Thursday, 13 February 2025

Europa Conference League 2024/25 - Referee Appointments - KO Play-Offs (First Legs)

2024/25 UEFA Europa Conference League, referee appointments for KO Play-Offs, First Legs.


Thursday 13 February 2025 

18:45 CET - Bačka Topola (TSC Arena)
TSC BAČKA TOPOLA (SRB) - JAGIELLONIA BIAŁYSTOK (POL)
Referee: António Nobre POR
Assistant Referee 1: Pedro Ribeiro POR
Assistant Referee 2: Nelson Pereira POR
Fourth Official: Fabio Verissimo POR
Video Assistant Referee: Helder Malheiro POR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Fábio Oliveira Melo POR
UEFA Referee Observer: Marinus Koopman NED
UEFA Delegate: Paul Daniel Zaharia ROU

18:45 CET - Celje (Stadion Celje)
NK CELJE (SVN) - APOEL (CYP) 
Referee: Mykola Balakin UKR
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Berkut UKR
Assistant Referee 2: Dmytro Zaporozhenko UKR
Fourth Official: Vitaliy Romanov UKR
Video Assistant Referee: Viktor Kopiievskyi UKR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Oleksii Derevinskyi UKR
UEFA Referee Observer: Jørn West Larsen DEN
UEFA Delegate: Octavian Goga ROU 

18:45 CET - Helsinki, FIN (Helsinki Football Stadium)
VIKINGUR (ISL) - PANATHĪNAÏKOS AO (GRE)
Referee: Rohit Saggi NOR 
Assistant Referee 1: Morten Jensen NOR
Assistant Referee 2: Anders Olav Dale NOR
Fourth Official: Sigurd Kringstad NOR
Video Assistant Referee: Tom Harald Hagen NOR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Kristoffer Hagenes NOR
UEFA Referee Observer: David Malcolm NIR
UEFA Delegate: Garry O'Hagan SCO

18:45 CET - Molde (Molde Stadion) 
FK MOLDE (NOR) - SHAMROCK ROVERS FC (IRL)
Referee: Andris Treimanis LVA
Assistant Referee 1: Haralds Gudermanis LVA
Assistant Referee 2: Aleksejs Spasennikovs LVA
Fourth Official: Aleksandrs Golubevs LVA
Video Assistant Referee: Kristaps Ratnieks LVA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Vitālijs Spasjoņņikovs LVA
UEFA Referee Observer: William Young SCO
UEFA Delegate: Joël Wolff LUX

21:00 CET - Ghent (KAA Gent Arena)
KAA GENT (BEL) - REAL BETIS BALOMPIÉ (ESP)
Referee: Horațiu Feșnic ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Valentin Avram ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Alexandru Cerei ROU
Fourth Official: Rares Vidican ROU
Video Assistant Referee: Cătălin Popa ROU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Sebastian Colţescu ROU
UEFA Referee Observer: Helmut Fleischer GER
UEFA Delegate: Kieran O'Connor WAL

21:00 CET - Banja Luka (Gradski Stadion Banja Luka)
BORAC BANJA LUKA (BIH) - OLIMPIJA LJUBLJANA (SVN) 
Referee: Radu Petrescu ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Radu Ghinguleac ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Mircea Mihail Grigoriu ROU
Fourth Official: Marcel Birsan ROU
Video Assistant Referee: Ovidiu Haţegan ROU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Adrian Costreie ROU
UEFA Referee Observer: Mehmet Murat Ilgaz TUR
UEFA Delegate: Patrick Bonacker GER

21:00 CET - Nicosia (GSP)
AC OMONIA (CYP) - PAFOS FC (CYP)
Referee: Simone Sozza ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Giorgio Peretti ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alessio Berti ITA
Fourth Official: Matteo Marchetti ITA
Video Assistant Referee: Gianluca Aureliano ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Valerio Marini ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Terje Hauge NOR
UEFA Delegate: Milan Janković BIH

21:00 CET - Copenhagen (Parken) 
FC KØBENHAVN (DEN) - 1. FC HEIDENHEIM 1846 (GER) 
Referee: Anastasios Papapetrou GRE Alexandros Tsakalidis GRE
Assistant Referee 1: Tryfon Petropoulos GRE
Assistant Referee 2: Reinhart Buxbaoum GRE
Fourth Official: Alexandros Tsakalidis GRE Kristoffer Karlsson SWE 
Video Assistant Referee: Angelos Evangelou GRE
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Stefanos Koumparakis GRE
UEFA Referee Observer: Boško Jovanetić SRB
UEFA Delegate: Alojzije Šupraha CRO
at

22 comments:

  1. Chefren11 February 2025 at 12:18

    Curious fact is that Italian referees know very well Cyprus league, as they are very often appointed following a cooperation between the two federations (the head in Cyprus is Italian former FIFA referee Domenico Messina). Rocchi sends the referees almost every week, of course that's reserved more to NO FIFA officials who don't have opportunities. But Sozza in past attended some Cyprus games as well, and now he will referee this derby as UEFA game.
    Looks like for the moment they don't want to give more to the Italian referee, waiting for a better form.
    For Balakin in Slovenia a chance to be observerd directly by Sajn, I would be sure about his attendance at stadiumm with the appointed observer. And indeed the name sent to this game is another referee followed by committee.
    After a rather disappointing last game, only Conference for Saggi and one could even say geographic (Nordic) assignment, close to home, with Icelandic club playing in Finland.
    About Petrescu, maybe now he's getting less than the recent times, where he looked to be even ready for the big step, but still OK. A Slovenian team is involved, so at least there is maybe an argument for committee. :)
    Normal game for Feșnic who is surely in a different moment of his journey as Category 1, than the mentioned countryman (he needs still to make long experience).
    Papapetrou and Nobre can continue their development.
    For Treimanis, now that's the standard.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christ Mattelin13 February 2025 at 15:44

    Yesterday, KAA Gent still played on Stamford Bridge tonight. Unfortunately, it is just a dream (correction on blog has meanwhile been made ). BTW, The "KAA Ghent Arena" does not exist. It is the "Planet Group Arena". But I guess that, for commercial reasons, UEFA uses neutral (non existing) stadium names.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chefren13 February 2025 at 16:17

      Correct, for posting very quickly the assignment, I can't look for the exact name of the stadiums, just a copy from UEFA, unless particular cases or clear mistakes, you will forgive me :)

      Delete
  3. LeandinhoDK13 February 2025 at 16:57

    In Copenhagen, ref Papapetrou is out sick. I’m surprised that he’s replaced by 4Official Tsakalidis with no FIFA badge and no high risk games in the Super League.

    Cat 2 ref Karlsson is flown in as new 4th ref - @Chefren is there a specific protocol on Match Day illness and replacements?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chefren13 February 2025 at 17:12

      https://ibb.co/LXLF9Rdk
      That's the UEFA protocol. Very likely the referee got ill when it was too late for UEFA to make another spcific appointment, and so you have to act in accordance to the document.

      Delete
    2. Chefren13 February 2025 at 17:29

      It's interesting that as fourth official, he has been replaced by Kristoffer Karlsson, so UEFA had the time to send a referee from a close country, but yes, the fact that Sweden doesn't work with VAR, in my opinion didn't allow the main assignment.

      Delete
    3. LeandinhoDK13 February 2025 at 17:54

      Thanks for the Swift reply, and yes - Karlsson lives in Gothenburg just a 4 hr drive from Copenhagen, so I guess he can arrive at the match venue during the afternoon without any fuzz.

      Delete
    4. Elliot13 February 2025 at 17:56

      Karlsson lives just outside Helsingborg just across the straight of Öresund, so just about a 1 and a half hour drive for him. I think the reason UEFA chose Tsakalidis rather than him is because the former was more mentally prepered for the game as well as having the opportunity to speak to the assistants with his mother tongue. Karlsson has already refereed with VAR in Conference League qualifiers, so he isn't unfamiliar with the system

      Delete
    5. Quilava13 February 2025 at 20:36

      FtR, Alexandros Tsakalidis is a FIFA ref, joined the list in January.

      Delete
    6. Chefren13 February 2025 at 20:49

      Oh sorry I had missed that, quite convinced he wasn't FIFA :)
      Now it's quite clear why he was confirmed.

      Delete
  4. Elliot13 February 2025 at 20:51

    Very interesting OFR in Helsinki for Panathinaikos penalty. Seems like the original call was for a penalty for handball (hit the head) but then indeed a penalty was still confirmed due to another supposed foul that happened later. I might need to watch it again, but it looked very soft

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chefren13 February 2025 at 20:57

      Here: https://streambug.org/cv/fcf000
      UEFA reports: Hafsteinsson (Víkingur R.) concedes a penalty for a foul on N. Maksimović (Panathinaikos).
      Originally, it looks like a handball call, looking at the starting frame shown by VAR to Saggi. Not clear.

      Delete
    2. Elliot13 February 2025 at 21:06

      Indeed very confusing situation. Maybe one of the few times VAR announcements in the stadium would actually come in handy (in most cases I think it's just performative nonsense ngl)

      Delete
    3. Pedro Irmatov13 February 2025 at 21:29

      Seems like the ball hit the head of the defender and then a very very soft contact… Difficult to understand the decision to maintain the penalty after OFR

      Delete
    4. HaGo13 February 2025 at 21:39

      I think, explaining announcements should be mandatory.
      Let's not forget that most fans are rather weak in knowledge of LotG.
      Since OFR quite often leads to a reverse of the initial decision, an explanation is helpful. And it can take chili powder out of the atmosphere.

      Delete
    5. Kapetan13 February 2025 at 21:52

      agree with HaGo

      Delete
    6. hugostiglitz14 February 2025 at 16:28

      Original decision is penalty by Saggi because of possible handball. Then VAR calls for OFR its not a handball. Then referee decides it's a foul by defender then whistles the penalty kick again. Interesting situation.

      Delete
    7. Pedro Irmatov14 February 2025 at 18:49

      Seems as if he instead of accepting that he made a mistake, «found» a foul that justified his penalty decision, and then did two crucial mistakes instead of one (understandable) one. One could only speculate, but some referees do not like being overruled by VAR and "losing face"

      Delete
  5. Målilla13 February 2025 at 22:34

    Really wonder why not the players are cautioned when they make protests in the match Omonia-Pafos? All referees must follow guidelines!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ecosse13 February 2025 at 23:19

    I read that Fesnic gave a rare idfk for a 6 second violation

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chefren14 February 2025 at 09:13

      Ball was held for 21 seconds.
      However, this happens many times, maybe one could say it ALWAYS happens. So, either consistency or nothing.
      In some cases it's more evident because all the focus is on keeper, once he has saved the ball. But many of them are clever to waste time in all the possible ways.

      Delete
  7. Chefren14 February 2025 at 17:32

    Crucial calls in Petrescu game.

    50' RC for violent conduct after OFR, missed incident
    https://streambug.org/cv/c88798

    84' Penalty
    https://streambug.org/cv/300d36

    ReplyDelete

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