The 37-year-old has been an international referee since 2016 and has been the referee in 68 UEFA competition matches during his career to date, regularly taking charge of UEFA club competition and international matches. During the 2024/25 season he took charge of five matches during the knock-out stages of UEFA club competitions, including the UEFA Conference League semi-final second leg between Chelsea and Djurgården (1-0).
He also served as fourth official at the 2025 UEFA Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Internazionale Milano (5–0).
At the 2025 UEFA Super Cup, Pinheiro will be assisted by fellow Portuguese officials Bruno Jesus and Luciano Maia, with Elchin Masiyev from Azerbaijan acting as fourth official. Tiago Martins (Portugal) will serve as VAR, supported by Fábio Melo (Portugal) and Pol van Boekel (Netherlands).
Refereeing team:
Referee: João Pinheiro (Portugal)
Assistant Referees: Bruno Jesus and Luciano Maia (both Portugal)
4th official: Elchin Masiyev (Azerbaijan)
Video Assistant Referee: Tiago Martins (Portugal)
Additional Video Assistant Referees: Fábio Melo (Portugal), Pol van Boekel (Netherlands)
Congratulations to all appointed officials!
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit surprised with appointments both with referee and 4th official (in a positive way)
I was expecting this appointment of course also I think he will referee uefa champions league on aday
ReplyDeleteIs it usual that the fourth official for this game is such an unknown referee?
ReplyDeleteUnknown referee for those who don't follow closely UEFA officiating :) but yes, it's indeed the highlight of this assignment, more than Pinheiro and clearly a different choice if we look back at past. The Azeri referee is a Category 1 followed by Committee, attended Under 21 recently and he was also part of Talent and Mentor program about one year ago, he was once observed by Roberto Rosetti. We can't say that so far he had success, to say it kindly, but maybe there is a way to reward some associations as well, waiting for a possible further development of the referee.
DeleteIt’s nice to see that even a referee from such a small country like Azerbaijan is getting another chance. Masijev was already on a good path two years ago, but unfortunately had a very weak performance in Switzerland vs Andorra —right in front of Rosetti.
DeleteCongratulations also to Frank De Bleeckere, it seems he is finally managing to bring some progress to Azerbaijani refereeing after many years of stagnation.