Wednesday 21 April 2021

UEFA EURO 2020 - Selected Officials

The deliberating is over, the decision has been made - the UEFA Referees Committee have determined the nineteen(!) referees who will handle the games of EURO 2020. 


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The full list of trios who have been selected (in alphabetical order):

Felix Brych (Germany) AR1 Mark Borsch (Germany) AR2 Stefan Lupp (Germany)

Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey) AR1 Bahattin Duran (Turkey) AR2 Tarik Ongun (Turkey)

Carlos Del Cerro Grande (Spain) AR1 Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (Spain) AR2 Roberto Alonso Fernández (Spain)

Andreas Ekberg (Sweden) AR1 Mehmet Culum (Sweden) AR2 Stefan Hallberg (Sweden)

Orel Grinfeeld (Israel) AR1 Roy Hassan (Israel) AR2 Idan Yarkoni (Israel)

Ovidiu Alin Hategan (Romania) AR1 Sebastian Eugen Gheorghe (Romania) AR2 Radu Adrian Ghinguleac (Romania)

Sergei Karasev (Russia)  AR1 Igor Demeshko (Russia) AR2 Maksim Gavrilin (Russia) 

Istvan Kovacs (Romania) AR1 Vasile Florin Marinescu (Romania) AR2 Mihai Ovidiu Artene (Romania)

Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands) AR1 Sander van Roekel (Netherlands) AR2 Erwin Zeinstra (Netherlands)  

Danny Makkelie (Netherlands) AR1 Hessel Steegstra (Netherlands) AR2 Jan de Vries (Netherlands)

Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (Spain) AR1 Pau Cebrián Devis (Spain) AR2 Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar (Spain)

Michael Oliver (England) AR1 Stuart Burt (England) AR2 Simon Peter Bennett (England)

Daniele Orsato (Italy) AR1 Alessandro Giallatini (Italy) AR2 Fabiano Preti (Italy)

Artur Manuel Ribeiro Soares Dias (Portugal) AR1 Rui Licino Barbosa Tavares (Portugal)  AR2 Paulo Alexandre Santos Soares (Portugal)

Daniel Siebert (Germany) AR1 Jan Seidel (Germany) AR2 Rafael Foltyn (Germany)

Anthony Taylor (England) AR1 Gary Beswick (England) AR2 Adam Nunn (England)

Clément Turpin (France) AR1 Nicolas Danos (France) AR2 Cyril Gringore (France)

Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia) AR1 Tomaž Klančnik (Slovenia) AR2 Andraž Kovačič (Slovenia)


Video Match Officials:

Stuart Attwell (England),  Lee Betts (England), Christopher Kavanagh (England) 

Jérôme Brisard (France), François Letexier (France), Benjamin Pages (France) 

Bastian Dankert (Germany), Christian Dingert (Germany), Marco Fritz (Germany), Christian Gittelmann (Germany) 

Marco Di Bello (Italy), Massimiliano Irrati (Italy), Filippo Meli (Italy), Paolo Valeri (Italy) 

Kevin Blom (Netherlands), Pol Van Boekel (Netherlands) 

Pawel Gil (Poland) 

João Pedro Silva Pinheiro (Portugal) 

Alejandro José Hernández Hernández (Spain), Juan Martínez Munuera (Spain), Íñigo Prieto López de Cerain (Spain), José María Sánchez Martínez (Spain)


Support Match Officials:

Stéphanie Frappart (France), Mikael Berchebru (France)

Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria), Martin Margaritov (Bulgaria)

Davide Massa (Italy), Stefano Alassio (Italy)

Bartosz Frankowski (Poland), Marcin Boniek (Poland)

Srdjan Jovanović (Serbia), Uros Stojkovic (Serbia)

Sandro Schärer (Switzerland), Stéphane De Almeida (Switzerland)

In addtion, as part of an exchange programme within the framework of the cooperation agreement between UEFA and the South American Football Confederation CONMEBOL, for the first time ever a South American referee will join the European group of referees and a European will travel to South America. Argentinian referee Fernando Rapallini and his assistants will join the selected European referees for EURO 2020, while a Spanish refereeing team led by Jesús Gil Manzano will be part of the selected CONMEBOL referees for the Copa América 2021 in Argentina and Colombia.

157 comments:

  1. Siebert and Ekberg yes, Scharer no...

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    1. I do not think so. Siebert has been give tons of chances to show his ability in EL this season, and I think he is deserved to be selected. No way for Zwayer to get in as he is almost completely ignored by the committee this season. For Stieler, his CL group stages performance is not convincing at all IMO. So why not give Siebert a chance based on performance?

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    2. Schärer is a support official along with Frappart, Frankowski, Kabakov, Massa and Jovanović

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  2. Siebert (GER) is the biggest surprise, but I'm very happy for him. Siebert becomes 37 years on 4th May.
    Hategan (ROU) saved his EURO designation by replacing his assistant.

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  3. Finally we know the answer, some surprising names but overall expected. A bit surprised to see Siebert and Ekberg but it is understandable to see them due to their appointments. Karasev is also selected, although he is not a good referee IMO. Also no surprise that Zwayer, Marchniak, Frappart are out of EURO. Nothing to talk about the rest of the names as they are fully deserved.

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  4. I completely forgot about the exchange program with CONMEBOL! It's not the 1st time a non-European referee is invited to referee in EURO - Al-Ghandour handled games in 2000.

    Frappart 4th official, expected.

    Biggest surprises for me are the inclusion of Siebert and Ekberg, specially the former. No Zwayer, no Stieler, but Siebert yes. Wtf?

    Romania/Vassarás did it - 2 Romanians in Euro. Not undeserved though.

    Skomina is definitely out and replaced by Vinčič. What happened to Marciniak?

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    1. I do not think so. Siebert has been give tons of chances to show his ability in EL this season, and I think he is deserved to be selected. No way for Zwayer to get in as he is almost completely ignored by the committee this season. For Stieler, his CL group stages performance is not convincing at all IMO. So why not give Siebert a chance based on performance?

      I am also very sorry to see Skomina to miss EURO due to his injury. This is a very bad news. I can not understand why people expect Marciniak. He did not get any CL/EL games and there is no way to demonstrate his performance.

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  5. Some remarks:

    - No Marciniak and Skomina. The latter didn't referee a single game after his injury, so it's logical he's out but Marciniak handles games in Polish league for a long time after his COVID infection, he got Greece - Georgia in WCQ, PAOK-Aris in Greek league but was kept away from CL/EL - strange a little bit

    - No Șovre in team Hațegan. PR reasons and I think we can somehow understand Rosetti. After he forgave the Romanian the first fault, Șovre committed another one. Poor boy.

    - Ekberg and Siebert from First Category (I would say: deserved) but no Guida. The Italian is not even a support official. Strange!

    - Good to see that Kovács was rewarded for his constant good performances (bar the last one).

    - Oliver deserves his place but I would never bet on him looking at the appointments. Weird management by UEFA RefCom here.

    - Frappart could be displeased to be "only" a support official. I think she deserved to get the middle in at least one game.

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    1. Indeed a weird management by the committee about Oliver.

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    2. Merita perché? Perché è donna? Che fare importanti ha diretto? Che si accontenti così che è anche troppo!

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  6. The and of Marciniak career

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  7. I think the final would be a fight between Kuipers vs Cakir vs Brych vs Orsato.

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    1. Lahoz or Kuipers will get it.

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    2. Orsato will get it because he is Italian

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  8. Damir Skomina, surprising to me that he is missing.

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    1. Not that surprising for me. Very long absence due to injury + Vinčič who now has Rosetti's trust.

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  9. Big Suprise No Marciniak and Skomina

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  10. So first category referees over elite referees. Very intresting IMO...

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  11. 1/2
    So finally we have the names and some surprises as well!
    I'm about to write a very long comment, hopefully I will not annoy you!
    I start with the Category 1, that's for sure a small revolution in UEFA refereeing, if one starts from the assumption that an Elite Category exists, then one should think all the referees included must come before the lower category. That's not the same for committee, or at least they decided to open the selection even more than one could have expected. Of course Category 1 referees will get suitable games but this could have been made with the rest of Elite panel. We could say choices for the future. One can expect the selected officials, at least the ones called to officiate - Siebert and Ekberg, promoted in Elite soon. One can also discuss about the difference between Schaerer and them, but for sure the Swedish has by far more and longer experience with UEFA. I was not wrong in guessing that behind all that appointments there was something planned for him.
    About the selected Elite, mostly no surprises and all expected choices, so I will comment only about certain names.
    Mostly, I agree with all the remarks written by anonymous at 18:26, the management of Oliver was very weird, but indeed we can draw the conclusion that he couldn't officiate in CL KO stage this season just due to unlucky circumstances. I was not sure about Kovacs, but I see that he managed to do that, if I compare him to Vincic and Grinfeeld (both more expected than him), I would say he could get less than them, but surely a good appearance in group stage. For some of these called referees, it was also a question of being ready at the exact moment, when committee needed more names. About Karasev, I already reported my opinion on the blog, I just hope he could show better performances at this tournament. Hategan has been saved, and I'm very happy, he fully deserved that, but it was impossible to keep Sovre with him. I'm still shocked by the way how Sovre spoiled his call to EURO so closely (I think before the Dortmund - City incident he was still trusted by committe, despite of everything).

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    1. 2/2
      The situation about Germany with 1 Elite and 1 Category 1, given that they have 4 Elite is surely something never seen before. Choices are expected after EURO, if this is the trust toward Zwayer and Aytekin, better if they leave Elite category. Stieler needs time and one can still understand why he was not called.
      Szymon Marciniak: let's say that I expected him at EURO despite of the long absence, because he was a very trusted referee by committee. I think that he had recovered in time to train for the big tournament, but committee was not convinced. Since there can be - and there are indeed - health problems, I will not speculat too much on that, but for sure I'm really sorry for him.
      A big sorry for Skomina as well, hopefully he will be back and he will manage to attend Qatar 2022 as maybe last big tournament in his career. Congratulations to Vincic, who after having been in a big trouble one year ago, now he can touch the sky with a finger. Incredible path. But absolutely deserved, if you ask me, by far more than other Elite!
      The category 1 called as support referees are for sure under a special focus by committee for a promotion, but they come after Siebert and Ekberg without doubts.
      Then, the big discussion: Stéphanie Frappart. Repeatedly presented as big referee and talent, at the moment of the first important tournament of her career, she was called but only as fourth official.
      She was judged not good enough to officiate game at EURO - simply said and I hope that you will get my point - that's a full nonsense by committee. It looks like she had to be called due to the previous background and nothing more. This has been an evident proof for us: committee doesn't trust her for very important games, when it comes to something crucial. One could say she will gain experience for the future, well, I doubt that. She should get by far more and more challenging games and with more frequency, before thinking about something more. I must admit usaref was right. I hope that my point is clear, I talk about her regardless of her gender, I would have said the same for a man. That's all.

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    2. Concerning Stéphanie Frappart: I think that UEFA would have been able to appoint her as a main referee if they would have liked to do so. Since there are 19 referee teams for the 36 games in the group stage, at least two of them will not get a second match. Therefore, one could have saved Stéphanie Frappart at least for a "meaningless" game on matchday 3 of the group stage, for example.

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  12. Lots of comments to do:
    1st of all my deepest regret for the (expected) absence of Skomina and Marciniak. I think that a more weired and respectful management would be to appoint them as VAR since they have a lot of experience and staying sit on a chair in front of a monitor wojld haven't been conflicted with injury
    Congratulation to Ekberg and Siebert. I did expect the last one and at the end I was convinced that Stieler was IN.
    Frappart as IV official ia the most reasonable choice and I had predicted her in this role.
    Siebert is the biggest surpise along with Rapallini. I completely forgot the cooperation Between Uefa and Comnebol and I never bet on an attendance from South America. I'm very curious to see ho he will be managed, if some top clashes will be assigned to him and if he will go on on k.o. stage.
    All the other names were fully expected, Karasev too may be not for his full merit but for lack of alternative.
    Busy summer as expected to me for Dias, Grinfeld and Frappart travelling a lot fron Europe to Tokyo.
    I'm very suprised by the huge number of VAR (22), considering that they will not travel, staying in Nyon or in Zurich at Fifa headquarter.
    Also surpreised by the name of VAR; IMO some élite referees could have been selected.
    Congratulation to all

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  13. I would have expected Damir Skomina and Szymon Marciniak to go as VAR.

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    1. Skomina is not a FIFA VMO, while the VARs were selected from that list.

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  14. Anonymous was right about today`s announcement of EURO 2020 referees list - so i beg your pardon;)
    also, i agree with F about appointment of Skomina and Marciniak as VAR`s. I think it will be a good choice by Rosetti give a small honour for them

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  15. Nobody mentioned Collum, a big disappointment to miss EURO for him.

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  16. With 19 referees selected, the obvious appointment strategy would be to give 2 referees only 1 match in GS and all others 2. The logical choices for getting 1 match would be the 1st group referees Ekberg and Siebert.
    Alternatively, some referees could get their second match only in R16 as observed in WCs.

    That being said, obviously a lot can happen before that. I am afraid in these times it is more likely that one of the 19 will miss the tournament due to health issues than all of them being ready.
    Therefore the 19th referee gives UEFA some space in this aspect to cover possible absences even without using the support referees.

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    1. If UEFA wants to appoint the referees at matchday 3 "as neutrally as possible", the two teams from England would be completely out of it: Oliver/Taylor shouldn't go to group D (England) but also not to groups B, C, E or F (England could face a team out of these four groups in the round of 16). And the only remaining group A with Wales (also from Great Britain) would not be a wise decision either. ;-)

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    2. IMO it is possible that some referees who not get any games as the main referee every though they are selected

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  17. Well, some surprises!

    First of all the referees from the First Group:
    - Andreas Ekberg: Was planned for something big because of 4 appointments in the KO-phase of the Europa League.
    - Daniel Siebert: Big surprise! Yes he got a EL 1/4 final but he had some problems in Napoli - Granada. Is he really better than Stieler? His performance in Atalanta - Real is obviously not evaluated well by committee..

    The fact that First Group referees are needed illustrate exactly what the problem is of UEFA refereeing at the moment. There are too many referees who are in Elite who don't have a Elite status: Sidiropoulos, Kulbakov, Kruzliak, Collum, Bastien, Aytekin. They should be demoted to the First Group next summer.

    Then we have Felix Zwayer. Expected not to see him on this list. Since the Coronacrisis his performances are weak. But still relatively young and he has proven he is a very reliable referee. I hope he get an opportunity to improve next year.

    Regarding Skomina and Marciniak; committee don't want to take a risk and appoint them as referees. I can accept that, but in my opinion they should both go as VAR. A missed opportunity of Rosetti to prove his management skills. The only Elite referee left is Gil Manzano, he in unlucky to be the third referee from Spain.

    Another point of discussion is the selection of VAR's. At Euro 2020 they will work with VAR teams of 4; comparable with the VAR system at the World Cup. So why not appoint a assistent referee from the Netherlands (van Zuilen?) and Portugal for example. I also miss the regular VAR's of Cakir, Grinfeeld and Karasev. Better management would be to appoint the VAR teams who assisted the referee the whole season. So Bitigin with Cakir, van Boekel/Higler with Kuipers etc.

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    1. Is it confirmed information, that there will be 4 VARs per match?

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    2. Yes, source KNVB/NOS.nl

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    3. Gil Manzano is going to the Copa America, so his "absence" from EURO 2020 is not really an absence at all.

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    4. Yes he is going to Copa America but he is the third Spanish Elite, no chances in all cases to officiate at EURO. He was lucky with this opportunity from CONMEBOL.

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    5. Siebert is better that Stieler. Stieler is very bad referee.

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    6. Bitigen was appointed as a ref in Tokyo 2020 probably why he wasn’t selected as Cakir’s VAR

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  18. Notable omissions among the VARs with at least 3 VAR appointments in CL this season are Stegemann (even 4 VAR in CL + AVAR in Brych's team recently + WWC experience; probably too many Germans), Guida (AVAR in QF), Martins (no Portuguese duo), Bitigen (no Turkish VAR at all), Meshkov (no Russian VAR at all) and Marciniak (no consolation prize for him).

    Bitigen, Guida and Martins go to the Olympics instead.

    Most surprising inclusion (not looking at specialized ARs) is Brisard, who only had 1 VAR appointment in this CL season - and there is only one French-speaking referee at the EURO, who could be assisted by Letexier/Pages.

    The last point makes me think: Could UEFA plan with 3 VARs per match with one spot in each covered by a specialized AR?

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    1. I think Kamphuis will be dissapointed as well....

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    2. Bitigen was appointed as a ref in Tokyo 2020 probably the reason why he wasn’t selected as Cakir’s VAR

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  19. 3 VARs + specialised AR would make much sense seeing the appointments. So Germany and Spain have a complete VAR-team with 4 members.

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  20. Copa America referees are also revealed (by Arbitro Internacional):
    Referees: Aquino (PAR), Carrillo (PER), Claus (BRA), Gil Manzano (ESP), Guerrero (ECU), Herrera (VEN), Loustau (ARG), Ostojich (URU), Pitana (ARG), Rojas (COL), Roldan (COL), Sampaio (BRA), Tobar (CHI), Vargas (BOL)
    Support referees: Alves (BRA), Aragon (ECU), Cuevas (PAR), Guizadad (BOL), Hermosilla (CHI), Matonte (URU) Navarro (ARG), Ortega (PER), Ponte (VEN), Vela (COL)
    VAR: Bascunan (CHI), Benites (PAR), de Burgos (ESP), Fedorczuk (URU), Gallo (COL), Garay (CHI), Gonzalez (URU), Haro (PER), Lopez (PAR), Munuera (ESP), Ospina (COL), Reway (BRA), Tello (ARG), Traci (BRA), Valenzuela (VEN), Vigliano (ARG)

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    1. Quite logical to send the referee, who was unlucky because of two stronger candidates from his country to the other continent in both directions. Even more so with a Spanish speaking referee sent to South America.

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    2. Another option would have been to invite Roberto Tobar to the UEFA EURO 2020: Having handled the last final of the Copa America, he won't be a candidate for it this year any more.

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    3. Small correction: The support referees are only Aragon, Hermosilla, Matonte and Ortega. The other 6 are support ARs.

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    4. Peter: yes, Tobar would have been a good option from that point of view, but... why would CONMEBOL send their best referee as long as UEFA does not?

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  21. What a lucky and marvellous day is today for us who passion on refereeing. Three major competitions have been reveleaed. I have to say you thag today i spent most fo time on this Blog with lo productivity on my job....:-)

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    1. Thanks for your words! Looks like we are returning to a certain normality after very difficult times with COVID and the world of international refereeing is back with all its fascinating discussions!
      I can just hope we are going towards even better times!

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  22. *who have passion on...

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  23. The most interesting thing to me is the management of the German referees by UEFA. Besides Brych, it seems like they have tried so many options, only to discard them so quickly after one bad game or one run of poor form. Aytekin was rising and was appointed for a CL knockout game only to be thrown aside when that game didn't go well. Same story with Zwayer last year, he was a rising star and was appointed to Juventus - Lyon in the CL knockout stage, and then only one CL appointment after that before he has been cast aside as a failed project. And again with Stieler perhaps, trusted with a CL knockout stage match, but evidently did not perform well enough in it and is suddenly out of the EUROs.

    Does it really make sense to invest years and years into the development of an Elite Referee only to cast them off as "failed projects" after one or two bad games? It's not wonder that UEFA is now having to dig into the First Category for to get referees for the EUROs, when they are so quick to discard Elite Referees. I question these management tactics: would it not be better to persevere with Elite referees through moments of poor form rather than start from scratch with a younger generation each time something goes wrong?

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  24. In my opinion, Marciniak's absence is not due to his health, as he leads matches in Poland every week. From the beginning of this season he was omitted by Rosetti, he spent the first two rounds of the Champions League in Var, the 3rd round was a great performance in the match between Leipzig and PSG, and then again omitted for no reason until the end of the group stage.Then Szymon contracted Covid 19 but he did his best to get back on the pitch, despite Rosetti still ignoring his efforts, Fifa gave Szymon a chance to come back in the uninteresting Greece-Georgia game and I think Szymon did a great job.
    While Makkelie, Kupiers, Hategan can make glaring mistakes Szymon is punished by Rosetti I think that mainly due to lack of sympathy for Szymon, good luck Szymon thinks it's a good time to leave Uefa and focus on the Polish league.

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  25. Sidiropoulos will never go Euro!!
    When Vasaras sends two Romanian referees.

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    1. Do you think that Sidiropoulos should be there? Even as FO?

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    2. I don't see why not. Sidiropoulos is an experienced elite referee by now. Having him as an Elite, and not letting him go, is ridiculous. For me, he's a good referee.

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    3. Based on his performance I doubt that he deserves his Elite status let alone a Euro spot.

      Certainly the whole situation in Greece with foreign referees isn't helpful at all but Greek referees played a big part on that.

      The biggest issue, IMO, is that there is no development on referees. And that's the worrying part.

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    4. Edward is very correct. No referee development in Greece. How can Tasos go to Euro when he has no SL1 top games which are refereed by outsider refs brought bi Klattenburg.

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  26. Biggest surprise certainly is Siebert´s appointment and it´s that one I would call questionable. Not because I think it´s undeserved for Siebert. I would argue we can´t know whether it is deserved because he just didn´t get any high profile match this season, maybe apart from a first leg UEL Quarterfinal. Nevertheless, happy for the guy and hope he does well.

    But I wanna talk about Stieler. Some other readers already talked about the management of German referees. I think it was discussed many times here that Stieler was pushed to the top very fast at the beginning of this season. After refereeing only four UCL Group Stage games and at best two R16 games in UEL in previous seasons he was appointed for some very high profile matches (LIV-AJA, BAR-JUV, ATA-RMA, ENG-BEL, POR-FRA, FRA-UKR) as well as promoted to Elite group during the winter break.

    When pushing a referee to a much higher level that fast I would say it is almost inevitable to see some mistakes in these matches. And I agree with some people, he made quite some mistakes, maybe even a bit too many. But let's face it, we've all been there. When promoted to a much higher level everyone needs a few games to adjust. Why not give him the chance to do that in games that are bit lower profiled and maybe therefore easier. For committee to push someone to the top this fast only to drop him for this EURO's just a couple of months later to me is nothing more than damaging a career. I think Stieler didn't deserve to lose committee's trust this fast or at least that leaving him out of Euros now is due to their own mistake as well (by appointing him for too many big matches too fast). I feel very sorry for the guy and hope he recovers in next seasons.

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    1. Hmm good point about him being pushed so fast. I agree that UEFA should have been more patient. They seem desperate to find another German referee to take Brych's place, after Aytekin and Zwayer were discarded by them, they very quickly pushed Stieler up quickly, and now they seem to be trying Siebert instead. Weird management, and I agree Siebert really hasn't done enough yet to prove his spot.

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  27. I am surprised and happy to see Siebert and Ekberg at Euro. Due to performances the right decision, I would have preferred Schaerer compared to Karasev, but all in all a good list..

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  28. Svein-Erik Edvartsen (former FIFA referee, Norway), four years on after the beginning of his conflict with the Norwegian federation to the Norwegian media:

    "Either they allow me to referee again, or we'll see each other in the courtroom!"

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    1. After a so long time, he should just accept what happened.

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  29. Aston Villa vs Manchester City. Guardiola several times way outside the technical area demonstrating and shouting at the 4th official and the referee and they completely ignore it. When Aston Villa made a reckless tackle Guardiola was clearly at least 6-7 meters outside the technical area demanding a red card and shouting at the referee. Of course the referee ignored it.

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  30. Tribute to Anonymus who told us that comitee will announce referees today. Congrats.

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    1. Ahaha but nobody trust me yesterday lol��

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  31. Two pieces of information from the UEFA press releases, that are new - at least to me:
    "The preparation of the officials for UEFA EURO 2020 will include a course for all referees, referee assistants and video match officials, which will take place in Istanbul, Turkey, from 10 to 13 May."
    "Referees, referee assistants and support referees will have their base camp in Istanbul from 7 June until the completion of the quarter-finals, after which the remaining match officials will move to London for the final three matches."

    Furthermore it is confirmed, that there will be 4 VMOs per match.

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    1. And the VMOs will not be based in Turkey, so likely remotely.

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    2. I think that the choice to set the base camp in Istanbul is very un-comfortable for logistic point of view. FIFA headquarter in Zurich would be ore convenient for travelling frequently all around the Europe: Dublin, London are far from Istambul

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    3. 7 day incidence in Turkey is >900 cases. How can you organize a seminar there. Crazy.

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    4. İstanbul is the only location to have direct flights (regular) to all destinations of Euro 2020. Even though the numbers for covid cases are too high at the moment over 10 m people had two doses of vaccine and improving. Don't worry about Istanbul...

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  32. The way UEFA has dealt with Stieler, Zwayer, Sidiropoulos, Kruzliak, Collum and maybe also Treimanis - but also Kamphuis, Stegemann, and maybe Guida - is highly questionable and not ok.

    Inviting an Argentinean who didn't convince at his only FIFA tournament so far and a Russian trio without any leadership competence is a huge surprise.

    What's positive is that Rosetti rewards season-performance, but what's negative is that he doesn't support referees sustainably. If you don't have a name and don't "deliver" or, even worse, bring him into Italian newspapers - you are out apparently.

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    1. I think it's a cheeky that Zwayer isn't there! Karasev? Didn't deserve it

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  33. For those of you who have regrets about having messed up an offside decision once, I don't think anything beats this one from the Norwegian Women's premier league!

    https://twitter.com/oleaas/status/1385143318900723714

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    1. How about this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eL67lUQFSc&ab_channel=mkza

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  34. Some interesting notes, looking back at previous EURO editions.
    Damir Skomina, the only referee (but not assistant referee, as you will read below) with a connection to EURO 2008 (he was fourth official) missed the chance to attend this tournament 12 years later. This datum shows us the outstanding long-experience of the Slovenian at UEFA lveel. A real pity for him. He attended both 2012 and 2016 editions in the middle time, and he could have set maybe a record.
    Looking at 2012, we have Cakir and Kuipers, both called for this new adventure, after having attended both 2012 and 2016 editions.
    The other referees who were already at EURO 2016 are: Brych, Hațegan, Karasev, Turpin. It is interesting to point out that two of them for some reasons, despite of the experience in this tournament, were in doubt: Hategan and Karasev. Regarding the latter, for sure having attended some major tournaments in past has helped in having still trust in him.
    There are also some referees who worked as additional assistant referees in previous (2016) edition: Oliver (AAR1 in Atkinson's team), Taylor (AAR1 in Clattenburg's team), Orsato (AAR1 in Rizzoli's team), Vinčič (AAR2 in Skomina's team) and Del Cerro Grande (AAR2 in Velasco Carballo's team).
    Talking about assistant referees, for sure a special mention must be done for Juan Carlos Yuste Jimenez, who was there in 2008 in Manuel Mejuto González (!) team. Then, in 2012 and 2016 he was with Velasco Carballo.
    An interesting look at the various fourth officials starting from 2008 edition: Bebek, Gilewski, Lannoy, Benquerença, Kassai, Thomson, Jakobsson, Skomina, Borski, Hagen, Kralovec, Shvetsov, Kulbakov and Sidiropoulos. The last two mentioned were both fourth officials at EURO 2016 and both failed to manage the big step for EURO 2020, despite of havig been promoted Elite.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Ekberg not in elite this is very surprise

    ReplyDelete
  36. I think UEFA took the best decision. Here are the best referees ar this moment, without exception.

    ReplyDelete
  37. Ajax - FC Utrecht
    Referee: Allard Lindhout / VAR Clay Ruperti

    Very vary interesting offside-decision in Eredivisie.
    Ajax's score was judged offside, then VAR did not intervene, although it was clearly not offside in the footage. Because it is probably within 'the margin of error' of 10 cm.
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzmPxunVgAsRAqT?format=jpg

    In the Netherlands, if two lines are drawn and overlapped, VAR will not intervene within the margin of error of 10 cm. I don't know if VAR actually drew a line in this case. In the Netherlands, if the lines overlap, it seems that it is a rule not to publish the image on on tv broadcasting.

    I interpreted this margin-of-error-rule as if VAR couldn't judge from the original video and drew 2 lines, but apparently VAR draws a line even if it is obvious from the video. However, perhaps considering the error in the timing of stopping the video, VAR may dare to draw a line.

    In any case, this rule, which retains clearly wrong judgments from the footage, has never been accepted in the Netherlands and it is interesting to see if this practice will continue.

    ReplyDelete
  38. OT:

    Don't know if anybody is wathcing,but IMO,not very convincing performance by Jesus Gil in first 45 minutes of Real Soc. vs Celta.

    All key decisions were correctly given by VAR,including penalty,not giving RC,but his passive personality and leniency is something that dissapointed me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I watched many Primera games this season and almost every referee there (bar Mateu, Jaime and sometimes Hdz Hdz) is so passive. Better don't try to watch Melero López or Cordero Vega if you're sensitive!

      Delete
    2. Velasco Carballo. other words not necessary!!!

      Delete
    3. Cuadra Fernandez is probably the Most active ref i know

      Delete
    4. Del Cerro Grande and Sanchez Martinez are not so passive IMO, and Lahoz is a special case because he does not react too much but it is obvious he is really focused on the game, never ignorant.

      Delete
  39. Very controversial performance by Di Bello and VAR Irrati in Napoli - Lazio, a couple of questionable decisions, including an OFR and some other situations in which it was expected. Referee is not in control, an OFR early in first half spoiled his authority on the game. Score is 4-0 but it could have been easily a very different outcome.
    One of the most difficult games so far in serie A this season, very important for CL qualification, but let me say, Rizzoli failed in VAR consistency this season, VARs have had multiple and different approaches in all games so far. After an excellent season, this has been the worst performance for DI Bello. Among the missed interventions, a clear SFP in my opinion at the beginning of second half.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rizzoli was a mediocre, "soft" referee and is like that as refereeing manager. I will never understand the phenomenon of this man.

      Delete
    2. Rizzoli was an excellent referee, with no doubts.

      Delete
    3. Rizzoli was a super referee!

      Delete
    4. Yep he showed that with mediocre performances in NL-ESP and GER-ARG where he failed to send Neuer off or at the very least give ARG the penalty.... I agree Rizzoli was good,but not as superb as the people on this blog say in the matches I recall the most ;)

      Delete
    5. 1 EL final, 1 CL final, 1 WC final + 1 EURO final denied by his master Collina :)
      And IMO excellent and smart call on Neuer, goalkeepers always jump with high knees and Neuer touched the ball first... its intention was not a VC. World Cup finals can't be decided by soft penalties...

      Delete
  40. Mikael W: could you please enable Anonymous comments on your wc98 blog and also the "subscribe by email" feature?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Comments - sure, done now
      Subscribe - unfortunately blogger have removed this feature for new blogs and for old ones it will be out by August

      Thanks for your interest! Day one games handled by García-Aranda (2 BST) and Pirom Un-Prasert (5 BST) will be up on wc98refs.blogspot.com later today.

      Delete
  41. In Interview Marciak has said that he has problem with heart, he has had EL Quaterfinal but, he was the same problem and he has known that he wont go to Euro

    ReplyDelete
  42. Interview with Szymon Marciniak: https://sport.interia.pl/raporty/raport-me-euro-2020/aktualnosci/news-euro-2020-polski-sedzia-poza-turniejem-szymon-marciniak-dla-,nId,5186153

    He explained that this is no surprise for him not to be on the Euro list. He was planned to be referee one of QF in April, but the problem is that as the result of COVID he got a tachycardia and now is recovering. He expects to be back in July.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Predictions for next week (VAR in brackets)
    Paris - Manchester: Makkelie (Blom)
    Real - Chelsea: Cakir (Irrati)
    Manchester - Roma: Grinfeeld (Martinez)
    Villareal - Arsenal: Karasev (Dankert)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UEFA has a problem if they appoint Makkelie in the semi-finals and Real Madrid reach the final

      Delete
    2. But if you don't appoint him and then Real Madrid is eliminated, no appointments at all?

      Delete
    3. You can appoint Kuipers,Brych,Orsato and Cakir for the semi-finals. Than, UEFA can appoint Lahoz (if Real Madrid isn‘t in the Final) or Makkelie (RM is in the final)

      Delete
    4. IMO, there are enough alternatives for the final (Taylor, Turpin, Mateu).

      Delete
    5. That's the most difficult point for appointing referees for CL SF matches, as from my analysis of some days ago.
      I think that would be risky and not fair appoint Makkelie in SF because you loose the opportunity to use him in final if real will be eliminated.
      Better to appoint him in the 1st leg of Europe League, so if Real will be in final he has in any case officiate a SL match and he will be time in the future to run in CL, while if Real will not be in the final he will not have conflict to be appointed for last match.
      So I would say:
      PSG - M. CITY CAKIR (Gil) - KUIPERS (Blom)
      REAL - CHELSEA ORSATO (Irrati)- BRYCH (Stagemann)
      M. UTD - ROME MATEU LAHOZ (Sanchez M.) - SOARES DIAS (Tiago)
      VILLA - ARSENAL MAKKELIE (Kamphuis) - VINCIC (Hndz Hndz)

      Delete
    6. To me it's crystalclear that Brych will handle the PSG-City. He had Real before. That makes up following appointments (ref/VAR)

      PSG-ManCity: Brych/Fritz
      Real-Chelsea: Makkelie/Blom

      ManCity-PSG: Kuipers/van Boekel
      Chelsea-Real: Cakir/Irrati

      Final: We'll see!

      ManU-AS Roma: Del Cerro Grande/Hernández Hernández
      Villarreal-Arsenal: Vincic/Dankert

      Delete
  44. I have very important question to all blog users:
    Why for previos 25 years no one referee from countries of former Soviet union ( 15 countries) never participate EURO final, except russians. What is your opinions ?
    It is very interesing case, nobody mentioned about this, but it looks very no democratic, i would like to say either more xenofobic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Partly because Uzbekistan (Irmatov) is no UEFA member but AFC member.

      Delete
    2. Agreed, good example if we are speaking about FIFA, but in UEFA nobody. For example Ukraine have very strong league compare with Slovenia or Romania, but romanian two referees in EURO, from Ukraine zero

      Delete
    3. Vadim Zhuk from Belarus had a match in 1996.
      I don't remember anyone else being at the top of UEFA refereeing and therefore considered for EURO.
      It's actually similar with the teams: Only Latvia in 2004 and Ukraine in 2016 and 2021 (+2012 as host) qualified for the EURO.

      Delete
    4. What does democracy have to do with it? Please don't bring this question (democracy) here. Try to think, analyze, look at the history. How many refs were there at the World Cup and European Championship during the USSR days from Armenia, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Moldova, and so on? The question is practical – if there are refs of the appropriate level or not. The circumstances so coincided that Irmatov appeared in Uzbekistan. Thanks God. And where's Treimanis? You mean he will not be at Euro because of xenophobia? ))

      Delete
    5. And we are Russians. Not russians

      Delete
    6. Shvetsov (UKR) was 4th official at home EURO 2012

      Delete
    7. My apologies for grammar and capital letter. Nothing again Russians. But USSR day it was another story and UEFA and FIFA was different organisation, with less power and money, football was different, 30 years ago... You would like to say that since 1991 till 2021 in 15 former USSR countries , except RUSSIANS, all referees was not in appropriate level? You think Karasev in appropriate level? Watch his game Rijeka-AZ and please comments/opinions in this blog, not only my opinion
      If you mentioned Treimanis, my opinion he is not ready for EURO, the same like Kabakov, Jovanovics, Siebert, TWO Romanian-all they are IN. Where is Kulbakov, elite referee? Why is lithuanian Mazeika is demoted ? I could continue with referees names, which is very good european level referees.
      Good example of Vadim Zhuk, only one
      It is because I said democracy and xenofobic-this is only my opnion. Maybe I'm wrong, but where is arguments...

      Delete
    8. Russian anonymous please write names of referees in Soviet times from Moldova, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, which are participated EURO or World CUP

      Delete
    9. What referees from the ex-Soviet space do you think would have deserved, based on their performances, to be selected for Euro between 2000 and 2021, but were not chosen by UEFA?

      Delete
    10. "Russian anonymous please write names of referees in Soviet times from Moldova, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, which are participated EURO or World CUP". None of them, that's what I mean - there were no and there are no refs from these republics (countries). But it got nothing to do with democracy and xenofobia. Do you suggest to use quotas in refereeing? ))) You asked for opinion. I gave it. So it is your opinion against my opinion. And I am not gouing to argue because there is nothing to argue about.

      Delete
    11. Just make names of referees who would have deserved a chance from those countries. And we will answer.

      Delete
    12. This is only my opinion, but my opinion with arguments, not like you just sarcasm.
      EURO-20/21- Kulbakov elite referee, even not support in upcoming euro
      Treimanis-promising, but not even support referee
      EURO 2016-Sergei Boyko was very strong referee in season 2014/2015 and SF referee in u-21, even not been reserve referee. The same for Mazeika, he was 1st category referee in talent programme.
      Not even support, only KUlbakov was
      Karasev in final tournament, dissaster perfomance in european matches, but Rosseti is Head of refereeing department push him, the same now in Romania ( Vasaras).
      EURO-2012, Ukraine referee were only support referee because of host country, Russian Bezborodov was very strong referee in first category or elite development but even not support referee, nobody from former USSR in final tournament.Again referee from scandinavia with very very strong domestic league are in euro, but no russians/ukraine and so on.
      Also i would like mentioned Kuchin from Kazakhstan, very good and promising referee, which was fully destroyed by some uefa committee members..., this member is resign.
      EURO-2008
      Talanted Levan Paniashvili- with good perfomance,
      Ukraine Oleg Orehov
      Not even Russians as referees, as support referees, but we have such strong football countries like Iceland, Slovenia, HUngary, but Russians football was very strong, CSKA in 2005 UEFA CUP winner, but referee still nobody in EURO.
      Ukraine league- two teams every year play in UCL, Russia the same, Belarusia -Bate, Azerbajan - always UEL groupe stage. IN such strong league referees must keep level of football, but you say they very weak, not deserved. I personaly follow all referees , they have big potential and good perfomance, but never in big tournament.
      I could continue with the fact but Russians anonymous please give some agruments, you opinion just like young lady-shouting , this is no xenofobia bla bla, but please facts statistics....

      Delete
    13. If you talk about USSR referees, this is another story. They was two level high of european referees. Just open google and watch what kind of macthes they officiated, example Dinamo kiev-Torpedo, high risk matches, big derbys with politic impact. With super football player. Just say me the name of soviet top referees comparing with europeans?

      Delete
  45. Mr Orsato is appointed in Italian top clash Lazio - AC Milan. Ciro Carbone and Fabiano Preti are is Assistants while Mr. Mazzoleni is at the VAR

    Source: www.aia-figc.it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Match will be played on Monday, so Orsato could not be appointed in international cup

      Delete
  46. After yesterday storm in Napoli - Lazio, as I expected, Orsato has been assigned to Lazio - Milan, on next matchday in serie A. Game will be played on Monday 26 April, so this means no CL for Orsato on next week, no first leg semifinal for him. Di Bello is out from appointments.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting, Rosario Abisso whistles Inter-Hellas Verona this weekend. This is the first time he whistles an Inter match, after the scandal of 24.02.2019 (Inter - Fiorentina).

      Delete
    2. Yes he returns to officiate Inter after more than two years.
      The next step should be Orsato, if he has planned to continue at least for a further season after EURO, to officiate Inter.
      He didn't meet this team since the controversial Inter - Juventus of 3 years ago, April 2018.

      Delete
  47. Cüneyt Çakır with an appointment in Turkish Süper Lig Beşiktaş-Kayserispor so possible UCL match next weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess he meant Cakir's match in Turkey is on the weekend, so he will be available for UEFA next week.

      Delete
  48. Brazil - Scotland (José María García-Aranda) and Morocco - Norway (Pirom Un-Prasert) are today's games from World Cup 1998.

    wc98refs.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  49. Fırat Aydinus must end his career in Turkish Süper Lig after this season.
    TFF Central Referee Board has a age limit of 45.
    But TFF Referee Board extend this age to 47 for referees with professional contracts.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Chefren where is your predictions for ucl semi finals and final ?

    ReplyDelete
  51. Ucl semifinal prediction:r.madr vs chelsea = deniz aytekin( felix zwayer)

    ReplyDelete
  52. Mancity vs paris = sergey karesev( blom)

    ReplyDelete
  53. My names for CL semifinals are Brych, Kuipers, Cakir, Orsato and Makkelie. Orsato only for second legs as he got a game on Monday in serie A. We can think that the most experienced referees (Brych and Kuipers) will go to PSG - City, while the other ones (Cakir, Makkelie, Orsato) all possible for Chelsea - Real Madrid.
    There shouldn't be other names, otherwise they would be very big surprises.
    That's my prediction.

    ReplyDelete
  54. Chefren what about makkeille if real Madrid go to the final ? Makkeille not candidate for semi finals he candidate direct for the final

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Committee can't know that before, so for this reason I would appoint Makkelie for a semifinal. After that, if Mateu not possible, then indeed he should be he first candidate looking at performances. Only other option is Turpin (but also in this case, not 100% sure due to PSG). Regarding Taylor, mentioned by Philipp as candidate, I ratherthink that after his last performance it is quite unlikely to see him in the middle, but for sure the situation is difficult for committee.
      I remember what was written on the blog some days ago by somebody, would have been very good for committee to appoint Mateu Lahoz one year ago, when possible, and maybe Orsato this time. It is possible that the Spanish will have to stay without final.

      Delete
    2. What would you say if we see Mateu in the semi-finals again?

      Delete
  55. Chefren this is my predictions for semi finals and final semi finals real vs Chelsea cakir / orsato psg vs man city brych / kuipers final if real vs man city - makkeille . if real vs psg - Taylor. If Chelsea vs man city lahoz. If chelsea vs psg lahoz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Taylor is one very bad referee.

      Delete
  56. Prediction:
    PSG vs MC Brych/Kuipers
    RM vs CHE Makkelie/Orsato

    Final: Lahoz (no idea who it will be if RM goes to the final)

    ReplyDelete
  57. What a mess by Medie Jimenez (Elche-Levante). Very interesting situation with annulled red card.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unbelievable intervention by the VAR (who?). In my opinion DOGSO, never a clear error.

      Delete
    2. Isidro Diaz de Mero Escuderos was a VAR. I think that red card was annulled by touch a ball by Medie Jimenez in first part of attack.

      Delete
    3. Absolutely correct VAR-intervention as Elche gained possession after a Levante-pass hitting the referee in the APP. When ball possession changes immediately after the ball having hit the referee play should be stopped and restarted with a dropped ball —> technical mistake.
      Apart from that for me there’s no DOGSO, as the ball was behind the attacker when the foul occurred, so the attacker should have turned away from the goal when trying to gain control of the ball again —> no direct goal scoring opportunity.
      But most striking to me is the (very) bad management of Medie Jimenez after the foul, during the time VAR checks the situation ánd after having completed the OFR. No control over the players at all, no strong personality and no acceptance whatsoever.

      Delete
    4. The first point is actually quite interesting, because it is not an offence by the attacking team, so it's not that obvious, whether VAR can intervene.
      However it is actually a question of the ball being out of play as defined by Law 9, therefore the VAR can indeed intervene for it.

      Delete
    5. The worst situation was M.Jimenez handling the yellow card before a massive protest (Elche players). After that, he changed his idea and showed red card.
      I think his first choice was correct: no dogso imo.

      Delete
  58. Prediction

    RMA/CHE: Cakir/Orsato
    PSG/MCI: Kuipers/Brych

    Final: Lahoz (if without RMA)/ Makkelie (if with RMA)

    MUN/ROM: Hategan/Lahoz
    ARS/VIL: Vincic/Makkelie

    Final: Taylor (if without English team)/Turpin (if with English team)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And who would be your prediction in the case that RMA will reach the final and Makkelie strike a bad patch at his EL semi-final?

      Delete
  59. Italy - Chile (Lucien Bouchardeau) and Cameroon - Austria (Epifanio González) are today's games from FIFA World Cup 1998.

    wc98refs.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some sad remark concerning the CAF referees at the FIFA World Cup 1998: Out of the five representatives three already passed away. Said Belqola in 2002 at the age of 45, Ian McLeod in 2017 at the age of 63 and Lucien Bouchardeau in 2018 at the age of 56.

      Delete
    2. RIP especially remarkable referee Said Belqola who was a beautiful ans strong referee. A little bit as Cakir is now.

      Delete
    3. Very sad, indeed. I could not believe wthe news about Belqola's passing only 4 years after his WC final... It remembered me of Austrian Helmut Kohl, who passed away soon after attending WC 1990 in Italy... very sad...

      Delete
  60. When Skomina will be back?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He is turning 45 this year, so not sure whether he will continue. Euro would have been his last major competition.

      Delete
  61. Despite his age, can we consider Felix Brych as a candidate for the 2022 World Cup?

    ReplyDelete
  62. Chelsea fans should stop criticizing Anthony Taylor.He is not a bad referee, but rather he is a highly-profile referee on both UEFA and FIFA referees appointment list.His performance is fantastically good (best) that's while he always getting high profile matches to officiate.But what annoyed me is not seeing Damir Skomina in this competitive tournament,we pray for his speedy recovery. ����

    ReplyDelete
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