The following referees have been appointed to handle the first legs of 2023/24 UEFA Europa League Round of 16.
Wednesday 6 March 2024
18:45 CET - Lisbon (Estádio José Alvalade)
Sporting CP (POR) - Atalanta BC (ITA)
Referee: Daniel Siebert GER
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Seidel GER
Assistant Referee 2: Rafael Foltyn GER
Fourth Official: Daniel Schlager GER
Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Christian Dingert GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Kóstas Kapitanís CYP
UEFA Delegate: Milan Janković BIH
18:45 CET - Prague (epet ARENA)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE) - Liverpool FC (ENG)
Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Iñigo Prieto Lopez de Ceraín ESP
Fourth Official: Jesús Gil Manzano ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu ROU
UEFA Delegate: Andrey Medintsev BUL
18:45 CET - Rome (Stadio Olimpico)
AS Roma (ITA) - Brighton & Hove Albion FC (ENG)
Referee: François Letexier FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Cyril Mugnier FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Mehdi Rahmouni FRA
Fourth Official: Pierre Gaillouste FRA
Video Assistant Referee: Jérôme Brisard FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Willy Delajod FRA
UEFA Referee Observer: David Fernández Borbalán ESP
UEFA Delegate: Karl Espen Eriksen NOR
18:45 CET - Baku (Tofiq Bəhramov adına Respublika Stadionu)
Qarabağ FK (AZE) - Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
Referee: Benoît Bastien FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Aurélien Berthomieu FRA
Fourth Official: Jérémie Pignard FRA
Video Assistant Referee: Benoît Millot FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Éric Wattellier FRA
UEFA Referee Observer: Ichko Lozev BUL
UEFA Delegate: Alpaslan Kavas TUR
21:00 CET - Marseille (Orange Vélodrome)
Olympique de Marseille (FRA) - Villarreal CF (ESP)
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük NED
Assistant Referee 1: Erwin Zeinstra NED
Assistant Referee 2: Johan Balder NED
Fourth Official: Joey Kooij NED
Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Clay Ruperti NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Marián Ružbarský SVK
UEFA Delegate: Jean-Paul Mievis BEL
21:00 CET - Lisbon (Estádio do SL Benfica)
SL Benfica (POR) - Rangers FC (SCO)
Referee: Tobias Stieler GER
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Gittelmann GER
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Kempter GER
Fourth Official: Harm Osmers GER
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Fritz GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Sören Storks GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin SVN
UEFA Delegate: Kimmo J. Lipponen FIN
21:00 CET - Freiburg (Europa-Park Stadion)
SC Freiburg (GER) - West Ham United FC (ENG)
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández ESP
Assistant Referee 1: José Enrique Naranjo Pérez ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Pau Cebrián Devís ESP
Fourth Official: José Luis Munuera Montero ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: César Soto Grado ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Mehmet Murat Ilgaz TUR
UEFA Delegate: Bakar Jordania GEO
21:00 CET - Milan (Stadio San Siro)
AC Milan (ITA) - SK Slavia Praha (CZE)
Referee: Halil Umut Meler TUR
Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Emre Eyisoy TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Kerem Ersoy TUR
Fourth Official: Arda Kardeşler TUR
Video Assistant Referee: Alper Ulusoy TUR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Abdulkadir Bitigen TUR
UEFA Referee Observer: Emil Božinovski MKD
UEFA Delegate: Andrew Shaw ENG
AC Sparta Praha (CZE) - Liverpool FC (ENG)
Referee: José María Sánchez Martínez ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Iñigo Prieto Lopez de Ceraín ESP
Fourth Official: Jesús Gil Manzano ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu ROU
UEFA Delegate: Andrey Medintsev BUL
18:45 CET - Rome (Stadio Olimpico)
AS Roma (ITA) - Brighton & Hove Albion FC (ENG)
Referee: François Letexier FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Cyril Mugnier FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Mehdi Rahmouni FRA
Fourth Official: Pierre Gaillouste FRA
Video Assistant Referee: Jérôme Brisard FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Willy Delajod FRA
UEFA Referee Observer: David Fernández Borbalán ESP
UEFA Delegate: Karl Espen Eriksen NOR
18:45 CET - Baku (Tofiq Bəhramov adına Respublika Stadionu)
Qarabağ FK (AZE) - Bayer 04 Leverkusen (GER)
Referee: Benoît Bastien FRA
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Aurélien Berthomieu FRA
Fourth Official: Jérémie Pignard FRA
Video Assistant Referee: Benoît Millot FRA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Éric Wattellier FRA
UEFA Referee Observer: Ichko Lozev BUL
UEFA Delegate: Alpaslan Kavas TUR
21:00 CET - Marseille (Orange Vélodrome)
Olympique de Marseille (FRA) - Villarreal CF (ESP)
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük NED
Assistant Referee 1: Erwin Zeinstra NED
Assistant Referee 2: Johan Balder NED
Fourth Official: Joey Kooij NED
Video Assistant Referee: Pol van Boekel NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Clay Ruperti NED
UEFA Referee Observer: Marián Ružbarský SVK
UEFA Delegate: Jean-Paul Mievis BEL
21:00 CET - Lisbon (Estádio do SL Benfica)
SL Benfica (POR) - Rangers FC (SCO)
Referee: Tobias Stieler GER
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Gittelmann GER
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Kempter GER
Fourth Official: Harm Osmers GER
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Fritz GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Sören Storks GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin SVN
UEFA Delegate: Kimmo J. Lipponen FIN
21:00 CET - Freiburg (Europa-Park Stadion)
SC Freiburg (GER) - West Ham United FC (ENG)
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández ESP
Assistant Referee 1: José Enrique Naranjo Pérez ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Pau Cebrián Devís ESP
Fourth Official: José Luis Munuera Montero ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: César Soto Grado ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Mehmet Murat Ilgaz TUR
UEFA Delegate: Bakar Jordania GEO
21:00 CET - Milan (Stadio San Siro)
AC Milan (ITA) - SK Slavia Praha (CZE)
Referee: Halil Umut Meler TUR
Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Emre Eyisoy TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Kerem Ersoy TUR
Fourth Official: Arda Kardeşler TUR
Video Assistant Referee: Alper Ulusoy TUR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Abdulkadir Bitigen TUR
UEFA Referee Observer: Emil Božinovski MKD
UEFA Delegate: Andrew Shaw ENG
Is Siebert going to EURO?
ReplyDeleteI personally do not think so because there are too many referees higher ranked and getting better appointments. But is not impossible, Siebert still was a World Cup referee.
DeleteFor Euro I think, there's slightly a chance... But for World Cup, CMIIW, they've done a pre-eliminary in Seville and Siebert was not called (it's Zwayer instead)
DeleteUEFA Under-17 Championship - Elite Round
ReplyDeleteGroup 1 (England, 20-26 March 2024)
ENG, FRA, HUN, NIR
—
Jacob Karlsen & Victor Skovbæk Skytte DEN
Danilo Nikolić & Milan Šutulović SRB
Martin Matoša & Aleksandar Kasapovič SVN
—
Andrew Kitchen & Blake Antrobus ENG
Group 2 (Romania, 20-26 March 2024)
BUL, ROU, SWE, WAL
—
Florian Lata & Erind Burgu ALB
Michele Beltrano & Ernesto Cristiano SMR
Bahattin Şimşek & Deniz Caner Özaral TUR
—
Rareș George Vidican & Mihăiță Necula ROU
Group 3 (Finland, 20-26 March 2024)
BEL, FIN, ITA, NED
—
Alan Kijas & Michael Obritzberger AUT
Mihály Káprály & Balázs Szalai HUN
Pavle Ilić & Nikola Đorović SRB
—
Joona Manninen & Antti Kemppinen FIN
Group 4 (Greece, 6-12 March 2024)
GRE, SUI, SVK, UKR
—
Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz & Eliana Fernández González ESP
Damian Kos & Bartosz Kaszyński POL
Matthew MacDermid & Christopher Rae SCO
—
Lázaros Rendífis & Konstandínos Stáikos GRE
Group 5 (Portugal, 20-26 March 2024)
CRO, GER, IRL, POR
—
Kamal Umudlu & Vüsal Məmmədov AZE
Bence Csonka & Theodoros Georgiou HUN
Marc Nagtegaal & Stefan de Groot NED
—
Miguel André Monteiro Fonseca & José Pedro de Castro Pereira POR
Group 6 (Georgia, 20-26 March 2024)
DEN, GEO, SRB, TUR
—
Dalibor Černý & Marek Podaný CZE
Benjamin McMaster & John Doherty NIR
Joakim Östling & Daniel Yng SWE
—
Irakli Kherkhadze & Giorgi Elikashvili GEO
Group 7 (Austria, 20-26 March 2024)
AUT, ESP, NOR, SVN
—
Bolat Sariev & Sergei Vasiutin KAZ
Igor Stojčevski & Daniel Vasilevski MKD
Oleksiy Derevinsʹkyy & Oleksiy Myronov UKR
—
Daniel Pfister & Thomas Kaplan AUT
Group 8 (Bosnia and Herzegovina, 20-26 March 2024)
BIH, BLR, CZE, POL
—
Ashot Ghaltakhchyan & Mesrop Ghazaryan ARM
Heini Ziskason Viðoy & Jógvan Breckmann FRO
Jérémy Muller & Yannick Mentz LUX
—
Antonio Tomić & Bojan Makarić BIH
Strange that some referees already have a 2nd appointment while some Elite referees are not appointed yet.
ReplyDeleteI also wonder what will be the strategy for the Euro play-offs. Is it possible that a referee is appointed next week on 12-13-14 March and will have a play-off on 21 March as well? Not impossible but could be avoided.
wow, quite big names to be EL round of 16. Don't you think?
ReplyDeleteAside from Letexier there are Elite referees, but none of the top Elites, so I would say quite normal appointments in KO stage. And it is probably a good choice to send a high ranked name to a game involving AS Roma after their behavious in recent month (even if the situation seems to have become better without famous Jose...)
DeleteYes we have all 8 Elite referees (in this round Category 1 would be still possible) but maybe not all "very big names", rather "the higher between the middle names", if you understand what I mean. Some second and third ranked in the UEFA Elite of their countries.
DeleteAbout Sánchez Martínez, looks like he replaced in a way Gil Manzano, a CL game and now a good EL assignment.
It will be interesting to see the next appointment for the Spanish Elite nr. 1.
Glad to see Meler in Milan, back in UEFA games after the terrible incident.
About Stieler, second assignment in a quite good Europa League match, still enough to consider him as possible canidate for EURO as Germany nr. 2 after Zwayer? Difficult to see, I would have expected him at least in a game in CL KO stage, for being sure about that. We will see. Not important observers for him, rather regular ones for Elite referees.
Curious that Makkelie, Orsato and Marciniak are still without games, one can expect them on next week.
Ugly appointments to me: Sanchez Martinez doesn't deserve a special treatment to be assignment to CL 16th and EL KO stage; Guzubuyuk and Hernandez Hernandez are really overrate and probably they would better belong to first group category than elite. Why waste Letexier for Rima-Brighton after an outstanding performance in CL ? He should go directly to quarterfinal CL. Only happy for Meler and his return after the shameful attack.
ReplyDeleteSome very interesting games without clear favourites:
ReplyDelete1) Sporting CP - Atalanta BC and Olympique de Marseille - Villarreal
I am surprised UEFA appointed these referees to handle two most difficult, at least on paper, clashes. I think the target is to have them both at the EURO - Siebert as German No2 on his own soil and Gözübüyük due to Zeinstra-Kuipers connection. Maybe the final test for them? However, observers don't indicate that.
2) Sparta Praha - Liverpool and Freiburg - West Ham United
Two Spaniards appointed to tight duels involving rather fairly playing 'north' teams. Hernández Hernández with his lenient disciplinary and high threshold for foul is a very good choice for such a game and Sánchez Martínez got the more aggressive Sparta.
3) Benfica - Rangers and Milan - Slavia Praha
Games that could be one-sided or very intense, depending on the form of Rangers and Slavia. Outside chance for both Stieler and Meler to make it to the EURO24 but they need others fail.
4) Roma - Brighton and Qarabağ - Bayer Leverkusen
Both games are difficult to predict. Most likely a warm-up appointment for the best referee in this set of appointments and a standard appointment for his countryman.
As nobody mentioned it despite being the most important thing to be highlighted from this set, I will do it: Jesus Gil Manzano is Fourth Official. This can be only a deliberate choice. I read it as a punishment from UEFA. Similar if you want to Vincic appointment as Fourth Official when Obrenovic had Fiorentina-Lech last season. I didn't watch Gil Manzano last UEL game but if I remember correctly the reports were negative. UEFA must be (really) upset with him. And rightly so one could say. Rosetti kinda pushed Gil Manzano in the last season especially and early-retired Lahoz, often stirring criticism on the blog. And now it backfires. This is how Gil Manzano repay Rosetti's confidence? With a couple of poor performance in a row? It is even worse if it is an "attitude" problem. In this moment, he is definitely not on my list with locked names for Euro. The last domestic game also made the things worse. Remember what I wrote a few weeks ago about the reputation among fans in Europe for the referees from top countries (especially Spain, Italy and England)? About the fact that when they made a mistake everybody found about it and this affect the fans perception about a referee? This is exactly what I was talking about.
ReplyDeleteWOW, I had missed this appointment as fourth official.
DeleteBut his position as Spain nr.1 for EURO should be still safe, if you ask me. At least, I think, we can be sure that two Spanish referee will go with Sanchez Martinez being the second.
U19 EURO - Elite Round
ReplyDeleteGroup 1 (SVN, ESP, AUT, KOS)
—
Ishmael Barbara & Duncan Spencer (MLT)
Andreas Argyrou & Marios Kalogirou (CYP)
Christos Vergetis & Andreas Fotopoulos (GRE)
—
Blaž Bezjak & Jernej Flajšman (SVN)
Group 2 (NED, FRA, BEL, LTU)
—
Kevin O'Sullivan & Eoin Michael Harte (IRL)
Stefan Ebner & Manuel Undesser (AUT)
Ante Čulina & Dario Kolarević (CRO)
—
Alex Bos & Murat Kücükerbir (NED)
Group 3 (NOR, MNE, BIH, ISR)
—
Mikkel Redder & Deniz Yurdakul (DEN)
Alessandro Dudic & Nicolas Müller (SUI)
Edgars Malcevs & Martins Svipsts (LAT)
—
Marius Lien & Alf-Olav Rossland (NOR)
Group 4 (POR, DEN, SRB, GRE)
—
Roman Jitari & Victor Mardari (MDA)
Mohammad Usman Aslam & Jørgen Rønning Valstadsve (NOR)
David Dickinson & Jonathan Bell (SCO)
—
João Afonso & Fábio Silva (POR)
Group 5 (ITA, CZE, SCO, GEO)
—
???
???
???
—
??? (probably ITA)
Group 6 (CRO, GER, TUR, ROU)
—
Andrea Colombo & Alessio Berti (ITA)
Bastien Dechepy & Brice Parinet Le Tellier (FRA)
Jovan Kachevski & Slagjan Markoski (MKD)
—
Mateo Erceg & Dominik Benković (CRO)
Group 7 (MKD, SUI, UKR, LAT)
—
Granit Maqedonci & Marcus Klitte (SWE)
Marek Radina & Kamil Hajek (CZE)
Ion Orlic & Anatolie Basiul (MDA)
—
Marjan Dejanoski & Martin Dejanoski (MKD)
Siebert performance was at an expected level, it seems the German is now in a rather positive moment, if compared to past, but it's very difficult to think again about big assignments for him (totally out from CL KO stage).
ReplyDeleteI watched it, too. :) Indeed, good performance in a not-so-challenging-as-expected game. Many fouls but very fair atmosphere. Correctly disallowed Atalanta's goal for offside (86'). All cards correct, two more possible or even preferable (studs challenge by 4SPO in 64' and illegal use of arm by 17ATA in 90+2'). Good warning for time wasting already in 34'.
DeleteHighlights, if someone wants to watch some scenes not having to watch the whole game:
Deletehttps://we.tl/t-cHj1vOqHJN
Maybe with a very detailed analysis you find the classic attitude by attacker to get penalty (kicking ball and waiting for contact) rather than to continue the attack, but very clear penalty whistled by Sanchez Martinez. One can't question.
ReplyDeletehttps://streamin.me/v/445961ad
Like all fouls the attackers are smart but as you said, nobody can expect anything else than penalty here.
DeleteAnother scandal in Croatian football. Elite group assistant referee Dejan Vukovic is arrested because of threats to Vlado Svilokos, vice-president of Croatian referee committee.
ReplyDeleteMedia says that Vukovic bought disposable SIM card in hope he will not be recognised. Svilokos reported threats yesterday and police arrested Vukovic.
By the way, Svilokos is UEFA observer and one of the main candidates to be new head of Croatian referees committee. Also, he is observer next week in Champions league match Arsenal-Porto.
The only thing we know is that Croatian refereeing needs massive refreshment.
Enough to suspend all Croatian assignments in UEFA games for a while? What do you think? If I'm not wrong, we didn't see Bebek as VAR in this KO stage so far.
DeleteBTW I can only wish a radical change for the future, in this situation Strukan did already a miracle by reaching that level.
Bebek was only AVAR with Jovanovic in Dortmund
DeleteShow goes on. Croatian media gol.hr revealed one of the Vukovic's messages.
Delete"If you take the role [committee president role], you could attend your son's funeral soon. We won't touch your doughter. For now... Be smart"
Vukovic ended the message with characteristic slogan of Hajduk Split fans probably hoping that everyone would think that threats are from Hajduk's fans.
Also, Vukovic said that his mobile phone was hacked and spent night in prison. Croatian football federation immediately suspended Vukovic.
Source: https://gol.dnevnik.hr/clanak/rubrika/nogomet/video-poznat-je-sadrzaj-jedne-prijetece-poruke-svilokosu-prijetnja-je-degutantna-a-na-kraju-iste-nalazi-se-hzv---836647.html
Bastien excellent again. French refereeing is in a really good moment
ReplyDeleteAR2 Berthomieu with a couple of concentration errors though, signalling wrong throw in when it wasn’t even debatable
DeleteHow do we explain tonight's Roma's behaviour?
ReplyDeletePlayers rolling around,Mancini laying and going from out of bounds to laying on the field,his constant pressure on referee,Cristante,Pellegrini also.
With 4 0 lead I might add,who knows how well they behave when they lose 😀.
Thebonly change is that DDR does not put pressure on referees in the wqy Special One was doing it.
Good performances in the first set of games, most of them very easy. Definitely no need of Letexier in Rome, apart from some offside issues, he was never challenged. Ready for the next CL assignment. What a different story with Roma now with De Rossi.Still, I think they are by far better team than the English side but withj the Portuguese all would have turned in a complicated affair, and the referees blamed.
ReplyDeleteGood performance by Bastien in Baku as well in a game with a particular progress, unexpected (but not really challenging), no story in Prague as well.
De Rossi was there also with Feyenoord and it was a mess. The only difference is a good referee tonight
DeleteAny slight opportunity to throw a jibe at Mourinho isn't it. Becoming so boring
DeleteAS Roma - Brighton
ReplyDeleteThe 3-0 goal appeared offside. One blue line was drawn, this is a line by margin rule? (In the Netherlands it will appear in that case)
Since the defender's feet are hidden, it is not possible to draw an accurate line. I don't think anyone finds this line persuasive.
Can someone please tell me what this 'een blue line' means?
Deletehttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/GIFztNLWMAEEDhV?format=jpg
A bit of a shaky start of the Dutch ref in Marseille. A CLEAR yellow card for OM missed in 2’ for a nasty stamp on the ankle, few moments later a swinging arm of a French not sanctioned and then cards were opened with a (justified) caution for the Spanish.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone comment about direct red card at Milan-Slavia game?
ReplyDeleteIt was an excellent spot by the Turkish ref himself. From a good position he recognized the studs-up tackle which hit shin and ankle with moderate to high intensity.
DeleteThanks, it look like Meler had a good first half.
DeleteThere seems to be a lack of good replay, the exact angle is difficult to catch. Turkish referee in a very good position to see and we must trust him, I think. Nobody expected this red card, it was indeed rather a suprise, but it should be correct.
Deletehttps://streamin.me/v/91a6f8c0
VAR intervention in Marseille. Clear penalty missed by Gozubuyuk. Correct intervention by Van Boekel.
ReplyDeleteIn 44’ a penalty to Benfica after OFR, ball hitting the arm which was high and out of the body.
ReplyDeleteA clip would be much appreciated! Although the arm was high and out, it seemed the defender headed the ball onto his own arm. Would like to see this one again!
DeleteMaybe the previous touch by head was assessed only as deflection: https://streamin.me/v/fcabb7c0
DeleteOverall I agree in case of deliberate play by hed before, this shouldn't be penalty. Particular that this call came from a German VAR, one could have expected this one more by a Spanish or Italian. Marco Fritz with the UEFA approach regarding handballs.
I think the difference between 'touch the ball' and 'play the ball' should be used in this case as well. Even if he touches the ball first with his head, I don't think it affects the direction of the ball in this case.
DeleteThere was a replay from behind the goal and from that angle the ball seemed to change direction substantially
DeleteBenfica - Rangers
ReplyDelete45+5' Dessers, who was in an offside position, stepped up to the ball as it passed by, and although he did not touch it, his action clearly made an impact on the defenders. For some reason, VAR allowed it and the goal was awarded. I do not understand.
https://streamin.me/v/970ae455
DeleteHmm, maybe it wasn't an offside position.
DeleteBy the way, it's a little interesting that the referee allowed the play to continue after the contact to the head. I'm sure the Dutch referee would have stopped it...
Meler's RC in Milan - Slavia: https://streamable.com/fr441x
ReplyDeleteCorrectly spotted SFP (high force, full studs, above ankle, 'bending', ticks all the boxes)
Excellent Meler, bravo!
DeleteI agree!
DeleteNot a good start of the second half in Marseille. Gozubuyuk awarded a PK with some hesitation to Villarreal, but the foul occurred outside the penalty area. The assistant confirmed his decision by running to the corner flag. Few seconds later, Gözübüyük changed his decision to a FK without VAR signal. It was suggested on TV that VAR might have relayed some information.
ReplyDeleteNow correctly 2nd YC given.
DeleteCan you please add a video?
Delete46' It was clear outside. The first decision was a penalty then he changed it to DFK.
DeleteI agree. But why not the VAR signal? Assistant confirmed the PK.
DeleteInteresting and curageous decision by Hernandez Hernandez not to award the PK for handball in the last second in Freiburg. What are your thoughts?
ReplyDeletePenalty for me. His reasoning for not giving it is because it deflected off the West Ham player, rather than being played by him, but imo his arm is too high, too unnatural
DeleteFirstly, extremely lengthy delay before HH was even called to monitor. Defenders hand high above the head, some may argue unnatural position. In this case, I certainly understand OFR - albeit quicker would have been nicer.
DeleteAs mainly an EPL watcher, I am a bit lost as to what is and isn't handball. I think it certainly wasn't a clear and obvious error, but still not wrong to recommend OFR, if this is even possible. I quite like the courage of HH to reject the penalty still after watching it, many referees would not have this courage.
I am still interested to hear other thoughts. But for me, no PK is supportable. Would some people argue no VAR intervention was necessary?
Interesting situation.
Some soft arguments against the penalty would be, that the ball was very unexpected and that the defender didn't get any advantage by the handball.
DeleteHowever those only argue against deliberate handball.
The unnatural arm position still exists and therefore I think, penalty is the expected decision.
Even with a more English or Northern European view in general on handballs, I still think the most expected decision is penalty here just because the arm is in such a unnatural position, most notably above shoulder level. I believe UEFA will support DCG's intervention in this situation, and not be very happy with Hdz Hdz's decision.
DeleteMore than 4 and a half minutes for a decision ...
DeleteIncredible.
I think you can have arguments for either decision - punishable handball or not.
But more than four minutes to decide this is far too long.
Good decision imo. Yes, ball touches the hand but player is pushed in the back, making the movement of his arms more naturally than a snapshot would suggest and he has no intention to play the ball with his hand.
ReplyDeleteMarseille - Villarreal:
ReplyDelete2' miss YC:
https://streamin.one/v/08ae0572
39' PK:
https://streamin.one/v/4d5d84e8
48' - penalty area situation:
https://streamin.one/v/db71ad76
62' 2YC/RC:
https://streamin.one/v/181c580e
2' Missed YC, not always easy to spot low contacts, in addition the minute in the game in my opinion didn't allow referee to have the mind already thinking about that
Delete39' clear penalty kick, if not Gozubnuyuk, AR2 must report this one live, very evident, and you shouldn't need VAR, defender is late and the ball gone
48' Not a penalty, correct decision
62' YC Correct decision
Here the missing situation, penalty or free kick, beginning of second half:
Deletehttps://streambug.org/cv/99c899
Definitely not clear management, not even clear what was whistled before. Looked like a penalty, but no gesture. Then, correction into free kick. Hopefully VAR was not involved otherwise he should have made signal. Committee not happy to see decisions by VAR without a field decision before.
In the video at 00:14 he makes a gesture with his right hand for a penalty kick. Very bad management. The assistant first remained standing, then as the referee awarded the penalty went to the goal line and confirmed the penalty. Then after communication they changed the decision and awarded a direct free kick.
DeleteOn reflection.... - 0.2 for management or clear refereeing errors?
OT:
ReplyDeleteGil Manzano is suspended by the Technical Referees Committee for his mistake during Valencia - Real Madrid!
He is suspended for TWO MATCHES pending the final verdict.
(Source: @ArchivoVAR )
That account is hardly a reliable source.
DeleteThis story about suspended referees in top countries it's never a news, M. Let me explain this one. Also in Italy after evident mistakes, there are always reports that a referee has been suspended, to make the fans aware (and happy) about that, but the reality is that the referee is just not appointed for a while, he can join different role, for example international competitons or even officiating abroad (for example Italian referees are sent to Cyprus) and they are never officially suspended with official documents or confirmations.
DeleteThis is different from some federations where referees are really suspended and this is also officially reported, but this is not made anymore by Italy, Spain, Germany, France...
Here the possible penalty for handball in Freiburg - West Ham:
ReplyDeletehttps://streambug.org/cv/1d1248
It's always difficult. Let me say this is an expected penalty for the position of the arm, so all is about previous touch, complicating the things. On a hand, you can say that this configuration maybe avoided the concept of "clear and obvious mistake", so one could judge as wrong the intervention by VAR and supporting Hernandez Hernandez, on the other side, it's never clear and the previous touch could be assessed as not significant deflection. Better to invite referee to watch such incidents. I think at the end we don't have the solutions and handballs will stay as very grey and controversial area in which it's impossible to find consistency. We could say that in this case VAR was used in a different way, given also the minute of the game, and I wouldn't blame too much Del Cerro Grande, he couldn't decide on that, because it was possible Hernandez Hernandez also wanted penalty for that...
What I can say is that from a Spanish referee you should expect penalty decision in such situations, and more generally I notice that when Hernandez Hernandez is main referee and not VAR, when called to monitor, he has always a certain freedom in taking decisions (we all remember from previous games) that the other referees never show. I like this attitude for the reason that he doesn't change his style and he makes always assessments based on what he sees. He is not afraid of VAR and that's clear.
Friendly game:
ReplyDeleteSlovenia vs Portugal
R: Irfan Peljto
AR1: Senad Ibrišimbegović
AR2: Davor Beljo
FO: Miloš Gigović
Source: Bosnian media
Foreign KSA appointments
ReplyDeleteAl-Shabab - Al-Fayha: Fernandes Correia, Pereira Costa, Vila Pereira, Al-Harbi - Oliveira Melo, Al Arfaj
Al-Riyadh - Al-Hilal: Sampaio, Pires, Alves, Al Shahdan - Reway, D. P. Lopez
Al-Ittihad - Al-Okhdood: Falcon Perez, del Yesso, Rodriguez, Alblwi - Balino, Al Sultan
Any predictions for next week's match?
ReplyDeleteThere are some under https://law5-theref.blogspot.com/2024/03/champions-league-202324-referee_4.html
Delete2YC by Rumsas in Maccabi Haifa - Fiorentina, reckless cynical kick from behind: https://streamable.com/8n26wt
ReplyDeleteJ-League 1 foreign appointments:
ReplyDeleteKawasaki Frontale-Kyoto Sanga
Ref: Lewis Smith (ENG)
Machida Zelvia-Kashima Antlers
Ref: Ismail Elfath (USA)
AR1: Corey Parker (USA)
AR2: Kyle Atkins (USA)
Some might be interested: a very good performance tonight by Ovidiu Hategan and his ARs Mircea Grigoriu & Sebastian Gheorghe in a Bucharest derby between the 1st and the 2nd placed teams with more than 40K people in stands. No controversies, excellent foul detection, full control, correctly seen offsides and fouls by ARs and only 1 YC for a dive in a hot game. Simply superb performance by the whole crew. I am wondering if he will get a UECL second leg next Thursday. It is possible but somehow unlikely I think because he didn't appear in the previous round.
ReplyDelete