Irfan Peljto will be the first Bosnian referee in a UEFA major final. Let's discuss his performance in the Conference League final.
28 May 2025, 21:00 CET - Wroclaw, POL (Tarczyński Arena)
Real Betis Balompié (ESP) - Chelsea FC (ENG)
Referee: Irfan Peljto BIH
Assistant Referee 1: Senad Ibrišimbegović BIH
Assistant Referee 2: Davor Beljo BIH
Fourth Official: Halil Umut Meler TUR
Reserve Assistant Referee: Kerem Ersoy TUR
Real Betis Balompié (ESP) - Chelsea FC (ENG)
Referee: Irfan Peljto BIH
Assistant Referee 1: Senad Ibrišimbegović BIH
Assistant Referee 2: Davor Beljo BIH
Fourth Official: Halil Umut Meler TUR
Reserve Assistant Referee: Kerem Ersoy TUR
Video Assistant Referee: Jérôme Brisard FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Willy Delajod FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Willy Delajod FRA
Video Assistant Referee Support: Marco Di Bello ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Roberto Rosetti ITA
UEFA Delegate: Iva Olivari-Uliša CRO
UEFA Referee Observer: Roberto Rosetti ITA
UEFA Delegate: Iva Olivari-Uliša CRO
Peljto has to be careful to keep control of this early on. A lot of very, very soft defensive free kicks, but a much higher line on attacking fouls. That only works if both teams have attacking posession, otherwise one team may grow frustrated
ReplyDeleteVery solid first half for Irfan.
ReplyDeleteGood,expected level in not so challenging match in 1st half.
ReplyDeleteExpecting 2nd half to be twice as challenging, as Chelsea will do everything to tie things up.
We could see plenty timewasting and maybe some flashpoints.
But so far,so good from Peljto.
Expected level but still, in first half I saw a Peljto who didn't want to be the referee we know. In other words, the classic "final" approach, even though he issued that YC in the end. Let's watch the second half, so far not a problematic game for him.
ReplyDeleteBig picture, the game remained (mostly) under control, the officials will not be the talking point, and Uefa will be very happy. I remain unconvinced about the overall performance however
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhat more do you.neec from the match officials in this game
DeleteWell done Irfan. And Uefa for there trust in you in the last years and to give your team the chances to take this journey.
ReplyDeleteWell done Irfan and your team. And to uefa for giving you this chances and trust in your ability. BIH you can.be so happy.
ReplyDeleteExpected,let's say typical Final performance and definitely name that will be around for some Finals in upcoming seasons.
ReplyDelete5 YC's ,only 1 for foul and that was Antony.
Rest were some totally other reasons:Badiashole protest,Palmer kicking the ball,Sancho removing jersey and Perraud kicking the ball.
For those who followed the sequence closely, Palmer’s caution was very funny (and Peljto acted completely correctly in all aspects of it).
Delete85m10s: Shouldn’t this have been a penalty to Betis for handball? The rest, as in the final last week, was generally decent.
ReplyDeleteWell if we compare it to PSG-Arsenal game,then yes.
DeleteCause there was also no big impact,but slight touch that was punished.
VAR there called ref.
This time they stayed silent.
https://www.streambug.io/cv/5c1d23
DeleteAm I missing something here? James arm moves towards the ball and literally pushes it, the touch on the ball being trifling is irrelevant nowadays (and can be confirmed by Saot in case of any doubt), and it seems that it genuinely puts the Betis player off by ever-so-slightly distorting the ball in the goal-scoring chance. This is a clear penalty and missed intervention, isn't it?
To add, here is the slow-motion:
Deletehttps://streambug.org/cv/0a5054
Being very pedantic, if you assess the handball as deliberate even according to the fairly pathetic laws revision for this season, James should also actually be sent off.
I can't say that the handball occurred, based on these replays. Did you see more? But if touch by arm, clear penalty to be whistled. In both situations, including penalty appeal earlier in second half, VAR seemed to quick for my taste, rather gave the impression they didn't want to intervene at all. Do we have an evidence here?
DeletePerhaps it is clearer from this angle?
Deletehttps://streambug.org/cv/8e3058
IMO Even if there is handball, it's not punishable marginal touch...
DeleteI'm sorry, where is "marginal touch" in the Laws?
DeleteThere's a ball-to-hand touch. The movement is deliberate toward the ball. It also, despite being marginal, is a hugely consequential touch. It's played the ball away from the attacker in an OGSO situation.
Regular fans might not love (or even initially see/understand) this call if made. But that's no excuse. There's video evidence of a 100% penalty and I'd say 99% red card. But we don't want to call it because the deliberate handball touch is "marginal?"
I think we've lost our minds with VAR. Either don't have it (which would be fine by me!) or have it and use it to get the major calls correct. A hybrid approach where we don't call some things that are abundantly clear on video because they feel sort of icky is the worst of both worlds.
OT: Robin Braun (29) is promoted to 1. Bundesliga and replaces Felix Brych (who ended his career and gets the newly created post of Head of talent development and top coaching for the DFB referees). This is the only change on the top division's referee list.
ReplyDeleteARs leaving the 1. Bundesliga list:
DeleteFrederick Assmuth (1977), Arno Blos (1979), Guido Kleve (1976) & Marcel Pelgrim (1977)
ARs promoted to the 1. Bundesliga list:
Tobias Fritsch (1990), Florian Heft (1990), Patrick Kessel (1989), Fabian Maibaum (1987), Asmir Osmanagic (1991) & Tobias Schultes (1990)
Referees promoted to the 2. Bundesliga list:
Felix Bickel (1996), Marc-Philip Eckermann (1997), Konrad Oldhafer (1995), Felix Wagner (2000) & Jarno Wienefeld (1998)
Just to congratulate Irfan on fabulous performance. Uefa have new one ref for high profile games! Congrats once more!
ReplyDeleteOT: Any news from CTA in Spain about promotion/demotion in LaLiga? And one more question, quality of officiating of Pulido Santana this year? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteIt's just my opinion about candidate for promotion:
Delete1.Miguel Sesma Espinosa
2.Iosu Galech Apezteguía
3.Dámaso Arcediano Monescillo(waits for so many years I doubt)
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4.Manuel Jesús Orellana Cid?
5.Rafael Sánchez López??
News about promotions/demotions in Spain shouldn't be expected until the Monday after the end of LaLiga and Segunda promotion play-off finals (they are scheduled to end on the weekend of June 21-22, so the official report by CTA-RFEF should be published on June 23rd)
DeleteNo demotions are expected as Pablo González Fuertes and Mario Melero López will quit due to age limit, in theory César Soto Grado should retire too but there are increasing rumours that he will get a special derogation by CTA to continue until 2026, like Mateu and Del Cerro Grande back then.
The two big candidates for promotion to LaLiga are Miguel Sesma Espinosa (1995, La Rioja) & Iosu Galech Apezteguía (1991, Navarre), who after a very good season with consistently high level performances are refereeing the most crucial promotion clashes both in this weekend (last MD of regular season) and last weekend (Sesma had Burgos - Levante overseeing the latters' promotion and Galech had Mirandés - Almería). Sesma Espinosa in particular seems to be rated as a big talent and potential future FIFA, a view I subscribe to.
If there has to be a third promotion, I expect one of the Andalusian referees, considering a) this will be Medina Cantalejo's last season as CTA president and b) Melero López's retirement creates the chance to 'swap' an Andalusian for another, just like last season Quintero González replaced Figueroa Vázquez. The two Andalusian referees in contention for promotion should be Manuel Jesús Orellana Cid (1992, my favourite of the bunch, similar style to Sánchez Martínez, and from Sevilla like Medina) and José Luis Guzmán Mansilla (1995, almost a carbon copy of Munuera Montero and not only because they are namesakes - they are from the same town (Jaén) and Munuera's younger brother Ángel is Guzmán Mansilla's regular AR1, it's highly likely Munuera was/is his long-time mentor)
As for Pulido Santana: Pretty much what could have been expected. Weak decision taker with too many OFRs in his games and technically below average, but nonetheless a valuable asset for CTA-RFEF due to his great rapport with players (e.g. they gave him the decisive Celta vs Rayo Vallecano game in the second-last MD, crucial game for both in the battle for European qualification) which kinda 'compensates' it. It must be mentioned that he had a long injury, with no games since early November to late February
Thank you,Quilava. Always impressed how you analyse officiating,especially Spanish. Maybe I am boring, sorry for that, but who can be candidates to replace Medina Cantalejo?
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