Thursday 8 September 2022

Europa Conference League 2022/23 - Referee Appointments - Matchday 1

 2022-23 Europa Conference League Group Stage. Referee appointments for Matchday 1. 



Tuesday 8 September 2022

18:45 CET - Florence (Stadio Artemio Franchi)
Fiorentina (ITA) - RFS (LVA) | Group A
Referee: Pavel Orel (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivo Nadvornik (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Matěj Vlček (CZE)
Fourth Official: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Martin Hansson (SWE) 
UEFA Delegate: Yariv Teper (ISR)

18:45 CET - Edinburgh (Tynecastle Park)
Heart of Midlothian (SCO) - İstanbul Başakşehir (TUR) | Group A
Referee: Krzysztof Jakubik (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Arkadiusz Wójcik (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Niemirowski (POL)
Fourth Official: Damian Kos (POL) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Jouni Hyytiä (FIN)
UEFA Delegate: Kim Hallberg (DEN)

18:45 CET - Brussels (Constant Vanden Stock Stadium)
Anderlecht  (BEL) - Silkeborg (DEN) | Group B
Referee: István Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Vencel Tóth (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: István Albert (HUN)
Fourth Official: Sándor Szabó (HUN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Barış Şimşek (TUR)
UEFA Delegate: Jan Korinek (CZE)

18:45 CET - Vienna (Franz Horr Stadium)
Austria Wien (AUT) - Hapoel Beer Sheva (ISR) | Group C
Referee: Horatiu Fesnic (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Valentin Avram (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexandru Cerei (ROU) 
Fourth Official: Sebastian Coltescu (ROU) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Edward Foley (IRL)
UEFA Delegate: Scilla Gennaro (ITA)

18:45 CET - Valencia (Estadi Ciutat de València)
Villarreal (ESP) - Lech (POL) | Group C
Referee: Ali Palabıyık (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ceyhun Sesigüzel (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Serkan Olguncan (TUR)
Fourth Official: Kadir Sağlam (TUR)
UEFA Referee Observer: João Ferreira (POR)
UEFA Delegate: Vakhtang Bzikadze (GEO)

18:45 CET - Uherské Hradiště (Městský fotbalový stadion Miroslava Valenty)
Slovácko (CZE) - Partizan (SRB) | Group D  
Referee: Rob Harvey (IRL) 
Assistant Referee 1: Robert Clarke (IRL) 
Assistant Referee 2: Wayne McDonnell (IRL) 
Fourth Official: Rob Hennessy (IRL) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Karen Nalbandyan (ARM)
UEFA Delegate: Andrew Shaw (ENG)

18:45 CET - Nice (Grand Stade de Nice)
OGC Nice (FRA) - 1. FC Köln (GER) | Group D
Referee: Luis Godinho (POR) 
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Teixeira (POR) 
Assistant Referee 2: Pedro Almeida (POR)
Fourth Official: Gustavo Correia (POR) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Vladimir Petrov (UKR)
UEFA Delegate: Kieran O' Connor (WAL)

18:45 CET - Pristina (Fadil Vokrri Stadium)
Ballkani (KOS) - CFR Cluj (ROU) | Group G
Referee: Urs Schnyder (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Marco Zürcher (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Benjamin Zürcher (SUI)
Fourth Official: Sven Wolfensberger (SUI)
UEFA Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST) 
UEFA Delegate: Ignas Marcinkevicius (LTU)

21:00 CET - London (London Stadium)
West Ham (ENG) - FCSB (ROU) | Group B
Referee: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Aurélien Berthomieu (FRA)
Fourth Official: Jérémie Pignard (FRA) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Manuel Díaz Vega (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: Edy Kindle (LIE) 

21:00 CET - Sivas (Yeni 4 Eylül)
Sivasspor (TUR) - Slavia Praha (CZE) | Group G
Referee: Fran Jović (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Hrvoje Radić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Luka Pusić (CRO)
Fourth Official: Mario Zebec (CRO) 
UEFA Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Michail Kassabov (BUL) 

21:00 CET - Molde (Molde Stadion) 
Molde (NOR) - KAA Gent (BEL) | Group F
Referee: Petri Viljanen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Mika Lamppu (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan-Peter Aravirta (FIN)
Fourth Official: Joni Hyytiä (FIN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Fritz Stuchlik (AUT)
UEFA Delegate: Maksims Krivunecs (LVA)

21:00 CET - Dublin (Tallaght Stadium)
Shamrock Rovers (IRL) - Djurgårdens IF (SWE) | Group F 
Referee: Ívar Orri Kristjánsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 1: Birkir Sigurðarson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 2: Jóhann Guðmundsson (ISL)
Fourth Official: Þorvaldur Árnason (ISL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Kenneth William Clark (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Kazimierz Oleszek (POL)

21:00 CET - Basel (St. Jakob Park) 
Basel (SUI) - Pyunik (ARM) | Group H 
Referee: Juan Martinez Munuera (ESP) 
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Barbero (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Martinez (ESP) 
Fourth Official: Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes (ESP)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold (NOR)
UEFA Delegate: Aurel Ionescu (ROU) 

21:00 CET - Nicosia (Stádio GSP)
Slovan Bratislava (SVK) - Žalgiris (LTU) | Group H 
Referee: Rauf Jabarov (AZE) 
Assistant Referee 1: Namik Huseynov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Yusifov Javanshir (AZE)
Fourth Official: Farid Hajiyev (AZE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL) 
UEFA Delegate: Johny Vanspauwen (BEL)

21:00 CET - Vaduz (Rheinpark Stadion) 
Vaduz (LIE) - Apollon Limassol (CYP)| Group E
Referee: Dumitri Muntean (MDA) 
Assistant Referee 1: Vlad Lifciu (MDA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrei Bodean (MDA)
Fourth Official: Veaceslav Banari (MDA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Neale Barry (ENG)
UEFA Delegate: David Datunashvili (GEO)

21:00 CET - Košice (Košická futbalová aréna)
Dnipro-1 (UKR) - AZ (NED) | Group E 
Referee: Yigal Frid (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Matityahu Yakobov (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Omer Barbiro (ISR) 
Fourth Official: Shalom Ben Avraham (ISR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Dejan Filipović (SRB)
UEFA Delegate: Mauro Tonolini (ITA) 

91 comments:

  1. I bet the 🇮🇹🤡 is going to make Bastien his first demotion. Send him and Çakir deliberately to a tough CLQ 3R because you don't care if they fail (actually it would suit RR if they did), and then when the Frenchman officiates the game consequently, you punish him for reffing it *as they knew he would do*, and even funnier, THIS was the reason he got the assignment in the first place(!!). FFF had Turpin to undeserved CL final, Letexier is promoted and on a good path (rightly), I guess they'll have to accept if Rosetti wants to (token) demote Bastien. While probably eg. Kružliak and even - let's be honest here - terrible Sidiropoulos (Roberto can't annoy Vassaras at any cost...) will stay. Madness.

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    1. Sorry, I think you have gone slightly off the rails in your conspiracy theories. It's a pity that your contributions are almost exclusively limited to politics nowadays. No doubt I will now be accused of being an UEFA apologist (or perhaps Signor Rosetti himself? :D)

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    2. https://wompampsupport.azureedge.net/fetchimage?siteId=7575&v=2&jpgQuality=100&width=700&url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.kym-cdn.com%2Fentries%2Ficons%2Fmobile%2F000%2F022%2F524%2Ftumblr_o16n2kBlpX1ta3qyvo1_1280.jpg

      :D

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    3. I genuinely do expect Bastien's demotion but yeah, I get what you mean :)

      It just feels exaggerated to me to punish the Frenchman this hard for Zagreb. I watched the game and I don't think he was really bad tbh.

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    4. I agree with Anonymous here. I think sometimes you are very harsh with Rosetti, Mikael, it's not fair. And your theory about Bastien sounds a bit exaggerate. Bastien refereed a semifinal last season, we can't forget it. I didn't watch the game in Zagreb, but I watched the KMIs and IMO there were big mistakes.I like Bastien, he is very honest and brave, but sometimes his decisions are terrible.

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    5. @Mikael,
      To be fair, the thing that annoyed me the most is the inconsistency of "punishing" a referee after a weaker performance.

      Bastien gets a UECL game after an indeed very challenging game where many wet biscuits would struggle.
      Makkelie got a UECL QF after a game that was referees in line with UEFA 2022 guidelines :D
      Siebert's treatment was awful.
      Mateu Lahoz as well.
      Turpin struggled in Porto-Atletico, but was still assigned to a R16 return game in CL.
      Would they punish Orsato after a weaker game? Think again :)

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    6. To be honest, it is not even as if a Bastien demotion would be undeserved: missed penalty in Galatasaray vs. Schalke, too soft penalty in Olympiakos vs. AC Milan, missed penalty in Armenia vs. Bosnia (also by me :P), exaggerated SYC in Crvena Zvezda vs. Olympiakos, Young Boys vs. Cluj events. Even in the recent Zagreb game, you could 'feel' that the Frenchman didn't quite believe in himself completely.

      And about Dinamo vs. Ludogorets, I wouldn't have rejected him personally (6 mark) and assessing the overall picture is quite a complex task, but:
      > RC no.1 - didactically, this is definitely reckless IMO, but recalling that UEFA only want 200% SYCs and that no Dinamo players really cared, this was the scene where you discreetly scream in the player’s ear when play has resumed to "f------ stop or I'll send you off"; I wonder if Bastien pulled the card out before he realised who it was
      > Penalty no.1 - rather too soft and panicky decision IMO but tricky-ish incident + rightly supported by Millot
      > Penalty no.2 - basically invented for self-preservation by Bastien/VMOs (this is "fingertip feeling", right? :D)
      > RC no.2 - correct, clear reckless striking, well-detected
      > Final Pen/RC - correct outcome, Bastien tried self-preservation but it was too clear this time, Millot was forced to call him to RRA

      But I really don’t like how he is “hung out to try” having been given challenging games DELIBERATELY. It seems that arousing attention is the worst thing you can do in this UEFA administration, the rest doesn’t matter at all. Of course, it was always like that to some degree, but you can feel it much more since 2018. There is a *huge* volume of difference between what Buquet did in Prague and Bastien in Zagreb, but it seems that the two are more-or-less equated under Rosetti. Many worse performing referees (again, who UEFA *know* are weaker) are much safer than Bastien, and it encourages weak/mediocre officiating. I do genuinely expect Bastien to be a first demotion, and in many ways the Frenchman wouldn’t really be able to complain. But when we compare to other promotion and non-demotions, it would be very hard to accept.

      I know that M. seems on a crusade to criticise UEFA/RR at every opportunity, but I genuinely struggle to find sth which one can praise them for atm. At least I hope my comments from before the EURO show that I am not just ideologically against them ‘for the sake of it’. This is all relatively minor compared to Çakir-London-Čeferin, Makkelie affair and effective removal of the category system, which should obvs be the broader focus of criticism than cases like this.

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    7. Referees are deliberately assigned to extremely challenging- or high profilish games, with the purpose to expose them badly.
      This used to be a compliment in Collins’s era, but nowadays it’s a compliment when a referee is assigned to ‘easy going’ games (protected), waiting for a final in the near future.

      ~The world upside down

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    8. @ Anonymous 14:12

      Exactly, and then people on thia blog can always comment that it is unfair treatment, no matter how assignments are made.

      And in case of Bastien, it is a very good appointment to regain commitee confidence, with big teams on the paper, which one would normally expect in EL knockout stages.

      Delete
  2. Some debuts. Jabbarov from Azerbaijan, not yet very experienced but nice to see him. It seems like a bit of a ridiculous appointment for Bastien. From UCL final as a Fourth Official to ECL. Incredible.

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  3. I have said, Bastien shouldnt be in Elite :)

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  4. FIFA circular for 2023:
    https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/405aad7400b73e75/original/Circular-No-1810-2023-FIFA-Refereeing-International-Lists_EN.pdf
    Deadline on 25 September

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  5. Bastien appointed in Conference League, if this is a result of his performance before, we must draw conclusion that committee doesn't like too much many cards and penalty... but of course we can't say more. The game in London is still quite good and we have Turpin and Letexier before him. In any case the recent good appointments and even being a preselected official for WC were not so much deserved choices, if you ask me... difficult to read the real consideration by committee in his regard.
    Then, we have just to highlight that De Bleeckere will try to develop Azeri officials in Bratislava and Godinho has maybe the most interesting game of this Matchday 1, the focus on him starts for the future.

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  6. Most probably even Jabarov himself was surprised about a group stage appointment. But for sure the once who know him from officiating in Azerbaijan. Maybe he got this match as a farewell gesture and will be removed end of this year from Fifa list.

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    Replies
    1. Removed? And then for what he will assessed by one of the most important observers in UEFA?

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    2. No idea. Maybe just because he started 2019 with International games and UEFA want to know his level.
      Wasted time.

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  7. Interesting appointment for Harvey, Partizan always difficult, and with Nalbandyan, an important observer despite the small country. He has a high standing in UEFA and known for his thorough and precise reports.

    I must say that Harvey, while not being the physically most pleasing referee, is an excellent referee. He will be cat 1 from January unless a disaster happens.

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    Replies
    1. I agree with the Partizan argument, challenging game is possible on paper and it is a very good assignment, but about the observer, despite of being a very experienced one at UEFA, definitely not an important one.

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    2. After the UECL Play-Off game Wolfsberg - Molde I have my doubts. Not convincing foul detection, disciplinary control and - most importantly - player management. Also his tactical approach was not convincing. There was eg a situation, where he pulled out the YC for a player leaving the pitch too slowly at a sub, but then only warned him. He had many problems in an easy game, was not very much accepted by the players and over all didn't made a good impression.

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    3. I saw the yellow card incident and for sure it could and should have been better.

      However the game was very much normal and good for him. Wolfsberger were quite angry with that they perceived to be to "offside goals" for 0-2, however both decisions were correct.

      Player management was not an issue on the field of play.

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    4. Then you must have seen a different game. He was criticized for nearly every decision in first half. The way he delt with the protests was not how I would expect it from an international referee. I expected him to show more personality. Assistants were excellent. But when I read your new comment you seem a bit biased.

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  8. Good to see Frid with a game. He seemed to be ‘on radar’ last summer but then seemed to have a quiet season (dont know why). Interesting delegate in same match, the very experienced former AR to many Italian officials

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    Replies
    1. I watched him in several matches last season and he was doing very well, In addition he had qualification match and again he shows very good level, so I guess he still on the ‘radar’

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  9. Here are some PK and RC (DOGSO) from YL MD1. I couldn’t find more clips. I’m not expressing the opinion for each one of them and you can share yours but overall, very good calls by referees. Well done!

    SSC Napoli (ITA) - Liverpool FC (ENG) Referee: Arda Kardeşler (TUR, 2nd Cat)
    https://streamable.com/g01rzm PK
    Paris Saint-Germain (FRA) - Juventus (ITA) Referee: Sven Jablonski (GER, 2nd Cat)
    https://streamable.com/zo1syy PK
    SL Benfica (POR) - Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR) Referee: Elçin Məsiyev (AZE, 2nd Cat)
    https://streamable.com/we83n5 RC
    Borussia Dortmund (GER) - FC København (DEN) Referee: Saıat Qarabaev (KAZ, 2nd Cat)
    https://streamable.com/598ugo RC
    AFC Ajax (NED) - Rangers FC (SCO) Referee: Miloš Milanović (SRB, 2nd Cat)
    https://streamable.com/jw3ksb PK
    FC Internazionale Milano (ITA) - FC Bayern München (GER) Referee: Luka Bilbija (BIH, 2nd Cat)
    https://streamable.com/i25gee PK
    Celtic FC (SCO) - Real Madrid CF (ESP) Referee: Thomas Gary Owen (WAL, 2nd Cat)
    https://streamable.com/0ldutl RC
    FC Salzburg (AUT) - AC Milan (ITA) Referee: Daniel Schlager (GER, 2nd Cat)
    https://streamable.com/19o94b PK

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    1. The Dortmund RC is quite interesting, because the teammate of the fouled player actually gets nearly the same scoring opportunity, which was denied by the foul. So one could argue, that the GSO wasn't actually denied due to the following advantage situation.
      Would be interesting to get an official opinion on that.

      Side note: The fact, that the GK wasn't the last defender is not relevant IMO. At least without the attacker's teammate, DOGSO would be the expected decision.

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    2. IMO it is a crystal clear DOGSO situation, the fact that his teammate didn't score dosen't change the outcome, we have seen many situations of an attacker with empty goal who hasn't scored.

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    3. Videos not available...

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    4. @Anonymous the videos work, I think you are copying RC and PK at the end of the links? Be careful, the links end before.

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    5. You're right Chefren maybe that's the mistake the anonymous made. I shouldn't include the decesion :)

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  10. OGC Nice - FC Köln kick-off is postponed because of violent riots between home and away fans.

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    Replies
    1. Match cancelled

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    2. Actually it's in the 41st minute

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    3. Trouble in France again. Oh what a surprise

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  11. https://streamable.com/hixspi

    Absolutely correct RC for SFP by Harvey. First he reached the pocket for a YC than with the help of IV official or he changed his mind after he saw the injured player we don't know !

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    Replies
    1. But what a comeback, crazy game! I suppose potentially very hot until the end and with many tensions

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    2. Poor physical condition in evidence, he wanted to go with yellow card then checked the player and went for red, very bad for me.

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    3. Excellent decision, and has nothing to do with physical condition (which to be fair, seems good, compare old and new pictures and you can see a significant weight loss. Compare to Simone Sozza, Italy's new talent).

      Very good performance by this Irish referee.

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    4. The Ireland referee looks very fat for uefa level

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    5. Does that matter? He managed to get through the physical tests, that are very hard to pass. He passed through a lot of matches. He's fit - so what how he looks?

      Remember the Dutch referee, René Temmink? Did a CL quater final, took charge of the Super Cup. He looked no way near the likes of DcG, but damn did he have authority and talent to manage his matches.

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  12. Correct RC given by the Azerbaijan referee Masiyev.
    Was a very clear one but a quick counter attack and we can see also referee's sprinting ability.

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  13. has anyone been watching ali palabiyik?

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    Replies
    1. good
      normal match for him
      good PK for Lech by the arm #23VIL in 46'

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    2. https://streamable.com/4ntgdf
      Here is the PK for handball.
      Not the best images but I'm not sure if we have an open hand here. It seems natural position

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    3. Spot on decision for me. Defender blocks the shot with his arm DELIBERATELY, tried to get away with it by 'disguising', but the Turkish official saw through it. We shouldn't get too caught up in guidelines about 'enlarged body surface' etc - the laws are (rightly) explicit that deliberate handballs are always to be punished.

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    4. Don’t agree with the penalty call. Arm is in a natural position, does not move towards the ball nor is deliberate (and using capitals doesn’t make it more deliberate).

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    5. Not even close to a handball offence. Completely 100% incorrect.

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  14. After Young Boys vs. Cluj (and Lyon vs. Ajaccio), another goalkeeper challenge PAI incident for Benoît Bastien - this time he gave a penalty + YC for reckless, correct IMO.

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    1. Sound teamwork now to allow 2-1 goal - no offside, ball was fully played by defender.

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    2. +1
      https://streamable.com/1v64po

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    3. Correct decision IMO: miscalculation by the goalkeeper, he completely missed the ball. Reckless offence.

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  15. Fran Jović (CRO) with a second YC because player made VAR gesture (no VAR in Conference League). He repeated that again and again.

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    1. Is PK correct?

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    2. Opinion on Duje Strukan Malmo Braga game if you had a chance to watch it? Big appointment for the Croatian IMO.

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    3. @Chefren,if that was the case,then it is a positive thing to see ref that follow the rules as they should be.

      Sometimes,Jovic's style of refereeing matches reminds me of Brych.

      Strukan was okayish,missed penalty,but hey,thats why we have VAR,they helped him at the end.

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    4. I agree with your Jovic assessment. He is very confident in his decisions and has no problem issuing those that are unpopular but correct. However, it can fire back on him, for example, during an Osijek Hajduk game he gave a second yellow for diving which was overturned because it was a clear foul and a penalty. Still, he has 2 or 3 more years to get a CL group stage game which is his maximum.

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  16. Very good performance by Frid in Kosice, fair play, full control ,1 YC for dissent in the 92 minute

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  17. André Resvoll (Norwegian referee, with excellent talents, great fitness and also a triathlon competitor) who was stopped with the only reason being he is 162 cm tall, has now received an apology from both the president of the Norwegian football federation and the head of referees and invited to come back.

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    1. Guess who obliged Norwegian federation to do so? :)

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    2. Referees and football players are two different things, in the sense that there should be a regulation regarding the height of the referee, because otherwise the physical condition of the referee will only become a barrier and we will see he will be slapped by reality in the future. It's a sad reality indeed, things related to permanent conditions, like a child who dreams of becoming a pilot but has to accept the fact that he has been wearing glasses since childhood. The rest, good luck for him.

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    3. 12:00 Anonymous.
      Utter nonsense. Physical characteristics beyond a person's control are not a reason to stop someone being a referee. Their skills are what should dictate their careers. Yes there is a potential disadvantage, but not a big enough one to say no you must be a certain height and good referees will adapt their skills to their own personal situations and perform well regardless.

      Stéphanie Frappart is just 2cm taller than André Resvoll, yet nobody in football would say her height is a reason to prevent her from officiating.

      Putting artificial barriers on an already undersubscribed and challenged workforce will not lead to any benefit for refereeing and in fact loses out on the fact that those without imposing physical characteristics often have completely different skillsets as a result of their experiences which are just as much of a benefit, if not more than they are a hindrance.

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    4. TJ.Oss Frappart is a woman… Her height can’t be compared to a man.

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    5. So why is it relevant at all then? The answer is it's not.

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    6. you can't compare him with Frappart, you should know Frappart is a pawn on the political agenda, while this is in Norway where the average height there is very far from 162 cm, again it is an unavoidable fact that with a stark height difference it will be very difficult to be able to control whole of the game. This may be different from the situation where a 162 cm tall person is in East/Southeast Asia where the average height is not much different. I don't agree with apoligazing manner from The President/Head of Refs, we have to look at the details and don't easily to apoligizing for what I think is a preventive measure to not give him false hope.

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  18. OT

    Big chaos in Greece.

    The new Head of Refereeing Steve Bennett decided to appoint a Greek referee (Sidiropoulos) to the Athens derby Panathinaikos - AEK.

    The appointment leaked on Wednesday on the media. Then fans on the social media started questioning his integrity and his intentions.

    On Thursday Bennett announced the appointments for MD4 and Sidiropoulos was indeed appointed on Panathinaikos - AEK. Then the 3 big teams (Olympiakos, PAOK, Panathinaikos) protested and asked for foreign referees.

    The HFF president asked from Bennett to annule the appointment and he request was accepted. Now Bennett searches for a foreign referee or the match will be cancelled.

    An unbelievable and unacceptable situation.....

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    1. Unbelievable. As a national League, there Shirley be More Than enough refs to handle any game in it.

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    2. Unacceptable.

      Bennett should resign to protect his integrity.

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    3. No, Bennett should resign if he has dignity. But all is about money and who cares, referees are victims.

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    4. No chance to be an independent head of referees in Greece. The clubs have definitely too much to say in refereeing matters. I perceive Steve Bennett as one of the best head of referees in the world. He did a fantastic job in UAE, giving almost every game to local referees and improving standards there. Now he's trying to improve the Greek refereeing but he's blocked by big clubs. I guess nobody will change things in Greece...

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    5. FIFA shows to be always attentive to local political interference with the federations, I think they should also take a little look at refereeing in Greece, commissining the federation by forcing the refereeing association to be free and independent under penalty of stopping football in Greece.

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    6. FIFA should intervene and say that matches, apart from limited invitational initiatives, should be refereed by national referees.

      Who wants to be a referee in Greece if all they can aspire to are the secondary matches?

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    7. At least there are plenty english referees availably on short notice :D

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    8. Georgi Kabakov has been appointed as the last-minute replacement referee in Athens derby on Sunday.

      Well, many regular readers know that I like the Bulgarian referee, but it's crazy to think that Greek SL clubs went completely nuts over the appointment of an *Elite* referee, forcing the intervention of HFF president to change the appointment... and replace him with a referee who is de iure a category below him in UEFA. Greek clubs like PAO claim to 'support in principle' the referees (LMAO) and progressive return of native referees to matches between Big 5 clubs, but at this point everyone who thinks this is true or that HFF itself (let alone the clubs) care about Greek refereeing is a fool. We must remember that only last year two SL1 referees (Emmanouil Skoulas & Evangelos Gratsanis) decided to quit their dream jobs in the middle of the season due to Clattenburg's bad management and 'constant humiliation of Greek referees' and they said in their farewell letters.

      It's evident that Big 5 clubs want to stay like this permanently, they only have to claim every season that 'Greek referees are not yet prepared', whether it's true or not. ¿Anyone seriously thinks there's not a single referee in the country who is at least as prepared to handle a Salonica derby as a Portuguese 2nd Cat referee (Godinho, with my utmost respect), i.e. belonging to *third tier* of UEFA refereeing?

      I won't talk much about UEFA's 'complicitness' here, at the end of the day Greek derbies are a good place to test 1st/2nd Cat referees in games with hot atmospheres, even at the expense of local referee's development.

      Shame. I give to Bennett that he attempted to do something about it, but if I were in his place I'd presented my resignation yesterday evening.

      Good luck to Kabakov, hope he has a good performance.

      Delete
    9. God, I feel so sorry for Sidiropoulos. I hope FIFA will have enough balls to intervene and this will end ASAP.

      Delete
    10. FIFA is also at fault about this situation. HFF was dissolved on September 2016 and FIFA installed a normalization committee. But their biggest mistake is that they appointed as Head of refereeing Tritsonis (who had just retired and his appointment was illegal at that time) who had zero experience on managent of the referees. He tried to do many favors and promoted referees only because of public relations.

      That led to Pereira taking the reigns with the known catastrophic results.

      I don't think that this situation can change.

      Delete
  19. Some clips from West Ham vs. 'Steaua Bucharest', Benoît Bastien's game -

    1H Penalty appeal: https://send.cm/fop76gga3rxb
    2H Penalty given: https://send.cm/60yyi0dvvqhv
    2-1 goal: https://send.cm/7le3gw7v0mow

    I had the game on in the background with friends, my impression was that the Frenchman had a good performance in a higher-than-average difficulty game, operating his typical style (quite strict disciplinary, good management skills, not a player's friend-type). UEFA observer - whose style actually mirrored the ref who he assessed last night :P - should write him up a mark at expected level in the report.

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    Replies
    1. The referee took 21 seconds, to realise that both of players need medical attention. It was a head injury, so in my oppinion, it's not good to wait so much before asking the medical staff to asses the players.

      Delete
  20. UCL predictions ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Some are under this post:
      http://law5-theref.blogspot.com/2022/09/champions-league-202223-referee_5.html

      Delete
  21. To add, about observers for next week, already mentioned Kuipers in Madrid and Sajn for Shakhtar - Celtic, in Europa League Rosetti will observe the game in Monaco, Monaco - Ferencvaros.

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    Replies
    1. Since the EURO, Roberto Rosetti has now appointed himself to assess four matches in the group stages of UEFA club competition as UEFA Referee Observer: Real Madrid vs. Shakhtar Donetsk distinguishes itself as the *only* assignment which was NOT IN MONACO.

      I just can't work out why RR would keep appointing himself there in particular... :)

      Delete
    2. Should be the nearest international stadium to the Italian border. Or he even lives there part-time...

      Candidates for the match IMO: Balakin, Eskas, Glova, Walsh

      Delete
    3. French cities near the borders to Italy, close to both Turin and Nyon (UEFA). He also appeared in Marseille at least twice if I remember correctly.
      This can allow us to think that his focus is more (exclusively?) on the referee than on the required technical level of the game. No need for him to find the most suitable match for the referee involved, but rather a matter of meeting him. Differently from Collina...

      Delete
    4. Maybe he likes the casino in Monte Carlo? :)

      Delete
  22. https://www.espn.com/soccer/spanish-primera-division-femenina/story/4742330/spains-female-referees-strike-ahead-of-league-start

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trouble is brewing in Spain. Female Referees have decided to go on strike.

      Delete
  23. I tried MD2 predictions but gave up on it very quickly. :D
    Complicated puzzle for sure.
    - Almost impossible to find 16 new names that were not appointed last week
    - And at the same time: very hard to not repeat the same nationality in same group as MD1. For instance no Spanish or Germans in group A … No repeat of German VAR in group A, E, H (impossible?), and much more.

    I think we will see at least one MD1 ref again with *flexible* nationality, like Vincic, Marciniak or Kovacs (compensation for missing the PO). And perhaps Bastien again after his UECL match.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, this solution fulfills your conditions:
      Liverpool - Ajax: Soares Dias (Pinheiro)
      Rangers - Napoli: Frankowski (Kwiatkowski)
      Porto - Brugge: Treimanis (San)
      Leverkusen - Atletico: Kulbakov (Irrati)
      Viktoria - Inter: Sidiropoulos (Martins)
      Bayern - Barcelona: Oliver (Kavanagh)
      Sporting - Tottenham: Mateu (Martinez)
      Marseille - Frankfurt: Hernandez (Higler)
      Milan - Zagreb: Zwayer (Dingert)
      Chelsea - Salzburg: Siebert (Fritz)
      Donetsk - Celtic: Mariani (Guida)
      Real - Leipzig: Rumsas (Valeri)
      ManCity - Dortmund: Makkelie (van Boekel)
      Copenhagen - Sevilla: Gözübüyük (Kamphuis)
      Juventus - Benfica: Gil Manzano (de Burgos)
      Maccabi - Paris: Sanchez (Dankert)

      But of course, some stretches in it, like Kulbakov for LEV-ATL. And if all 4 Spanish referees work, they might need VAR from other countries, which never happened before, I think.

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    2. Yes, I can’t see those stretches :) It probably will be 3 Spaniards. Gozubuyuk is a questionmark. I’d move Makkelie to Tuesday. His low profile game on Friday suggests a high profile game on Tuesday. Dutch FA used this strategy more than once. Perhaps it’s Makkelie in Bayern and Michael Oliver in Leverkusen? Both have almost no history with those teams.

      Delete
    3. I can see Nyberg make his CL debute

      Delete

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