Friday, 24 March 2023

2023/24 European Qualifiers - Referee Appointments MD1 (24 March 2023)

MD1 of EURO 2024 qualifiers continues with the games to be played on 24 March 2023. 



18:00 CET - Razgrad (Ludogorets Arena) 
BULGARIA - MONTENEGRO | Group G
Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Akif Amirali (AZE)
Fourth Official: Kamal Umudlu (AZE)
Video Assistant Referee: Ovidiu Haţegan (ROU)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee:Aleandro Di Paolo (ITA)
UEFA Referee Observer: João Ferreira (POR)
UEFA Delegate: Peadar Ryan (IRL)

20:45 CET - Saint Denis (Stade de France) 
FRANCE - NETHERLANDS | Group B
Referee: Maurizio Mariani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniele Bindoni (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni (ITA)
Fourth Official: Livio Marinelli (ITA) 
Video Assistant Referee: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Daniele Chiffi (ITA) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Manuel Díaz Vega (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: Metin Kazancioglu (TUR)

20:45 CET - Faro-Loulé (Estádio Algarve)
GIBRALTAR - GREECE | Group B
Referee: Rohit Saggi (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Morten Jensen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Anders Olav Dale (NOR)
Fourth Official: Mohammad Usman Aslam (NOR)
Video Assistant Referee: Rob Dieperink (NED)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee:Clay Ruperti (NED)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jan W. Wegereef (NED)
UEFA Delegate: René Siegrist (SUI)

20:45 CET - Prague (Eden Arena) 
CZECH REPUBLIC - POLAND | Group E
Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE) 
Assistant Referee 1: Polychronis Kostaras (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Lazaros Dimitriadis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Vassilis Fotias (GRE)
Video Assistant Referee: Aggelos Evangelou (GRE)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Aristotelis Diamantopoulos (GRE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Vladimir Antonov (MDA)
UEFA Delegate: Thura Win (ENG)

20:45 CET - Chişinău (Stadionul Zimbru)
MOLDOVA - FAROE ISLANDS | Group E 
Referee: Nicholas Walsh (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Graeme Stewart (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Calum Spence (SCO) 
Fourth Official: Alan Muir (SCO)
Video Assistant Referee: David Coote (ENG)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Peter Bankes (ENG) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Hannes Kaasik (EST)
UEFA Delegate: Mohamed Taa (FRA)

20:45 CET - Solna (Friends Arena) 
SWEDEN - BELGIUM | Group F
Referee: Orel Grinfeeld (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Roy Hassan (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Idan Yarkoni (ISR)
Fourth Official: Gal Leibovitz (ISR)
Video Assistant Referee: Roi Reinshreiber (ISR)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee:David Fuxman (ISR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Miroslav Tulinger (CZE)
UEFA Delegate: Roy Cathcart (NIR)

20:45 CET - Linz (Raiffeisen Arena)
AUSTRIA - AZERBAIJAN | Group F
Referee: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcin Boniek (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Jakub Winkler (POL)
Fourth Official: Damian Kos (POL)
Video Assistant Referee: Paweł Raczkowski (POL)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Krzysztof Myrmus (POL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Alain Sars (FRA) 
UEFA Delegate: Andrew Shaw (ENG)

20:45 CET - Belgrade (Stadion Rajko Mitić)
SERBIA - LITHUANIA | Group G
Referee: Lawrence Visser (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Rien Vanyzere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Thibaud Nijssen (BEL)
Fourth Official: Erik Lambrechts (BEL)
Video Assistant Referee: Nathan Verboomen (BEL)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Bram Van Driessche (BEL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
UEFA Delegate: Jim Stjerne Hansen (DEN)
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28 comments:

  1. fox21 March 2023 at 10:30

    what happend to Kruashvili, again not hired, strange.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Philipp S21 March 2023 at 10:46

    Obviously huge game for Mariani, who is handled similarly to Siebert a couple of years ago, i.e. getting appointments, that look like top Elite on paper, while being in the First Group.
    Also quite good games for Grinfeeld and Sidiropoulos.
    Maybe UEFA is resting the very top referees in this window?
    2/3 of the games still to be appointed though, therefore probably too early to say that.
    Walsh with a game, where one could have expected someone from Second Group.
    The rest looks normal to me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mikael W21 March 2023 at 10:49

    Sorry but after Barcelona, Mariani to FRANED is an absolutely nauseating choice (and I genuinely, believe me, don’t say that lightly). Besides any misassessed KMIs, the Italian simply lost his composure at some moments in the game, having to rather be calmed by players. The game was too big for him. I actually like Mariani BUT HE NEEDS TIME. There are different rules for the refs whom Rosetti trusts, he knows that they understand not to be too ‘courageous’ in certain moments, and he doesn’t care about the rest. Artemio Franchi worked in a similar way but at least he was good at his job… More shocking vandalism on European refereeing by its current boss.

    Kuipers and Čeferin should reach some agreement to end this madness, being completely honest.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Euro Soccer Ref21 March 2023 at 10:53

    Group B
    - Maurizio Mariani gets the biggest game of the group but theoretically both teams should advance without bigger problems, so more like a prestigious friendly (unless IRL will show great form)?

    Group E
    - Similar situation like in Group B. Czechia and Poland clearly ahead of other teams. But, who knows, maybe ALB and FRO will create some problems for them? Anastásios Sidirópoulos gets the biggest game here.

    Group F
    - Orel Grinfeld has been given a really important SWEBEL game. In this group we have also Austria that will compete with both teams, so every game between those teams will count. Great opportunity to make a strong come back for the Israeli!

    Group G
    - Difficult group with many 'hot' teams. On paper HUN and SRB should qualify but I guess MNE and BUL will be problematic for them. Əliyar Ağayev gets the hot BULMNE (his experience from Greek Superleague will help him with the atmosphere) and Lawrence Visser gets SRBLTU, quite poor game for the Belgian, tbf.

    So, big games used as opportunity to re-build some referees (Sidirópoulos, Grinfeld) and create a big Italian name (Mariani) - however, all with standard observers. The Italian gets a similar treatment to Siebert. Huge trust before promotion to Elite Category.

    Ağayev and Frankowski with average but not insignificant games while Saggi, Walsh and Visser have to wait for bigger challenges.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Euro Soccer Ref21 March 2023 at 10:58

      And referring to Mikael's comment:
      In the Barcelona - Manchester United context, Irrati's and now Mariani's appointments leave a (very) sour taste, indeed...

      Delete
    2. Mathias Roels21 March 2023 at 18:03

      Why does L. Visser get a large/important observer.

      I think Viktor Kassai is an important observer after all or am I wrong?

      A betting stick in Serbia can get hot and dangerous, right?

      Delete
    3. Euro Soccer Ref21 March 2023 at 18:40

      I think we should still wait in order to determine Kassai's importance as UEFA referee observer.

      Delete
  5. Chefren21 March 2023 at 11:13

    What I also find strange about Mariani management is that he is getting games that Massa never officiated, in a way it looks like for some reasons he is prefered over the Elite, but on paper the latter should immediately follow after Orsato in the ranking. We will see the game for him in case, but what with Mariani is very difficult to explain, his performance in serie A are good but never so good to explain such assignments in UEFA.
    Nevertheless, in a more general analysis I think that in the case of this game, one can explain more easily this choice than the EL assignment, because it seems as committee is applying a certain policy so far in these qualifiers (no very big names, but all different choices).
    Also, I want to underline something about Poland, after Marciniak it seems that nobody has still fully convinced committee, at first Raczkowski now Frankowski, reaching a certain level in Category 1 but then coming back. Maybe they will not manage the big step in Elite. What do you think? I see a huge gap between the WC final referee and the other Polish referees.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Euro Soccer Ref21 March 2023 at 11:55

      Well, Marciniak is 'the special one' of refereeing. There is a huge gap between him and many elite referees, so it's not strange that also other Poles are not even close to him. ;)

      Frankowski is a strange guy. He isolates himself from everything to keep impartiality and professional look. He doesn't connect with players and even stated that due to that he suits better to UEFA competitions where you don't know the players. The problem is that you have to have such ability also in UEFA. You don't need to be friend with players but basic interpersonal skills are required. Now he tries with quite strict public warnings and it's some improvement already but still very isolated impression. He also tries to blindly follow the trends. At first he was a very strict law enforcer and now... he is very lenient both as a referee and VAR. Nothing weird that players simply don't accept him as a person as there is nothing authentic in him. In Poland, Legia Warszawa didn't want him as a referee to their games (always a huge controversy appears), so Mikulski, a very weak 'modern' head of referees, didn't appoint him to Legia for one and half a year. He decided to appoint him again to Legia some weeks ago but he made a terrible decision to choose an always hot Górnik Zabrze - Legia Warszawa for the comeback game. Of course, there were many controversies but all of them were solved according to current UEFA standards (only YC for off-the-play kicking, etc.). Legia were furious again and most likely we won't see Frankowski in their games for a very long period. Przesmycki didn't care for clubs reactions and even deliberately assigned referees that were not welcome by clubs. Mikulski is the opposite. We shouldn't forget another important factor though: Frankowski's AR#1 is Marcin Boniek, UEFA v-ce president's nephew...

      Raczkowski is a really mediocre referee. Very unsure in his games, relying on assistants, hesitant with disciplinary control, etc. He has a good rapport with players but for me it looks like at some point he lost motivation what is really visible in his performances (also in Ekstraklasa).

      Then we have Krzysztof Jakubik and Damian Sylwestrzak in the second category. The former, 40yo, is arrogant towards players and his form is not consistent (good performances but also some nightmares). Perhaps it's too late for him to fight for something more. The latter is only 31yo and has appearance of young boy. He is quite talented but needs time to work on body language and control in his games. For now, it's difficult to say if he can reach the top of European refereeing.

      We have some young non-FIFA referees: Damian Kos (33yo), Łukasz Kuźma (31yo), Karol Arys (35yo), Patryk Gryckiewicz (27yo), Piotr Urban (36yo), Wojciech Myć (33yo). The first two are promising but they lack confidence and good body language. Myć, the former body-builder and current secret-service officer has the mentality but weak in decisions making, unfortunately - he would be a great material for UEFA top referee. Arys, given the chance lately, allows too much what creates confusion and dissents, don't like his performances.

      So yeah, it will be difficult to find another elite referee from Poland in the nearest future. And with Mikulski as the boss the quality of refereeing significantly dropped. Przesmycki was authoritarian but controlled everything very well, referees did everything to impress. It's very different now...

      Delete
    2. Chefren21 March 2023 at 18:24

      Thank you so much for this detailed and very interesting answer!

      Delete
  6. Euro Soccer Ref21 March 2023 at 12:08

    UEFA U21 EURO - Qualifying Round

    Friday 24 March 2023

    13:00 CET - Armavir, Armenia (Armaviri Kaghakayin Marzadasht)
    BELARUS - ANDORRA | Group G
    Referee: Filip Glova SVK
    Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Poláček SVK
    Assistant Referee 2: Peter Bednár SVK
    Fourth Official: Michal Očenáš SVK

    If someone could help with observer and delegate names, I would be very grateful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chefren21 March 2023 at 18:25

      Very poor game for Glova, this is the first appearance after having attended Winter Course in Rome, he didn't get games in club competitions (same as Kruashvili).

      Delete
    2. Euro Soccer Ref21 March 2023 at 18:33

      I would even call this a 'humiliating' appointment. Normally, such games were assigned to lowest third category officials. I would like to know the reason. Poor performance(s) by the Slovak? Something behind the scene? UEFA's quick response to how the SFZ treat their referees (Dohál)?

      Delete
    3. Chefren21 March 2023 at 18:57

      The last argument is a very interesting one... but if I'm not wrong, UEFA has the head of Slovakian refereeing as observer, right? Ružbarský? So they could directly talk to him...

      Delete
    4. RikB22 March 2023 at 10:00

      I struggle with this appointment. Why? Maybe it's a crisis appointment, who knows, but why humiliate a referee like this?

      Delete
  7. Zwayerbrazil21 March 2023 at 20:11

    OT Friendly
    Marrocos🇲🇦 x 🇧🇷Brasil

    REF Sadok Selmi (TUN🇹🇳)
    AR1 Khalil Hassani (TUN🇹🇳)
    AR2 Mohamed Békir (TUN🇹🇳).

    ReplyDelete
  8. Forlan22 March 2023 at 10:27

    The situation with refereeing in Spain is getting very dramatic after the scandal with Barcelona giving money for "consultance". Now there is an article with whatsapp messages from Negreira's son that explicitly say how Gil Manzano made decisions in favor of Barca against Atletico Madrid. Even though it doesnt seem plausible because Barca ended with 2 RC, I wonder if it will affect Gil Manzanos career.

    Moreover, now Real Madrid lost control and accuses de Burgos of robbing them in el clasico... Very tense situation with accusations just appearing out of nowhere, there is no trust

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Borja24 March 2023 at 19:08

      All in Spain is pretty dramatic, and sports media, specially if affects to Madrid/Barcelona, its on the top of the drama. Rerefees here are usted to that and hey continue working budines as usual.

      Delete
  9. Quilava22 March 2023 at 10:42

    SCOCYP: Strukan (CRO)
    BLRSUI: Hernández Hernández (ESP)
    ARMTUR: Sánchez Martínez (ESP)
    ISRKOS: Collum (SCO)
    ESPNOR: Bastien (FRA)
    CROWAL: Pinheiro (POR)
    ANDROU: Bel (CRO)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Hans24 March 2023 at 22:34

    Excellent Mariani tonight

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. M24 March 2023 at 22:42

      Surprised to see there was shown 6 bookings when the game was blow out..

      Were they justified?

      Delete
    2. Hans24 March 2023 at 22:44

      Yes all mandatory

      Delete
    3. Upstylon24 March 2023 at 22:58

      They all had to be shown, and Mariani stayed true to his line and didn't took the easy way out because the score quickly get to 3-0.
      Besides a few positioning issues (too central/close of the play at times), the Italian left a very good impression in a surprisingly big match for a upper 1st cat. Well done to him and his crew.

      Delete
  11. Euro Soccer Ref24 March 2023 at 22:46

    Decent performance by Sidirópoulos in CZEPOL. He read the tactic of CZE really well in the first half and booked two their players for reckless challenges. Four cautions possible later in the game but he decided to keep his cards in the pocket. His fitness and positioning weren't top level though and the game was not challenging so difficult to learn something more about the Greek after today's outing.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Ecosse25 March 2023 at 10:32

    Would be interesting to see the penalty given be Walsh to Moldova as there were several yellow cards for Faroe Islands at the same time

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Euro Soccer Ref25 March 2023 at 12:03

      Here you are (bonus: another penalty incident)

      https://we.tl/t-d1h929yH5s

      Delete
    2. Ecosse25 March 2023 at 14:10

      Thanks, 1st one is pretty inconclusive. 2nd one looks a good decision in real time

      Delete
  13. paparesta25 March 2023 at 15:18

    Benfica x Inter Lahoz
    Inter x Benfica Oliver

    City x Bayern Makkelie
    Bayern x City Marciniak

    Real Madrid x Chelsea Turpin
    Chelsea x Real Madrid Orsato

    Milan x Napoli Taylor
    Napoli x Milan Manzano

    ReplyDelete

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