FIFA statement on the situation of the Saudi Arabian referee Fahad Al Mirdasi

FIFA has released an official statement about the Saudi referee. 

Jonas Eriksson will retire

According to some sources, Swedish Elite referee Jonas Eriksson will retire after having officiated the friendly game between Iceland and Norway, to be played on next Saturday.

2018 FIFA WC - Selected officials - Final list (UPDATE 30/05/18)

FIFA has published the final list of referees who will officiate at 2018 WC. A total amount of 36 referees and 63 assistant referees has been selected. 

2018 UEFA Under-19 Championship - Selected Officials

Thank to h_demboveac on twitter, here the list of selected officials for 2018 Under 19 Championship, to be played in Finland on next July. 

UEFA Referee Categories for the first half of the season 2018/19 (Men, Women, Futsal) UPDATED

Thank to h_demboveac on Twitter  these are the new categories for UEFA referees, valid from 01/07/2018 until 31/12/2018.  

Elite

Aytekin, Bastien*, Brych, Çakır, Collum, Eriksson, Gil Manzano*, Hațegan, Karasov, Kassai, Královec, Kuipers, Makkelie, Marciniak, Mateu Lahoz, Mažić, Oliver, Orsato, Rocchi, Sidirópoulos, Soares Dias*, Skomina, Taylor, Turpin, Undiano Mallenco, Zwayer.

Category 1

Ağayev*, Aranovsʹkyy, Banti, Beaton, Bebek, Bezborodov, Blom, Bognár, Boyko, Buquet, del Cerro Grande, Delférière, Ekberg, Estrada Fernández, Gestranius, Gil, Göçek, Gözübüyük, Gräfe, Grinfeld, Jovanović*, Jug, Kabakov*, Kehlet, Kovács, Kružliak, Kulbakou, Lechner, Madden, Mažeika, Massa*, Mazzoleni, Moen, Nijhuis, Özkahya, Pawson*, Raczkowski, Schörgenhofer, Siebert*, Sousa, Stavrev, Stefański, Stieler, Strömbergsson, Treimanis, Vad, Vinčič, Welz, Yes'kov, Zelinka

Category 2
Abed, Al-Hakim*, Ardeleánu, Árnason, Attwell, Avram, Bieri, Boucaut, Brisard, Clancy, Colțescu, Costa Veríssimo*, Dabanović, Dallas, Dankert, de Burgos Bengoetxea, Delerue, Di Bello, Dingert, Doveri, Doyle, Drachta*, Evans*, Farkas, Frankowski, Frischer*, Fritz, Glova*, Guida, Hansen, Harkam, Harvey*, Hernández Hernández, Higler*, Hunter, Irrati, Ivanov, Jaccottet, Jorgji, Jović, Kalkavan, Kalogeropoulos, Klossner, Komínis, Kráľovič, Kristoffersen, Kuchin, Lapochkin, Lardot, Letexier, Levnikov*, Lopes Martins, Maae*, Madley, Martínez Munuera, Mečkarovski, Meler*, Meshkov, Miguel, Millot, Munukka, Nevalainen, Nilsen, Palabıyık, Pandžić, Papapetrou*, Peljto, Petrescu, Popov, Rainville, Reinshreiber, Rumšas*, Sánchez Martínez, Sant, Schärer, Schneider, Schüttengruber, Shmuelevitz, Stoyanov, Þórarinsson*, Tierney, Tohver, Trattou, Tsynkevich, Tykgaard, Valeri, van Boekel, Vertenten, Xistra

Category 3

á Høvdanum, Aliyev, Andó-Szabó, Anufrijevs, Apostolov, Aretópoulos, Atazhanov, Balakin, Baliyan, Banari, Barbeno, Barcelo, Branco Godinho, Burchardt, Chinkov, Christofí, Dimitríou, do Nascimento Teixeira, Đokić, Durieux, Eskås, Farrugia Cann, Feșnic, Frid, Găman, Golubevs, Griffith, Grujić, Hagenes, Hamiti, Həsənov, Hennessy, Hjaltalín, Hovhannisyan, Jäger, Jakimovski, Jakubik, Järvinen, Kajtazovič, Kaluđerović, Karakó, Karlsson, Kasumi, Kennedy, Kjærsgaard, Kopriwa, Kozyk, Kristjánsson, Kruashvili,, Laforge, Lambrechts, Lukjančukas, Mántalos, Marhefka, Markham-Jones, Marshall, Masiás, Matyunin, McLaughlin, McNabb, Milačić, Muntean, Musiał, Nikolić, Nuza, Nyberg, Obrenovič, Očenáš, Orel, Pajač, Papadópoulos, Papir, Paşayev, Pejin,, Pires Martins, Poulsen, Příhoda, Proske, Robertson, Romanov, Saggi, Sakhi, San, Santos Capela, Schnyder, Šehović, Shcharbakou, Shurman, Silva Pinheiro, Steen, Strukan, Tarajev, Tean, Todorov, Troleis, Tschudi, Ulusoy, Vadachkoria, Viljanen, Vilkov, Visser, Walsh, Weinberger, Xhaja, Zammit, Zebec

* = Re-categorised

Here you can find the PDF documents with the new categories. 

On the Road to WC 2018: Stage 3, Focus on CONCACAF

After having analyzed AFC and CAF officials who will be at World Cup, now it is CONCACAF turn: the confederation of  North, Central America and Caribbean.

Milorad Mažić in charge of Champions League Final: Real Madrid - Liverpool (Discussion)

Milorad Mažić is ready for the big event: the  Champions League Final. We wish him (and all team-members) good luck. 

On the Road to WC 2018: Stage 2, Focus on CAF

The journey continues. After having analyzed the officials from AFC, now it is Africa's turn. Let's have a closer look at this confederation. 

On the Road to WC 2018: Stage 1, Focus on AFC

2018 FIFA World Cup is coming. Just a few weeks and all fans will enjoy fantastic days of football at top level. We wish an excellent officiating. Waiting for the tournament, we want to analyze, step by step, refereeing's perspectives. First focus is dedicated to AFC. 

Halil Umut Meler in charge of 2018 UEFA Under 17 Final

Turkish Halil Umut Meler has been appointed to handle 2018 UEFA Under 17 Final, to be played on 20 May between Italy and Netherlands in Rotherham.  He will be observed by Scottish Hugh Dallas. 

Björn Kuipers in charge of Europa League Final: Olympique de Marsille - Atlético Madrid (Discussion)

Björn Kuipers is ready to officiate his second Europa League Final. We wish him (and all team-members) good luck. 

UEFA Under 17 Championship - England 2018 - Referee appointments for Semifinals

The following officials will be in charge of Semifinals at 2018 UEFA Under 17 Championship in England. 

Saudi referee Fahad Al Mirdasi under investigation - World Cup participation in doubt?

World Cup participation for the Saudi seems to be now in danger, following some news. We still wait for official confirmations, but we want to inform you about the main issue. 

UEFA Under 17 Championship - England 2018 - Referee appointments for Quarterfinals

The following officials will be in charge of Quarterfinals at 2018 UEFA Under 17 Championship in England. 

Björn Kuipers with his second EL final: another excellent achievement for the Dutch but a very poor signal for UEFA refereeing

Dutch Elite referee Björn Kuipers will officiate his second Europa League final, after the one in 2013. For sure, an excellent achievement for him, but at the same time there is for sure someting to be discussed about the rest... 

Milorad Mažić referee of 2017-18 Champions League final: a deserved appointment

The Serbian will be in charge of Real Madrid - Liverpool on next 26 May in Kyiv. Our blog readers had not many doubts about that. Let's have a closer look at his international career. 

Milorad Mažić in charge of CL final, Björn Kuipers will officiate his second EL final, Jana Adámková appointed for Women's CL final

UEFA Referees Committee has unveiled the appointments for the finals of European competitions. As it was expected by most of the readers of this blog, Milorad Mažić will officiate Champions League final, while Dutch Björn Kuipers will be in charge of his second EL final, after the 2013 edition. Czech Jana Adámková will officiate Women's CL final act. 

Who will officiate Champions League final? Analysis and prediction

Thank to the delay of the official announcement, we can make an analysis about the candidates for CL final. 

Europa League 2017/18 - Semifinals Second Legs - Gianluca Rocchi & Sergey Karasev (discussion)

You can continue here the discussion about Europa League games. 

Who will officiate Champions League and Europa League finals? Make your choice.

KO stages of both Champions League and Europa League are over.  Now it is time to predict and discuss about the referees who will be appointed to handle the finals. 

Europa League 2017/18 - Semifinals - Referee Appointments (II)

Italian Gianluca Rocchi and Russian Sergey Karasev have been assigned to EL semifinals, second legs. 

Damir Skomina in AS Roma - FC Liverpool (discussion #2)

Damir Skomina's performance in AS Roma - FC Liverpool.

Damir Skomina in AS Roma - FC Liverpool (discussion)

Damir Skomina's performance in AS Roma - FC Liverpool.

Cüneyt Çakır in Real Madrid - Bayern München (discussion)

As the previous post reached the maximum number of comments, let's continue the discussion about  Çakır performance here. 

Cüneyt Çakır in charge of Real Madrid - Bayern München at Santiago Bernabéu

Turkish officiating team led by Cüneyt Çakır has been assigned to the return game of CL Semifinal Real Madrid - Bayern München, to be played in Madrid on 01/05/2018. The game will represent the third appearance for the Elite referee in this CL KO stage.