Wednesday 12 May 2021

Referee teams appointed for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals

Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (Spain) will take charge of the Champions League final and Clément Turpin (France) will officiate at the Europa League final.





The UEFA Referees Committee has announced that Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz will referee the 2021 UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City FC and Chelsea FC. The match is scheduled to be played on Saturday 29 May at 21:00 CET with the venue to be confirmed shortly.

The 44-year-old Spaniard, an international referee since 2011, will be taking charge of his first UEFA Champions League final, after serving as fourth official at the 2019 final between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC in Madrid, Spain. He has officiated at six matches in the UEFA Champions League this season, including the quarter-final first-leg match between FC Bayern München and Paris Saint-Germain. Mateu Lahoz has also recently been selected as one of the referees for UEFA EURO 2020.

At the final, Mateu Lahoz will be assisted by countrymen Pau Cebrián Devis and Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar, while another Spaniard, Carlos del Cerro Grande, will be fourth official. The video assistant referee (VAR) role has been assigned to Alejandro José Hernández Hernández (Spain), and he will be accompanied by compatriots Juan Martínez Munuera and Íñigo Prieto López de Cerain. Pawel Gil (Poland) completes the VAR line-up.

2021 UEFA Champions League final refereeing team

Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (Spain)

Assistants: Pau Cebrián Devis, Roberto Díaz Pérez del Palomar (both Spain)

4th official: Carlos del Cerro Grande (Spain)

VAR: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández (Spain)

VAR Assistants: Juan Martínez Munuera, Íñigo Prieto López de Cerain (both Spain), Pawel Gil (Poland)


The UEFA Referees Committee also announced that Frenchman Clément Turpin will referee the 2021 UEFA Europa League final between Villarreal CF and Manchester United FC, to be played at Gdańsk Stadium, Poland on Wednesday 26 May at 21:00 CET.

Turpin has been an international referee since 2010. This season, the 38-year-old has officiated at seven UEFA Champions League matches, as well as the UEFA Europa League round of 32 second-leg match between PSV Eindhoven and Olympiacos FC. Turpin will be involved in a major UEFA club competition final for the second time, after having been fourth official for the 2018 UEFA Champions League final between CF Real Madrid and Liverpool FC in Kyiv, Ukraine. He is also part of the group of referees selected for UEFA EURO 2020.

At this year’s UEFA Europa League final, Turpin will be assisted by compatriots Nicolas Danos and Cyril Gringore. The fourth official, Slavko Vinčić, is from Slovenia. The video assistant referee role has been assigned to François Letexier (France), and he will be aided by countrymen Jérôme Brisard and Benjamin Pages. Paulus van Boekel (Netherlands) completes the VAR line-up.

2021 UEFA Europa League final refereeing team

Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

Assistants: Nicolas Danos, Cyril Gringore (both France)

4th official: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)

VAR: François Letexier (France)

VAR Assistants: Jérôme Brisard, Benjamin Pages (both France), Paulus van Boekel (Netherlands)

116 comments:

  1. Compliments to the competence of blog community. Many predictors nailed it.

    I wholeheartedly congratulate the referees chosen. It must be one of the proudest days of their life. Hard work paid out.

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  2. Well done to our blog (Chefren!) who predicted it correctly :)

    Congratulations to all, well-deserved for Turpin and Mateu in my judgement.

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    1. Thank you, Mikaeal, it wasn't really difficult to make both predictions this year. Correct remark by Philipp below, about the fact that it was logical to expect two fourth officials coming from the pool of selected referees for EURO as well. Frappart will be a reserve, so for this reason it was unlikely to see her. Excellent assignment for Vincic who, at moment, in my opinion can dream of being candidate for EL final in 2022, that's sure, given the reputation by committee.
      About Mateu Lahoz, finally, after many missed opportunities, time has come. I'm happy that he got what he deserved by a long time, now with Del Cerro Grande there is a certain competition as they are both Spanish and high ranked Elite, but I find absolutely fair to reward him.
      Concerning Turpin, absolutely deserved as well, having shown an outstanding development in recent years, this is even more remarkable if we go back at the early period of Elite status for him. There were many people who thought that he wasn't simply too good and he was there just as replacement for Lannoy. I must admit that the level of his officiating was indeed quite problematic, we can remember Feyenoord - Roma in 2015, maybe that game came too early for him, but well, after that, in 5 or 6 years, he simply took the scene. Nothing to say. Excellent career so far.

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  3. No surprises here.
    Also quite logical choices for the 4th official and VARs.
    I just would have expected Sanchez Martinez instead of Gil to avoid any language issues - and still have a full EURO team.

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    1. No Frappart? :)

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    2. IMO, it would not be the best choice to have a 4th official, who is not refereeing at the EURO, i.e. not among the top 18 UEFA referees.

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    3. Frappart will have exactly that role (fourth official) at Euro.

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  4. OT: DFB reports, that the EURO preparation seminar already ends today evening. I think, it was previously reported to last until tomorrow.
    This could be relevant for the German Cup Final to be played tomorrow evening - with the referee not yet officially revealed.

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    1. This could mean Brych with his second, Siebert (unlikely), Dingert or Dankert with their first finals.

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    2. The App of Borussia Dortmund announced that Brych is going to whistle the final

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    3. Is that a signal that Brych will end his domestic career with this Cup final?

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    4. He will continue his domestic career :)

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  5. Congratulations to both, I am so happy for Clément! 😀

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  6. Congratulations to all of them!!

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  7. I dont like Turpin, and his style but in This season he deserves. Congratulations :) For Matheu I hope he will get CL final, Nice :D

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  8. I'm very happy. Congratulations to Mateu and Turpin, two of my favourite referees. Congratulations to all of them.

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  9. It's also the end of the "rule" that the CL final referee doesn't get a QF in the same season, which existed for 10 years (last one to have both was Webb 2010).

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  10. Stats for referee by club
    Manchester City have 3 wins and 1 defeat under Mateu Lahoz. The last match was the 2018 CL QF 2nd leg against Liverpool (ManCity lost 1-2 and were knocked out).
    Chelsea have 1 win and 1 defeat under Mateu Lahoz. The last match was a 2-1 loss in Porto in the CL GS 2015.

    Villareal have never been refereed by Turpin.
    Manchester United have 1 win and 1 draw under Turpin. The last match was the 2020 EL QF 2nd leg against Copenhagen, which they won 1-0 by a penalty in extra time.

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  11. Trabalho sério do Blog, gerou credibilidade nas informações repassadas aosvseus leitores. Meus cumprimentos.
    Valdir de Córdova Bicudo- Curitiba - Paraná - Brasil

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  12. Well deserved for both and indeed well predicted by this blog. Congratulations to both the referee teams and the blog administrators headed by Chefren.

    The "loser" of this season (and already previous season as well) seems to be Cakir. A pity for him, because I still like his style very much. I am afraid though that he will play no role of importance anymore on EURO 2020 neither.

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    1. Cakir has already had some finals and just isnt that good as in 2014-18. Altough I would have loved to see him at least at some QF stage this year.

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    2. With all due respect, Cakir's time has passed. He will have one last opportunity next month at Euro.

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    3. Cakir is 43 and his time is past is it? Kuipers is 48 and people speak of him like he is in his prime !

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    4. Cakir was born in 1976, so he is no longer 43. Anyway, his time has passed not necessarily because of age, but his level of refereeing is not the same as it used to be. I appreciate very much what he did in the last decade, but now it is time to move on. I hope he will use well his last opportunity at Euro and will make us happy.

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  13. Congrats to Mateu Lahoz, and Turpin. Hope we will have great finals and great officiating in them.

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  14. Il mio voto a Mateu è 9

    Il mio voto a Turpin è 10

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  15. It's a bit odd to throw in Pawel Gil in there as 3rd AVAR; does UEFA really imagine the referee team will speak English when 7/8 are Spanish? As 3rd VAR, just throw in another Spanish referee and simplify everyone's job.

    Or is he there as reserve referee?

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  16. Warm congratulations to both officials and their teams, the work they've done the last years justified these appointments.

    I'm particularly pleased to see Mateu, the man deserves it, and the time has finally come for a Spanish referee to get the opportunity to whistle CL final. In the previous decade, refs like Undiano Mallenco or Velasco Carballo were logical candidates to handle a CL final, around 2009-2012 and 2014-2016 when they were at their peak. While they respectively handled 2019 UNL final and 2011 EL final, they were ruled out almost entirely because of Spanish teams in finals. A shame, because they were fully able to handle one IMO. So Mateu will be the one to represent Spanish refereeing in CL final for the first time in a while.

    About EL, always a satisfaction to read the name of a countryman, and Turpin has also got his chance this year. He has been a rising star at the beginning of his career, promoted in French first division at only 26yo. Then he struggled internationally, having some very poor games like Feyenoord-Roma, being selected for Euro 2016 to have a French name at the tournament and being deservedly sent home after two under-average performances in group stage.
    Then he showed some remarkable development in 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons, being one of the most reliable UEFA officials, and having a good WC.
    He is the most serious French candidate to handle CL final in the next years, as the competition didn't witness its final handled by an official from France since 2001 with Gilles Veissière (IIRC).

    Best of luck to Turpin and Mateu for the most important games of their life!

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    1. Last French referee in CL final was Michel Vautrot in 1986. Gilles Veissière in 2001 was in EL final.

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    2. Thanks for the correction, I checked again and you are right. I can't believe Quiniou hasn't handled one by the way.
      So French refereeing is waiting for 35(!) years already...
      I hope Turpin will end this waiting soon :D

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    3. I would humbly suggest that neither Undiano Mallenco nor Velasco Carballo were ever good enough to seriously be considered for the UCL Final.

      There were opportunities. Webb and Proenca got matches without a Spanish team. Undiano Mallenco was not at that level. He could be very good. And I actually thought he got better much later in his carrer. But there was always the distinct possibility of him overreacting with cards and I don't think that's something UEFA wanted in a Final.

      As for Velasco Carballo, sure Spanish teams were a roadblock to the era where he could have been considered. But did he deserve it over Kuipers, Cakir or Clattenburg? Also, his star sort of waned after WC14. I know he got the 2011 EL Final, sort of out of nowhere. But it wasn't exactly a metoeric ride after that.

      I don't think we should diminish Mateu's accomplishment by talking about how "a Spaniard" deserved it after so much time. The simple truth is that HE deserves it. He's been the best Spanish referee in the upper echelons of UEFA in a long time.

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    4. What about luis Medina he didn't referee ucl final ?

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    5. @usaref I understand your point, and I don't criticize or diminish Mateu's achievement: this is only meritocracy, for sure.

      I must be clear and status that Undiano and Velasco were in Elite in a generation of fantastic refs: Webb, Proenca, Rizzoli, Cakir, Kuipers, Clatts, and so on.
      The aforementioned name were more talented officials and deservedly handled UCL final over them, no doubts.

      My point is that were the Spaniards could have been considered as options, Spanish teams were a problem at the time. IMHO, if the Spanish football weren't that dominant in UEFA competitions in the 2010s, one could've been in charge. But this isn't about rewriting history :)

      This is the reality of the CL: you can't reward all the referees who deserve this appointment. Not only about Spanish refs, for example I always thought Stark was CL final worthy. But he never got the call. Same goes to Rocchi, in the shadow of Rizzoli and being automatically 2nd Italian name. Rosetti was a fantastic referee who should've handled one in my book.
      You reward the officials who are the greatest of the greats, and sometimes in one year time you are at the peak due to a stellar rise (Proenca and Clatts got impressive 2011-2012 and 2015-2016 seasons and got both CL final/Euro final).
      The race to be selected is intense and in your career, you must be ready at the proper moment, because high level is a deadly environment: Kassai missed WC14 and WC18 due to some bad nights, but he was a fantastic referee, Rosetti stopped his career after an unfortunate game in WC2010, but he was one of the most talented referees I ever saw. Moen has been selected for WC2014 as reserve referee then totally disappeared, as a consequence of being pushed way too fast.

      For the two Spaniards, it has been similar stuff: Velasco was downgraded after a horrendous night in Brasil-Colombia in WC2014, Undiano has been pushed to WC2010 where he showed good performances, then was left over by Collina (who pushed strongly Velasco-ie 2011 EL final which Undiano should have handled instead IMO and then Velasco would've gotten EL final later-)and waited until 2019 and his tenth (!!) season in Elite to be rewarded with UNL final.

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    6. If Undiano would have not overreacted with cards (especially SYC to Klose) in that Germany-Serbia match at WC2010, he would have achieved more internationally. FIFA did not like that and, as soon as WC2010 was over, they moved to the next Spanish referee, which was Velasco at that time.

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    7. I dont think Velasco or Undiano were ever at CL final level tbh. Brasil-Colombia wasnt Velascos only terrible night after all. His EURO 2012 opener was a Total mess as well... for me Velasco was a mediocre ref (good elite at his good nights, but too many messy performances) and he still got an EL final after all. Compared to some refs who didnt get any UEL/UCL final and were way better...(De Bleeckere comes to my mind) Velasco got even more than deserved.... and Undiano in the end did get recognition as well with an UNL final. Mateu IMO is more consistantly at top level than the 2 Spaniards mentioned before (like his unique style or not but mostly it works) and his designation is totally on merit. Congrats!

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    8. Agree with the last @anonymous here.

      And to underscore the point, I guess, about how subjective these things can be. I don't think Stark was anywhere near what was required for a UCL Final. I always have thought of him as the best German official between two eras where there was one very good (Merk) and one excellent (Brych) top German officials. That didn't make Stark great. It just made him the best German.

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  17. Expected appointments, I think nobody is surprised. Congratulations to all officials appointed. Everything was already said on Lahoz and Turpin nothing to add.
    But one must stress that great season is also behind Slavko Vincic. In last matchday of group stage decisive match Inter-Shakhtar. In the same year debut and then also quarter final appointment in Champions League knock-out faze, Europa League semi final, EURO invitation and now appointment in Europa league final as fourth official.

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  18. Congratulations and best wishes to both referee!

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  19. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Sorry, but we will be consistently taking action against comments like these with little or negative value to the blog discussion, thanks.

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  20. Maybe one day we'll have VAR in Scotland to avoid this kind of howler by a FIFA AR in an important game (1st leg of a play-off semi to get into Scotland's top division).

    https://twitter.com/joshdchambers/status/1392563640495116290

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    1. For some reason, Scottish ARs were never at the level of the Scottish referees...

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    2. Wishfull thinking Michael, only chance is if one of the big two loose on a decision as bad as that one

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  21. Congratulation to all officials appointed. Fully deserved.

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  22. OT: Dr.Felix Brych whistles the DFB-Cup Final today evening at 20:45 between RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund.
    This will be his 2nd final six years after his first final in 2015 between Borussia Dortmund and VfL Wolfsburg.
    So also in Germany they broke the "one final per referee" rule, after they have done it in England just twice with Anthony Taylor last year and Michael Oliver this year.

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    1. Actually that rule (one final per referee) did never exist in Germany. Many referees had two or even three cup finals; I'd like to point out the two recent exampels:
      Herbert Fandel 2004 & 2006
      Florian Meyer 2005 & 2014!

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  23. Should have been Cakir for EL final.

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    1. Why? Cakir lost motivations, he is not like before. Turpin deserved it.

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    2. Bgymn - these are the sort of comments which are in danger of being deleted by us, having stated no reason at all for your supposition.

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    3. Mikael doesn’t allow people to have their own opinion, nothing new.

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    4. In this heavy-handed moderating really necessary? It's not a debating class-level comment, true, but at least it starts a discussion. I would agree with you if the Bgymn talked about Turpin being "one referee bad" ;-)

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    5. Oh and btw - I (anon 14:07) fully support moderating this kind of personal whinging above.

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    6. I really applaud the change of admins' approach. People want the old analytical face of the blog and not the kindergarten we experience last months. Well done!

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    7. I fully agree with you, Anonymous 14:07 / 14:08.

      I will leave the Furqan Miah comment up and let people decide for themselves if I'm just a volunteer who wants to provide the best possible service for our users and do everything to avoid a repeat of WC 2018 on here which demotivated many people (myself included) greatly, or if actually I can't tolerate any other opinion that contradicts my own.

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  24. Who the best referee in spain last 2 decade mejuto or Medina or mallenco or carballo or lahoz or del cerro ?

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    1. I did not follow Spanish referee until around 2008, IMO Mallenco was not as good as Del Cerro and Lahoz, but he is better than Carballo. I just do not like how he was being crazy about showing cards. In 2010 WC, he was doing ok, although I think sending off Klose was unnecessary. Carballo in 2014 World Cup was bad, especially in Brazil-Columbia. Probably this was one of the most terrible referee performances in WC. Lastly, Lahoz is better than Del Cerro. This is why he gets CL final this year. Definitely deserved for this man.

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    2. Español
      Inglés
      Velasco Carballo mostraba muchas tarjetas en España, lo del mundial fue debido a las órdenes que dieron a los árbitros, él no arbitraba así. Velasco fue un gran árbitro, muy respetado en La Liga. Undiano no brilló tanto en Europa, pero en España fue excelente durante muchos años. Mejuto, por el contrario, brilló más internacionalmente que en España. Era muy talentoso. Lo que no me gustaba de él era que le costaba tomar decisiones importantes, sobre todo expulsiones. Medina, por último, fue un árbitro serio y elegante. En Europa solo le fue bien en su última temporada. Otro gran árbitro fue Iturralde González. Creo q mereció mucho más.
      Velasco Carballo showed many cards in Spain, the World Cup was due to the orders they gave to the referees, he did not referee like that. Velasco was a great referee, highly respected in La Liga. Undiano did not shine as much in Europe, but in Spain he was excellent for many years. Mejuto, on the other hand, shone more internationally than in Spain. He was very talented. What I didn't like about him was that he had a hard time making important decisions, especially expulsions. Finally, Medina was a serious and elegant referee. In Europe he only did well in his last season. Another great referee was Iturralde González. I think he deserved a lot more.

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  25. German Cup Final (DFB-Pokal)
    Berlin 13th May 20:45

    Ref: Felix Brych
    AR1: Mark Borsch
    AR2: Stefan Lupp
    4th: Sascha Stegemann
    VAR: Günter Perl
    AVAR: Markus Häcker

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  26. CLEMENT TURPIN'S ROAD TO GDANSK 2021

    22.09.20 UCL Krasnodar - PAOK Thessaloniki
    08.10.20 ECQ Slovakia - Republic of Ireland
    20.10.20 UCL Lazio - Borussia Dortmund
    03.11.20 UCL Real Madrid - Internazionale Milano
    15.11.20 UNL Italy - Poland
    01.12.20 UCL Club Atletico de Madrid - Bayern Munchen
    25.02.21 UEL PSV Eindhoven - Olympiakos
    10.03.21 UCL Liverpool - Leipzig
    28.03.21 WCQ Romania - Germany
    13.04.21 UCL Chelsea - Porto


    ANTONIO MIGUEL MATEU LAHOZ' ROAD TO PORTO 2021

    29.09.20 UCL Omonia Nicosia - Olympiakos
    08.10.20 ECQ Bosnia and Herzegovina - Northern Ireland
    20.10.20 UCL Paris Saint-Germain - Manchester United
    03.11.20 UCL Porto - Olympique de Marseille
    12.11.20 ECQ Serbia - Scotland
    02.12.20 UCL Borussia Dortmund - Lazio
    08.12.20 UCL Leipzig - Manchester United
    18.02.21 UEL Young Boys Bern - Bayer Leverkusen
    18.03.21 UEL Shakhtar Donetsk - Roma
    24.03.21 WCQ Slovenia - Croatia
    07.04.21 UCL Bayern Munchen - Paris Saint-Germain


    Links with video clips of these games follow in the next days!

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  27. In the Eredivisie game Ajax - VVV, microphones registered a player of VVV saying "In the streets, I would kill you my friend" against his opponent after arguing with each other. Higler, who stood right next to the player when he said it, didn't give a card. Do you think there is any ground for a RC (maybe after VAR intervention) for such comments? Or should a (mandatory) YC be enough?

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    1. In my opinion, player who said that should have been arrested.

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    2. https://twitter.com/espnnl/status/1392888353822068736?s=21

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  28. very good performance by brych and his team in the german cup final. one VAR intervention was necessairy to allow a goal after a wrong offside call. brych himself gave a very good advantage that led to the goal. generally he acted very calmly, showed cards when needed and was in full control. very well done! he definitely seems to referee on his peak now.

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    1. He has been at his peak in 2020-21.

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    2. I agree: Strong performance by Brych, who once again hadxa high level of acceptance and kept the control throughout the whole match.
      Especially the scene before halftime showed his great awareness, including a good advantage, a delayed flag and whistle after a wrong offside call by Mark Borsch (difficult to see), a good delayed YC for the foul leading to the advantage and a very fast and effective VAR correction by Günter Perl that allowed the goal.
      Well done!

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  29. OVIDIU ALIN HATEGAN will be the referee of tomorrow's ANORTHOSIS AMMOCHOSTOU - OLYMPIAKOS LEFKOSIAS final of Cypriot Cup. PAWEŁ GIL will be the video assistant referee.

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  30. Hence, so far for the Nation Cup final, we have:

    CYPRUS: O. HATEGAN (Romania)
    ENGLAND: M. OLIVER
    FRANCE: F. LETEXIER
    GERMANY: F. BRYCH
    SPAIN: X. EXTRADA FERNANDEZ (correct ?)

    I would appreciate if we could create a table including all european countries

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    1. AUSTRIA: W. ALTMANN
      BELGIUM: B. VAN DRIESSCHE
      DENMARK: M. KROGH
      KOSOVO: G. NUZA
      NETHERLANDS: B. KUIPERS
      POLAND: P. GIL
      RUSSIA: S. IVANOV
      SAN MARINO: L. BARBENO
      SPAIN 19/20: X. ESTRADA FERNANDEZ
      SPAIN 20/21: J. MARTINEZ MUNUERA
      UKRAINE: Y. IVANOV

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    2. Finland: O. Hämäläinen

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  31. BENOIT MILLOT will be the referee of tomorrow's ARARAT YEREVAN - ALASHKERT final of Armenian Cup.

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  32. Luca Pairetto will be the referee of Roma - Lazio derby. Prestigious appointment for the non-FIFA referee who risked being demoted last year for his nightmare performances, but this year had an incredible growth with excellent performances. This will be the second Serie A big match in his career, although the two teams have no objectives in terms of standings.

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    1. SS Lazio can still qualify for CL, they have also a game to be played, postponed for COVID issues, still very difficult to manage the qualification to fourth place, but we must mention that. The game is not 100% meaningless, but surely this factors helped in allowing this appointment.
      We have then Calvarese in the other sonorous match, Juventus - Inter, important only for Juventus for CL qualification (they must win and they must hope that other teams lose their games).
      In this context, if the news for Pairetto is excellent, given that indeed he was about to be dismissed some years ago and now he looks to be a very different referee, I want to point out that a name like Massa, among FIFA Italian referees, never managed to make the step to officiate a game like Juventus - Inter or Rome's derby. This was a very big chance for him, but still nothing, he will officiate Milan - Cagliari.
      I must say that the international ranking, with Massa slightly behind Elite Category and highly ranked Category 1 referee, doesn't find application within national borders. Logically, one should have expected him officiating this game, before a name like Pairetto. Rizzoli likes to make appointments based on the current form of referees, matchday after matchday.
      Two final remarks: Doveri and Mazzoleni still out after Benevento - Cagliari, very harsh punishment for both, and then Wednesday we will have Coppa Italia final. A name could be Guida, we will see.

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  33. OT

    Pawel Gil (POL) is VAR on 2 different leagues this weekend. Tomorrow will act as VAR on the Cypriot Cup Final (Ref is Hategan) and on Sunday his will act as VAR on the Greek SL match Panathinaikos - Olympiakos (Ref is Ekberg).

    Given that the SL match has no interesting on the final standings, I do wonder if Clattenburg could have avoided this appointment.....

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    1. to the followers of this blog: can anyone give numbers/percentage, how many matches of the 182 matches in regular season of Greek Super League were refereed/var-ed by foreign referees/vars? will be interesting to see how these numbers will develop. I think that Clattenburg's job is on the long run to bring back Greek referees. This will take time for sure. From the FIFA-refs I have the following numbers:
      -sidiropoulos: 12
      -diamtopoulos: 13
      -fotias: 11
      -papadopoulos: 14
      -papatreou: 10
      -skoulas: 6 (?)
      -Tzilos: 10
      so at least the Greek FIFA-refs have made 76/182 matches. I think that is a good sign. What do you guys think?

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    2. The foreign referees in Greece have 40 matches. But all of them include the 1st 5 teams of the league.

      Bebek has the most appointment (4) followed by Kulbakou and Peljto (3). Dabanovic, Treimanis and Aghayev with 2.
      Then we have a group of 24 referees with 1 appointment.

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  34. Here we go! First games of Clement Turpin and Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz this UEFA season.

    22.09.2020
    UEFA Champions League - Play-off Round (first leg)
    FC Krasnodar (RUS) - PAOK Thessaloniki (GRE)
    Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)

    Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
    Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Haquette (FRA)
    Fourth Official: Frank Schneider (FRA)
    Video Assistant Referee: Willy Delajod (FRA)
    Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jeremie Pignard (FRA)
    UEFA Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)

    https://fromsmash.com/200922-UCL-KrasnodarPAOKThessaloniki


    29.09.2020
    UEFA Champions League - Play-off Round (second leg)
    Omonia Lefkosias (CYP) - Olympiakos Pireos (GRE)
    Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (ESP)

    Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrian Devis (ESP)
    Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Diaz Perez del Palomar (ESP)
    Fourth Official: Jose Luis Munuera Montero (ESP)
    Video Assistant Referee: Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez (ESP)
    Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (ESP)
    UEFA Referee Observer: Alain Hamer (LUX)

    https://fromsmash.com/200929-UCL-OmoniaLefkosiasOlympiakosPireos

    ReplyDelete
  35. KRA vs. PAOK 42' is actually an interesting situation. In midfield a foul seems like a good spot, but would you give a PK for that? (and if yes, also in an important cup game?)

    ReplyDelete
  36. OT: IMO extremely interesting and debatable situation in Croatian league, Istra-Lokomotiva, Ivan Bebek was the referee. Indirect free kick was whistled for gk touching the ball outside the box.

    https://streamable.com/n3w0xe

    Imediately after that, there was a correct pk for handball, so this situation might turn out to be crucial for deciding which club will be relegated.

    Your opinion?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wrong restart, should've been dfk

      Delete
    2. Decision was direct free kick

      Delete
    3. To be honest, I'm not sure if the ball was outside penalty area at the time the goalkeeper touched it (timer 0.19 on the clip)

      Delete
    4. I must correct Forlan, it wqs direct free kick for gk touching the balk outside the box, not indirect. But problem is that, based on available videos, gk did not touch the ball outside the box. And then we have that penalty, it was correct, but free kick before that was IMO wrong....

      Delete
    5. It's impossible to determine with 100% certainty whether the decision was correct, but what worries me about this call is that Bebek can't be sure either from his position.

      The goalkeeper shields where is ball, and Bebek is positioned too rightwards to say with any confidence whether the goalkeeper handles outside. See:

      https://imgur.com/a/Nd4rWr4

      I actually like Bebek very much and would sooner have him in Elite than quite a few who are currently there, he has own style with personality and is a real leader in his games. He was very unlucky to be demoted in Summer 2016 if you ask me.

      However, the theme I noted with him throughout his career is that in a tricky situation, he often decides for the more courageous option - which isn't bad of itself(!) - but that hasn't been helpful for him over the years.

      I think the same is true here, it's a but of a messy situation which needs an instant decision. With clear gestures, giving the signal "we go on!", would anyone really have cared about this scene in the end? I doubt it, to be honest.

      It is also worth stating though: Bebek didn't do the idiotic handling in the penalty area himself, which was a clearly correct penalty (https://youtu.be/ZQt9ctbFZXo?t=86).

      Two more notes -
      1) nice to see Rođak-Karšić and Martinčić, the duo would be a good choice for UEFA men's games IMO!
      2) with no relegation playoff, it seems logical that Istra would be relegated directly :P

      Delete
    6. I agree with Mikael here, Bebek was very unlucky to be demoted from elite. And everything started by that non-existing penalty in Real-Shakhtar. Maybe not publicaly known but within refereeing community we all know that penalty was whistled after additional AR and 4th official input, Bebek originaly never wanted to whistle that penalty, but believed his assistants.
      Nevertheless, I think Bebek is best Croatian referee ever.

      Delete
    7. Regarding Martincic, I think and hope shi could have her First League debut maybe in the last round next weekend or in the next season. She deserved it, very good referee what I have seen.

      Delete
    8. Referee 12, thank you for that explanation about the AR and FO influence at PK. That shows again why Makkelie and Hategan had to replace one of their ARs, so they do not end up like Bebek and Kassai paying for their teammates' errors.

      Delete
    9. Mikael: I have observed the same thing: in not very clear situations, Bebek always chose the most serious punishment. That was very unwise for his career at a time when the trend is clearly to manage rather than punish. He should have realized that and change his approach to save his UEFA career, but, for some reason, he is still continuing that way and it is not helping him to be again in the spotlight.

      Delete
    10. Well, regarding Martincic, I am not sure if she has the quality, but she does deserve a chance soon to proove me wrong :)

      And regarding Bebek, he is a natural talent and great manager on the field, but he makes inexplicable mistakes a little bit too often for a top class referee. I can say only for last 5-6 years period, but I think in their best form there have been some other referees in Croatia with top-class intuition in borderline situations, while he was never so convincing in that context IMO. Based on recent seasons, I would bet on Strukan to have the best career, exactly for that reason. Jovic (and his team, tbh) showed the same type of flaws recently (last round with one wrong and one missed PK for example)

      Delete
    11. Bebek "insulted" Kyros Vassaras who did not forgive him. It's dearly cost Bebek... History... 😉

      Delete
  37. As I can see from the video,ball is on the line but left part of the ball is maybe outside the box, and left hand of the GK is touching that part of the ball. However, I can't say from the video is this correct or wrong decision, and in that case I don't see mistake there.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Why frank de bleeckere and roberto Rossetti didn't referee ucl final in their career ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who is Roberto RoSSetti?

      Delete
    2. Rosetti handled the EURO 2008 final after just 14 UCL appearances. In 2009, Busacca was the more experienced candidate and in 2010, FC Internazionale Milano reached the final. After the WC 2010, Rosetti finished his international career at the age of 43.

      I am pretty sure that also Anders Frisk would have handled a UCL final unless he had resigned in 2005 for the known reasons.

      Delete
    3. And what about frank de bleeckere ?

      Delete
  39. Italian ex-referee Roberto Rossetti now he is chair man of uefa referees committee

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who is Roberto RoSSetti?

      Delete
    2. I didn't think it was excellent as in my opinion made one big mistake by allowing Tielemans goal to stand.
      Unless he didn't see the incident and VAR ignored the fact of hand in unnatural position.
      Overall Oliver had a really good performance

      Delete
  40. Excellent performance by Oliver in Fa cup final!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good, expected level on a Normal difficulty match.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

      Delete
    3. I considered you better Jackson, than to actively get engaged in the poor and pathetic Oliver vs Taylor polemic going on on this blog. A pity…

      Delete
  41. This is a prime example of the toxic nature of this platform. Just because I said Oliver is better than Taylor my comment gets deleted.

    Mikael doesn’t allow people to have their own opinion, it absolutely kills her inside that people think differently to her. There is no need to agree with me but to disregard and disrespect me?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Come on, Furqan. You are neither able to contribute to this blog with surplus value at all, nor accept any kind of regulation forbidding your constant excessive blaming of referees, who you might see as "bad" or "poor".
      This blog however is about the passion of refereeing - not about invariable cheap propaganda against certain referees.
      You of course can criticize referee's performances, but your aim is obviously totally different.

      Delete
    2. Well said, Flip.

      I can't apologise for deleting comments with zero or negative value and trying to make the blog a better place for our (serious) readers, and I certainly won't apologise for deleting comments of a user who suggested that a certain referee got preferential treatment because he "sucked off" the refereeing leader.

      That's sick and disgusting - you should be absolutely ashamed of yourself.

      Delete
    3. A few years ago and on the old blog we had the Mazic fan club. We don't need a new one now.

      Delete
  42. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As you obviously don't understand my first comment, I will translate it to a colloquial language that you might understand better:
      Shut Up! :)

      Delete
    2. Furqan Miah, you should stop now. Enough is enough. I absolutely agree with Mikael and all his decisions against your comments.
      You are using unacceptable words against him. This blog has different aims. I hope not to read you again, we will not miss you. Thanks.

      Delete
  43. Good performance to me of Davide Massa in the Italy Cup final; one penalty claimed by Atalanta was really a border line situation, probably the defender crashed against Atalanta's player even if he touched the ball. very difficult to decide. Good overall management; cads were issues properly too. As soon as match started to become nervous, he immediately stop it with a couple of yellow cards. What do you think ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. Good Massa Yesterday. Always in full Control of the match. I Just think foul given For Atalanta would may have been the better decision (foul by cuardardo on gosens) but Play on also supportable

      Delete
  44. Who were candidates from Africa for wc 2002?

    ReplyDelete
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