.be/Af-dg6bds3s?t=4489

    It would be great if any readers (from Slovakia) could update us on his progress; we would like to wish Ivan Kružliak all the best for a speedy recovery.

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  21. Happy New Year to the whole community of the blog.

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  22. Happy New Year and Happy EURO2020 😉!

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  23. Is there any footage of the red card of Kassai?

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    Replies
    1. https://youtu.be/5d5oLmtYqC4?t=6289

      Tough final game for him!

      Delete
  24. One of Madrid's greatest legends 😍😍😍🔥🔥🔥🔥

    ReplyDelete

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