Sunday 5 June 2022

2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers - Referee appointments for UEFA Play-Offs (Postponed Games)

The last two games of UEFA Play-Offs for 2022 WC Qualification. 

UEFA Playoffs for WC 2022

Pot A

Semifinal

01.06.22 20:45 CET
Hampden Park, Glasgow (SCO) 
SCOTLAND - UKRAINE
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Hessel Steegstra (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan de Vries (NED)
Fourth Official: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED)
Video Assistant Referee: Pol Van Boekel (NED)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Jochem Kamphuis (NED)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Francesco Bianchi (SUI) 
FIFA Match Commissioner: Per Svärd (SWE)

Final

05.06.22 18:00 CET
Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff (WAL) 
WALES - UKRAINE
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahioz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devís (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto del Palomar (ESP)
Fourth Official: Carlos del Cerro Grande (ESP) 
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ricardo de Burgos (ESP)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Pascal Pierre Garibian (FRA) 
FIFA Match Commissioner: Jānis Mežeckis (LVA)

176 comments:

  1. Prediction for the final, given the selection of Mateu for WC, for me he will be in charge in Wales.

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    1. Spainish referee lahoz will referee the final Wales Vs Ukraine

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    2. Mateu Lahoz would be a good and logical choice.

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  2. No play-offs games for the Spanish referees so far. The PO final must be the experienced Mateu Lahoz?
    This is either an emotional Ukraine versus Wales or a full British clash. Mateu Lahoz knows how to deal with that. He’d be a good choice. Has experience with British clashes (CL, EURO), derby’s and classico’s. His social style works perfectly. I remember he hugged(?) one of the players during INT-LIV this season… I’m not a big fan of that, but to honest, a game that involves Ukraine doesn’t require a distanced ref. More a sensitive, interacting, social, and at the same time NEUTRAL ref. The humanic approach. A ref who pats players on the back. A managing ref who keep things calm.

    Makkelie again with a tensed, emotional occasion. No surprise. One of the coolest heads around. He officiated Dutch derby’s, Classico, Cup final with ease. I think, he also has that social, interacting skills. He deserved a final after his displays in R16 CL and SF CL. The choice for a Spaniard is a rather political one, after they missed out so matches because of the Spanish teams in tournament. Anyway, sensible choices. Good luck to both their teams!

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  3. Ziraat Türkiye Kupasi
    26.05.2022
    Referee: Halil Umut Meler
    Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Emre Eyisoy
    Assistant Referee 2: Ibrahim Cağlar Uyarcan

    First final for Halil Umut Meler.

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  4. Friendly games in June

    Wednesday 1 June 2022 19:00 National Stadium Ta' Qali (MLT)
    Malta-Venezuela
    Referee: Kristo Tohver (EST)
    Assistant referee 1 : Silver Koiv (EST)
    Assistant referee 2 : Sten Klaasen (EST)
    Fourth official: Trustin Farrugia Cann (MLT)

    Thursday 9 June 2022 20:45 San Marino Stadium, Serravalle (SMR)
    San Marino-Iceland
    Referee: Michael Fabbri (ITA)
    Assistant referee 1 : Giovanni Baccini (ITA)
    Assistant referee 2 : Marco Bresmes (ITA)
    Fourth official: Luca Zani (SMR)

    Monday 13 June 2022 18:00 Arena Kombëtare, Tirana (ALB)
    Albania-Estonia
    Referee: Philip Farrugia (MLT)
    Assistant referee 1 : Alan Camilleri (MLT)
    Assistant referee 2 : Jurgen Spiteri (MLT)
    Fourth official: Eldorjan Hamiti (ALB)

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  5. Why Belgium excellent ex- referee frank de bleekere didn't referee ucl final?

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    1. More disturbing: Anders Frisk, referee of the 2000 European Championship Final between France and Italy, has never refereed a Champions League Final or another European Cup Final...

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    2. For Anders Frisk didn't he retire too soon?

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    3. For me Frisk was one of the best European refs in history. Some managers called him arrogant, but players did not. He had a brilliant line, letting the game flow, but intervening harshly, if necessary. Felix Brych often reminded me to Frisk. When he was under attack so badly, Frisk missed support by UEFA. HE stopped refereeing, because he wanted to protect his family from living in constant fear of being attacked or losing their beloved father and husband. The situation was REALLY dangerous. It was a big shame for football in Europe, maybe the biggest in history concerning referees and football-culture/fairplay.

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  6. Frisk sadly enough after some serious threaths from Chelsea fans at his home adress in Sweden, and a following incident in in the next season As Roma-Kiev ( Frisk got struck by an object thrown from the stands) descided to retire early, he was 41 that moment, and probably one off the best referees of the world that moment. One of my favorite referees ever, together with Markus Merk

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    1. Yes, Frisk had great acceptance by the players, made brave decisions and had been selected for EC 1996, 2000 and 2004 and WC 2002. Nowadays such an excellent referee would have gotten a CL final during this long period at Elite level (10 years) without doubt. Due to Mourinho’s false allegations he received death threats of Chelsea “fans”. In 2005 he decided to retire at the age of 42.

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    2. If i'm not wrong also Rosetti got "only" the final of EURO2008 and not a UCL or UEL final

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    3. Yes Rossetti refereef only Euro 2008 final

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  7. OT: I watched Daniel Siebert in the play-off match for 2nd/3rd division in Germany yesterday and I have to say he was excellent. The match was very difficult, lots of emotions and many tackles. He was very concentrated from the beginning, good foul detection and knew exactly when he had to slow the game down. All of these were clear strengths of his we've all seen during EURO 2020 and to me it showed why UEFA (despite the obvious political reasons) have such a big trust in him. But what's also clear to me is that he can only achieve these types of performances when he's allowed to referee the way it works best for him. If he has to follow UEFA's guideline from this years winter course... Well we've seen how his performances were then.

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    1. +1, Siebert is good when he can follow his clear, maybe more Merk- than "modern style" - oriented line.

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  8. https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/protecting-the-game/news/0275-153851958c83-3a1b008ba484-1000--heady-times-for-tirana-final-referee-kovacs/

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  9. Is Turpin not whistling any matches 2 weeks before the final?
    Sounds like a good rest and away from spotlight, but keeping the match rhythm is also extremely important .

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  10. So FIFA released the list of Officials for the Women U-20 World Cup In August, and for the first time, all Video Assistant referee as well as all AVAR are all Women.

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  11. I'm not an anti-feminist but I wonder why female referees are "forced" to referee in the men's World Cup, even though they are only 4th official (most likely), doesn't a young referee like Jovanovic or Kabakov, or anyone else deserve the same opportunity without "gender discrimination", I hope that female referees really only becomes the 4th official, because if Collina chooses to use a female referee to be the middle referee it is very unfair and discriminatory just for the sake of pseudo historical records, as I know the best female referee like Frappart is still level Category 1 in UEFA, it's ridiculous that a category 1 referee can lead a game at the World Cup, isn't very unfair for referee like Kabakov who is also a candidate and his status also still in category 1? Here it is very clear that political agenda has put too much pressure and influence on the main essence of football, including the values ​​of maintaining quality, justice and does not create double standards on the basis of pseudo gender equality.

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    1. I just want to know any opinion about that topic

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    2. Everything you said is 100% correct.

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    3. Unfortunately political pressure for equity has taken over the beautiful game.

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    4. Equity would be when women ref men's games and men ref women's matches at the same level of competition, but it is not happening...

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    5. Before publish of list of referees For WC i have read peoples opinions where there is a change in list not as expected! That list is also suprised me a lot. So if you can clarify...
      1. Why there two referee from same nation? If performance is the key word for selection, so there should have been only 1-2 from Africa.
      2. That is the best tournament of football. So why there quota system? Despite their lack of capability, depth, control(can see Africa's Nations cup) they got chance above there European counterpart.
      3. There is women world cup and tournament. So was that necessary to take women refree by excluding deserved ones like Del Cerro, Dias, Jovanovic only for watching the tournament as fourth official or they have more depth, control or the necessity they need to officiates the game?

      I have also felt that politics is a huge part in our life.

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    6. When you want the best referees at the WorldCup this is not a logical choice. It is clearly political.
      Personally I also think it is 'gender discrimination'. I don't think that any men wil officiate a game at a Women WorldCup.

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  12. Still, two days before, UEFA has not published the names for these two games.

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    1. I don’t think the ref in Scotland is Makkelie…

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    2. His AR has stated that he is a few weeks off.
      Now I understand why they did the promotion match last Sunday.

      https://www.omropfryslan.nl/nl/nieuws/1152580/friese-assistent-scheidsrechter-bekogeld-zoiets-heb-ik-nog-nooit-meegemaakt

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  13. A few days ago, I was thinking that they may had to replace Gozubuyuk as 4th official. He was not in charge of any SF-F play-off which is a bit weird for a Elite referee. I am assuming that he is either punished they have at least some internal disagreements: KNVB unhappy with Gozubuyuk not giving any clarification to PSV and Gozubuyuk unhappy with KNVB’s statement to the media.

    Apparently they changed the whole team.
    If UEFA are smart, they appoint a referee that is not going to the WC. This match is extremely sensitive.

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  14. Sorry, I miss something. Is Makkelie removed from Wales-Ukraine ? No more the referee of this match ? Do you know why ? I know that WC referees will attend a course in Madrid but it is scheduled on June 11th

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    1. @F:
      It hasn’t been announced. I did some research and noticed a few things:
      - KNVB removed the appointment from their website.
      - Dutch Telegraph awarded the ‘Golden card’ (best referee award) to Makkelie on 17 May and in the article on the website, it was stated that Makkelie would do the play-off SF in Scotland. And guess what, this sentence has been removed from that article.

      Makkelie and team did a very tensed promotion match last Sunday evening. Honestly, I have some doubts whether (or not) this is a good preparation for a SF PO?

      I think we will see a referee team that is not selected for the WC.

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    2. Or FIFA was not happy with the early announcement?

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    3. https://www.knvb.nl/nieuws/scheidsrechters/aanstellingen/66231/makkelie-fluit-play-voor-wk-tussen-schotland-en-oekra%C3%AFne

      I still can find the article though

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    4. He and Steegstra now have a few weeks off and then have to go to Spain on June 21. There they attend a seminar in preparation for the World Cup where they are going with referee Makkelie.

      Interesting

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    5. Can confirm Makkelie is the man in charge at Hamden park

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  15. Course in Madrid on 20 - 22 june

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  16. Well, at least, it is a bit strange(?) that uefa still did not announce the referee team

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    1. I can try an explanation, since the game was postponed and it was originally planned on last March, maybe something in the system went wrong and they can't update. Otherwise, can't find other explanations, all informations are missing, observers and other officials as well, the press kist is almost empty. I think just a poor management and nothing more.

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    2. I read the article above and it states that his AR has vacation until 21 June. Interesting.

      Then, I decided to listen the podcast (very interesting!) which is in Frisian and as a Dutch person I could not understand everything. It is a different language, so like German, I could understood 75/100. His AR did not state that he is free until 21 June. He literally said that the season is very long, he will re-watch Sunday’s PO-game, then recover, and that he has some vacation “in between”. He did not state that they are off until 21 June. Let’s see tomorrow.

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  17. Very tensed days for Danny Makkelie and his team. I hope they had a good recovery after Sunday’s play-off match between ADO-Excelsior. This was one of the weirdest matches I have seen this year.

    To sum up: a crazy scoreline, red cards, a disallowed goal and one of coaches being a very bad imitation of Diego Simeone. Furthermore, in the first halve, the game was shortly abandoned when supporters threw lighters and bottles to Makkelie’s AR, after a PK was awarded to Excelsior (away team), which was missed btw. In the 2nd halve, the home team (ADO) was leading 3-0. After the 80th minute, supporters from the home team already left their seats, waiting on/behind the boardings for a pitch invasion, to celebrate the promotion. However, Excelsior fought back to 3-3 in injury time, leading to +30 min extension time. The home crowd didn’t return to their seats and the away team didn’t feel safe. Makkelie decided after consultation with safety people and KNVB that they would not continue until all the supporters went back to their seats. He was even interviewed by reporters of ESPN before the extension time, which I guess, is only possible in the Netherlands. Ridiculous :)
    During the extension, the home team scored 4-3, but the away team fought back to 4-4. Finally, it ended with 16(!) penalty kicks. The home team missed the 16th penalty kick, which led to an aggressive pitch invasion, supporters from the home team freaking out, attacking the supporters of the away team. The players and referee team had to run off the pitch to the channel to not get hurt. Unbelievable. It was a horrible atmosphere.

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  18. Original appointment is back on the UEFA website.

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  19. Imaging being the referee for such a match, where the whole world is routing for Ukraine due to the ongoing war. Makkelie's job is to put that all aside for 90+ minutes and referee navy blue vs bright yellow. Good luck to him!

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  20. I'm really sorry that I can't watch this game, not aired in my country, given that there is Finalissima... I would be very interested in reading updates.

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  21. Very early YC for #9 Ukraine. Reckless tackle after the ball was played

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  22. Early booking for Ukraine for a reckless tackle in the 5th minute, Scotland probably should've gotten one as well in the 8th minute.

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    1. Now UKR #8 gets a yellow for a studs to calf chhallenge, definitely at least reckless. The glancing nature of the contact saves him from worse. We are only 11 minutes in and already this game has quite a lot of honest but very physical, hard-nosed play.

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    2. Especially given the lack of a caution for the 8' tackle, I am getting the sense that Makkelie does not really want to put himself in the spotlight early on by showing a lot of cards, but his hand was reluctantly forced by some of the challenges.

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    3. Yes, but especially in the context of the two other bookings, 8' is a clearly missing YC, I think.

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  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. I wouldn't use the word "not emotional," rather I think it is emotional but it is an honest game from both teams. So it's emotional but it's a different kind of emotion than you get in e.g. Latin America a lot.

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  24. Excellent onside by AR1 at the goal.

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  25. Correct YC for SCO9 for reckless use of arms

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    1. And he let the Ukraine player stay on the pitch after treatment which Ive never once seen a Premier League ref do.

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    2. Don't know about the Premier Leaugue, but from the LOTG: after a physical offence where the opponent is cautioned or sent off, an injured player can be quickly assessed/treated and then remain on the field of play.

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  26. Very bad challenge by SCO #7 in midfield. Makkelie definitely would have had the option to send him off for that lunge. He didn't make clear contact with his studs, otherwise Makkelie's hands would have been tied. Still, to me it feels more like SFP than reckless. Scotland playing very physically now.

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    1. both went in for that challenge and McGinn hardly caught him

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    2. McGinn was coming in with a lot of speed, lunging off the ground, and led with studs up on a straight leg. The only argument for no red card can be the lack of contact his foot makes.

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  27. Yaremchuk was reaaaally close to a de-iure 2YC in his goal celebration by approaching to the Ukrainian fans in the stands :D

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  28. Makkelie very card happy today

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    1. Calling a referee 'card happy' for 4 correct cards in a potentially tense match is really exaggerated imho.

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    2. The opposite in fact, he has been as lenient as he possibly could be.

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  29. Wow, Scotland equalize only barely as the ball just crosses the line. Flashback for Makkelie to Serbia - Portugal XD

    Is there goal line technology in this competition? If not that's a stellar call by Steegstra.

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    1. I'm pretty sure that was entirely the AR.

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    2. https://v.fodder.gg/v/0qbjz3 Too early decision for being the GLT, I notice that when referees use it, a certain time passes before the gesture of allowing the goal, so I think that it was indeed a decision by AR.

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    3. Very very difficult decision, brilliant the AR!!!

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    4. True Chefren also he doesn't look at his watch prior to making a decision, he looks at his AR.

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    5. Awesome call! The AR’s had a great night. 0-1 and 1-3 were also tight calls.

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    6. I don’t think the AR would make that call when there is the GLT. There is a clear instructions that GLT should be prioritized over the ARs decision because if it didn’t cross the line at the end of the day??? There is absolutely no sense in giving a call when technology will give it in 3 seconds time. Optimal solution was that AR saw it and said it but Makkelie would still have confirmed from his watch.

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    7. Excellent call by AR1. Ball 100% crossed te goal line!

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  30. We have seen an excellent referee team tonight who are not in the spotlights and performed very well under these circumstances.

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  31. Entertaining match. I liked Makkelie’s approach. Fierce and a bit more distanced than in other games I watched from him. Came across as very neutral, despite the difficult circumstances.
    I also liked that he showed those early yellow cards. We are not used to it anymore, but I think it really helped them to avoid that things became too rough.

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  32. It’s confirmed. There was NO GLT tonight. So excellent call by AR1! Makkelie will be very happy with Steegstra about this this close and correct call.

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  33. 2022/23 pre-season course for UEFA for top male referees in Frankfurt 27 to 29 july 2022:

    Elite:
    Oliver,Taylor, Mateu Lahoz, Del Cerro Grande, Gil Manzano, Turpin, Bastien, Letexier, Zwayer, Aytekin, Stieler, Siebert, Sidiropoulos, Grinfeeld, Massa, Orsato, Makkelie, Gozubuyuk, Marciniak, Dias, Hategan, Kovacs, Collum, Jovanovic, Kruzliak, Vinčić, Çakır, Meler

    First:
    Jorgji, Lechner, Weinberger, Aghayev, Visser, Lambrechts, Peljto, Kabakov, Jović, Strukan, Hernandez Hernandez, De Burgos Bengoechea, Brisard, Kruashvili, Stegemann, Reinshreiber, Guida, Di Bello, Rumsas, Treimanis, Dabanovic, Eskås, Raczkowski, Silva Pinheiro, Costa Verissimo, Petrescu, Fesnic, Beaton, Walsh, Glova, Jug, Obrenvic, Ekberg, Al-Hakim, Nyberg, Palabiyik

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    1. Also the omission of Sanchez, Kavanagh, Osmers and Mariani is / would be surprising.

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    2. Schärer too of course

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    3. some of the first group referees (Kavanagh, Osmers and others) are VAR at the Women Euro, maybe that will be the Tessin why they are not there

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    4. Kulbakov? Isn't Belarus unbanned?

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    5. @9:24: Yes, indeed, that explains all the missing names (except Schärer)

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    6. Women's Euro will end 10 days before that.
      Scharer is missing, but Hategan is on the list above. Does that mean that he is ready to return to the field?

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  34. @07:13 do you have a link?

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  35. Lig 1 Playoff final
    Promotion to the Süper Lig

    Referee: Halil Umut Meler
    Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Emre Eyisoy
    Assistant Referee 2: İbrahim Çağlar Uyarcan

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  36. Spainish referee lahoz will referee the final wales vs Ukraine

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    1. https://todaytimeslive.com/sports/51647.html

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    2. My prediction as well, but we have to wait for official confirmation by UEFA.

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    3. Dnt see why fifa/uefa put so much trust in him , there are better options

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  37. Confirmed by UEFA. Del Cerro 4th official.

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  38. Really unfair treatment for Del Cerro Grande. He would have deserved this WC play off in spite of Mateu, because he is not selected for WC

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    1. I agree. I expected him here.

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    2. IMO his UEFA Euro, and other international appointments after the EURO makes the treatment of CDCG at least "not unfair" He never really impressed internationally IMO.

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    3. Is it really unfair treatment though? He's got many chances to prove why he should be Spain's representative at the WC and didn't take them

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  39. So this year, all UEFA play-offs (+ the interconfederational ones) are handled by WC referees. This wasn't always the case before the last tournaments.
    Furthermore only Frappart and Kovacs don't get a play-off among the UEFA referees at the WC.

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  40. According to The Telegraph and Daily Mail, the Premier League is looking to bring Webb back to England. Is that realistic or just simple rumours?

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    1. I have heard this too. Apparently it is to replace Mike Riley in that role.

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    2. It is very possible because his wife Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb already works for them.

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    3. Hopefully he does replace him

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    4. Respectfully to Riley, it is about time PGMOL was under new management. I say this for a few reasons and there will be many others.

      Firstly, the way VAR has been and is still used in the EPL is frankly embarrassing, especially compared with other nations. This began with the refusal for OFR's, meaning on-field referees were blindly told to overturn decisions. For one year 'teething problems' were perhaps understandable. However, we still see huge inconsistencies with VAR, and the amount of times that apologies have been issued shows exactly the issue. As much as the English VAR's for UEFA games have struggled (Attwell comes to mind) and must take personal responsibility, they are not helped by their management back in the EPL. No English VAR for WC is fully correct but reflects awfully on Riley.

      Secondly, his management of appointments in the current group of EPL refs is terrible. The constant pushing of referees such as Tierney and Moss is ridiculous when they have demonstrated multiple times they are not capable of handling big games. Even worse, this season Harrington, Brooks and Salisbury were appointed yet refereed a combined total of 10 games (yes... COMBINED). I understand easing them in but how are they supposed to develop when they are not trusted, they must have very low confidence for the new season. It gives us no idea how good these referees actually are because it is impossible for them to find any form. Gillett was promoted too and did 9 games himself - more expected given his ex-FIFA history (on a side note I am excited for his future). Why not give more games to younger referees rather than always the same names? Also, imagine something happened to Taylor/Oliver, good luck to Riley on appointing for big games. As fantastic referees as they are, they are relied on almost every week for the biggest games.

      I believe there is so much potential within the group. The VAR needs addressing immediately, but also a big shake up for appointments. I would love a more even spread of appointments, let's test how good Hooper, Jones, Madley, England, Brooks, Coote etc really are as referees by allowing them to find form rather than having one game then a month on 4O duties. I am aware each league tends to have a smaller group who are given big games, but there is certainly an over reliance on the same names each time.

      Even if some things included may not be personal decisions of Riley, he must be responsible given his position. Moss and Dean have gone (I believe Atkinson too?), perhaps time for Riley to go with them.

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    5. I agree, Riley should join Moss, Dean and Atkinson is leaving. The worst part if Moss and Atkinson will be coaching the referees next season. Riley pushes Tierney too much giving in loads of big games which he cannot handle. Attwell cannot handle them either. Pawson and Kavanagh are decent and deserve a few more big games. More trust needs to be put on the promoted referees especially Gillett, rather than relying solely on Taylor and Oliver.

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  41. Penalty situation in Germany-Hungary U21 match. What is your opinion ?

    https://streamable.com/nfwxhe

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    1. This is never a penalty kick. I remember similar situation from CL or National match on UEFA. This must be VAR intervention.

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    2. Attacker committed a foul on defender. Step on foot. DFK in favour of defender

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    3. Never a penalty, the attacker puts his leg out to stand on the defender. Not sure if VAR was used otherwise that should be an intervention

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    4. No, no VAR in under 21. This is foul by attacker for me as well, but tricky penalty area situation for referee, who can be deceived. Don't know how much VAR could intervene, that's would be a big discussion, I think, but surely no penalty there.

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  42. Nice quiet start by the Spaniard!!

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  43. 2 yellows and a disallowed goal (because the resulting free kick was taken without his whistle) for in the first 3 minutes, wow

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  44. One can only hope that this will be the style and approach used by the referees at the upcoming World Cup. Early deserved cards given not "talked away" and no-nonsense/zero tolerance in dealing with dissent.

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  45. Is it only me finding Lahoz positionning very very central? I fell he’s always standing in the middle without moving much on the sides

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  46. How can this not be a PK?

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  47. was he offside?

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  48. Incredible that there was no OFR. Clear penalty.

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  49. Penalty not given is a disgrace!

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  50. That was an obvious penalty for me and VAR should've intervened imo

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    1. Can see why VAR didn't get involved but I think they should. Thats a foul. Outside the area that is given.

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  51. Only to be blamed is Var for taht,but IMO it would have been very soft penalty.

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  52. I've never been a fan of Martinez Munuera as VAR and here we can see why. I don't understand why he will be at WC with de Burgos while there are better VARs who aren't selected.

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  53. On Tv the compared this missed penalty with player Henry and referee Hanson. They don’t understand the not given penalty. They also say this can be the end for Lahoz at the WC.

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  54. I'm sure I am a minority but that is, again, an EXCELLENT no penalty call by Mateu (after Atalanta vs. Leverkusen). Yarmalenko's only intention is to be kicked, the contact is trifling, he falls of his own accord. Again, after ATALEV, it would have been 'easier' to decide in favour of (Rosetti's) Italy and their media, easier in favour of Ukraine, but Mateu stuck to his guns. And look at him LEADING the conversation with the VMOs, completely sure in his perception.

    The Spaniard is simply unmatched in his excellence! Chapeau.

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    1. I can see where you are coming from but just because he is looking for it doesn't mean you can just kick him. It's a foul as Yarmolenko got their first. I have never been a fan of Munuera either. I think he was VAR in the club world cup final between Liverpool and Flamengo and had a disaster as did the on field referee- also going to the world cup.

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    2. I see where you're coming from and I think after watching it again and looking at Lahoz body language I can support VAR not intervening. I first had the impression that Lahoz missed it completely and his gestures were just because of something that happened in the penalty area when the corner was being taken

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    3. This analysis is ridiculous. 50% of fouls come from players looking for the contact, that doesn’t mean it’s not a foul.

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    4. You should not decide in favour of Ukraine or Italy. You should just give penalties if they have to be given. Both of them are clear penalty. In both matches Mateu showed up his ego and his very poor management. Expecially in Bergamo where after that missed PK he started showing up YC to everybody. Very very very poor match management. Much more an actor than a ref

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  55. I had my doubts whether it is VAR stuff or not. For sure a careless movement, but he didn’t see the player coming and I’m not sure the contact would cause a fall. Rather unlucky. Never a 100% mistake, so no VAR-stuff for me.
    Reporters in my country are also arguing that it was a 100% PK, but to be honest they are not fully neutral (pro Ukraine).

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  56. Sorry Mikael.. I am shocked with your answer to this missed penalty. Normally I agree with your analysis, but now it’s just crazy. Even talking about an excellent decision is taking down your credibility.

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  57. Yellow card coach… Lahoz definitely not the right referee for this emotional game, not feeling the importance.

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    1. Who would be the right choice?

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  58. Just watched a short clip on twitter about the penalty appeal, I can say at first glance that it is the classic situation in which attacker is clever and he deliberately puts himself ahead of defender in order to be hit. Defender can't expect this action by attacker and he goes genuinely for the ball, without any clue that he will be about to hit opponent. However, in reality we have an attacker unfairly impeded by defender and that's should be enough for a whistle, and I think even for an OFR, but in regard to the arguiment I explained, I would fully agree with NO CALL. This wouldn't the first time that Mateu makes such a choice, it seems as he wants to whistle only very clear and genuine careless / reckless action by defender. However, I must say, VAR intervention was expected there, this discussion about the fairness of the penalty is rather on theoretical point of view.

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    1. Can you post the video ?

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    2. Yes surely, I'm downloading game right now.

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    3. Thank to Mikael, he anticipated me: https://v.fodder.gg/v/jm833s

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  59. I am very surprised that Spain has 3 VAR's going to the World Cup. Munuera and de burgos don't exactly have a great record. There are other better options.

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  60. Del Cerro would have been the better choice for this game and the WC. Lahoz is walking mostly, central positioning and not showing a motivated impression. And what he does all the time with the spray is a joke. By doing this he seems to get a YC in order to scare the players. Why you would take your spray for fouls on the midfield and touch lines?? It’s just a behaviour to avoid communication with players.

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    1. You must be friends with Del cerro. However, Del Cerro does not have the category to referee these matches and Mateu Lahoz is a much better referee and much more qualified for this kind of match and of course for a world championship.

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  61. I think generally in football there should probably be a discussion on how long an advantage can last. Personally, I really liked that delayed free kick when there was no clear advantage (82'), and would like to see more often a team not being punished for trying to play on

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  62. I would swab Del Cerro with Lahoz for the WC. Better management, better physical condition and less lenient.

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  63. Lahos must be out at any way

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  64. He as referee, not a president

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  65. Lahoz is a referee who has a strange style and one which I don't agree with and never have done. Every time I watch him he has is poor. I also didn't like the handshake with Bale

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    1. He is not an actor!!!!! He is referree. His strong desidgnion.withouot Var..
      Go home, spanian

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    2. Well, I prefer del Cerro for the WC too. That's true, that both of them had some problems on last EURO, but del Cerro stay to the end and Mateu went home after group stage because of a wrong (if not wrong, than very soft) penalty decision in France-Portugal. Anyway, I still think they both are very solid referees.

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  66. Mateu masterclass. I rewatched the 'penalty' scene and affirm my view - it was not just supportable to play on, but 100% correct in my opinion. How much better (modern) refereeing would be if all officials reacted like this to such situations inside the box. His management was excellent, foul detection UEFA22, but completely consistent (there were a couple of a bit irritating scenes, but not more). All the people who prefer mediocre, sycophant referees don't like him for sure, but if you really love the art of football refereeing, I'm sure you appreciated this performance like me. It is really rare to see such a natural like Mateu make it to the very top of our hobby. I look forward to watching his games at the WC!

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    1. I agree! The penalty is a complex situation, though. It is rather a "soft" penalty, not so much for the intensity but for the context. It's like that penalty Kuipers whistled for Spain in last Euro after an OFR. I don't remember if it was included in RAP or not, but if it was, it would be interesting to see whether UEFA wants those penalties or it doesn't.

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  67. Masterclass?! FIFA for sure will not be happy about his lack of running and match management. And this kind of PK situations should always be assessed by the referee himself following the FIFA approach. Now it’s the VAR that took final and important decision as Lahoz thought the ball was played based on his gestures.

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  68. I have to laugh when I read anonymous users talking about match management or "running". What do you expect from a WC play-off in terms of management? That each player gives the rival a kiss when they foul him? This are very tense matches, very prone to confrontations or massive dissents. A very good management is one in which the referee, by his decisions, prevents this from happening, and that's just what happened today. An early YC for dissent, another YC for unpolite dissent by the coach, and the match was very calm for what it could have been. And for not running much as it has been said, he has been spot on most of the fouls he gave (and cautions too), so no one can say that he made mistakes because he was not fit enough for the game (which is false, BTW). If you want to see athletes and not referees, I'd recommend you watch athletism, not football.

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    1. It is important that referees are able to run and keep up. I did not see an issue with that with Lahoz tonight. The only game I have thought it was an issue was Orsarto in Real Madrid vs Man City

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    2. While I think the largely central positioning is a fair criticism, I don’t see how anyone can knock his management in this game. As others have said, a World Cup spot is on the line. Things will always be tense, but Lahoz managed to be an oasis of calmness for all the players, and as a result nobody had a problem with him.

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  69. I love Mateu’s style. He is such a colorful and strong personality. And even more colorful amongst all the background-minded Plain Jane’s and weak, passive managers of nowadays.
    Mateu should just be careful that he doesn’t draw too much attention to him.
    UEFA doesn’t like that ;)

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  70. Without coopepation with WAR. STRONG decision. And completely wrong.
    And we can see his mistake in second falf.
    Wrong . Not his level

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  71. https://v.fodder.gg/v/jm833s

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    1. The first one is almost as bad of a decision as the free kick Turpin gave against Diaz last week.

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    2. Thank you! Analizing the whole incident, interesting to point out that the reaction by Mateu is a bit late, a few seconds, and not immediate after the incident. I'm not 100% sure he saw exactly what happened, but surely not whistling this penalty belongs to his style without doubts. Very clever behavior by attacker who puts himself there and he is hit. All referees would whistle it, Mateu goes always for ther contrary decision... I repeart myself, I would like this call but in reality people want penalty because you have a contact and nothing more. The issue about accepting this decision is that almost no referees have this style.. so to me, penalty should have been given, because objective. I also think that Mateu Lahoz, after Bergamo's incident,has a certain power on VAR.. he had many situations in which when he was called, he got angry, and indeed in that cases he was right (remember Borussia Dortmund - Rangers). It would be just interesting to know what FIFA and UEFA can think about that, if we go to read RAP, we find that when a player looks for contact, this can be even an argument for simulation, but impossible in such context to force this read, if you ask me...

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    3. I do respect Lahoz just for that rejected review that he had, don't remember which game it was.

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    4. Its a clear mistake. Too enauhgh.

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    5. Penalty in my opinion. I don't have the impression, that the attacker is looking for the contact, but genuinely goes for the ball. He is also already in front of his opponent, when the defender starts kicking. Furthermore his foot is hit before he makes the next step with it, therefore also his fall seems to be consequential and not intended to be (maybe a bit exaggerated though). I also have the impression, that the defender showed some immediate sign of guilt and probably expected the penalty.

      That being said, I don't think it's a mandatory VAR intervention (unless Mateu perceived the ball being played - but I don't see an indication for that).
      Apparently not everyone thinks, that it is a clear penalty (e.g. Mikael gave some arguments against it, also German commentators tended more towards 50/50 call), so with the usual high barrier for intervention, it is not a clear and obvious mistake.

      I don't really understands comments saying "Not a clear mistake by the referee, but the VAR had to intervene". That's not how the VAR system works.

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  72. Want to see Chefren replay

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  73. Completely agree. Too bad today

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  74. I just saw the play of the possible penalty. Live it doesn't look like a penalty, but in the replay you see a clear contact. I understand Mikael's explanation, but I have many doubts about this situation. I think most referees would give a penalty here.

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  75. I appreciated Lahoz’s foul selection in this game. Quite lenient and very consistent, which was perfect for this sort of game. I also think that, despite the fact that he gets rather a lot of criticism in the media that I’m privy to, Lahoz has always struck me as a referee that players love to have. I think that showed a lot today. We can be critical of his positioning, which was very central at times, not always as close to play as one would like to be.

    With all that said, any verdict on Lahoz’s performance rests on the key penalty kick decision. For me, the simple, correct decision is penalty. The attacker beats the defender to the ball and the defender kicks him late. Does the attacker drag his leg to try to draw contact? Absolutely. Is the attacker looking for a foul here? Of course he is. But… he finds one.

    I can understand that there the arguments that it was a light kick, that it was not really enough to be called careless, that the attacker was looking for it. I think for this reason, it is, barely, possible to support Lahoz’s decision, and I was reluctantly unsurprised at the lack of intervention by Muneura.

    Yet I think these arguments are quite contrived, as though looking for any reason to support Lahoz’s initial decision. The simpler explanation is that the defender was careless and kicked an attacker late, so it should be a penalty. I think adding layers of subjectivity about how much the attacker was “looking for it” or (to an extent) how trifling the contact was only muddies the waters here: if these plays are always ruled as fouls anyways, it would be much more consistent than it can ever possibly be with that added subjectivity.

    Finally, Lahoz’s manner during the incident doesn’t inspire me with confidence. He was, as had frequently been the case this game, too central, which harmed his perception. He had already turned upfield, and therefore didn’t seem prepared for or expecting the incident. And his reaction to it was quite late. All in all, this presentation Is not at all convincing. If Lahoz was right on top of the incident, had a good view, was ready for it, and immediately waved it away, it would be easier to accept it: that’s just the referee’s judgement. In this case I don’t think he had a great perception of the incident, which makes the decision and the lack of OFR harder to accept.

    So while I’m not surprised that, under the current UEFA doctrine concerning “soft” penalties, Muneura did not recommend a review, it leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth, because to me, this is way more of a penalty than not, and should be an easy thing to correct with video.

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    1. For me the penalty situation is at least a clear OFR missed. No ball hit by defender and he clearly hit the attacker in the penalty area. In this case I dont care if or if not UKR was looking for the foul or not. Mateu should have watched it at least.

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    2. I saw the reaction by Lahoz different. He clearly showed that he was sure it was not enough and I had the impression that he did not WANT to check the incident again. Not the first time Lahoz is acting like that. This is, sorry, sort of a personal arrogance of someone who allows others and himself no doubts about his own decisions. Generally I like him, but thats how he is and what we get when he is in charge. Tragically this time he was completely wrong.

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    3. By the way: He lost his chances of getting the opener in Qatar with the way he acted there. Collina and Busacca want refs understanding their role as being part of a team. In critical moments Lahoz prefers to decide on his own, ignoring others questioning that.

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    4. Agree, Andrasch, good point

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    5. Who was the best referee in Spain in history if we knew that no spainish referee refereed wc final from 1930 to 2018

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  76. https://video.corriere.it/sport/rigore-non-che-costato-mondiale-ucraina/1a7566ee-e579-11ec-906c-66ab0a80b19b

    watching this video on italian newspaper, it a clear penalty to me. Clear mistake

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  77. I think we can all agree (whether we think this is a penalty or not): if this happened at the World Cup, Lahoz's tournament would be over. Even Russian and Welsh experts have said they think it's a penalty. With this much media attention, it would be over for the referee (and VAR). Lahoz and Munuera can be very lucky that this play-off has been postponed; if this was played at the regular date (before the selection of referees) their spot at the World Cup would be in great danger.

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  78. But before this penalty direct found foul for wales not given before penalty situation

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