The UEFA Referees Committee has today announced the referee team appointments for the 2024 UEFA club competition finals which, with Istvan Kovacs, Artur Soares Dias, and Slavko Vinčić, also features three of the referees nominated for UEFA EURO 2024.
The appointments in chronological order of the dates the matches will be played:
Istvan Kovacs will referee the 2024 UEFA Europa League final between Atalanta BC and Bayer 04 Leverkusen, to be played at Dublin Arena in the Republic of Ireland, on Wednesday 22 May at 21:00 CEST (20:00 local time).
An international referee since 2010, the 39-year-old Romanian has taken charge of eight UEFA Champions League matches and one UEFA Europa League match this season. This will be his second European club competition final as a referee after having officiated AS Roma against Feyenoord in the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League final in Tirana, Albania.
2024 UEFA Europa League Final refereeing team
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania)
Assistants: Vasile Florin Marinescu and Mihai Ovidiu Artene (both Romania)
4th Official: Ivan Kruzliak (Slovakia)
Reserve AR: Branislav Hancko (Slovakia)
VAR: Pol van Boekel (Netherlands)
Assistant VAR: Catalin Popa (Romania)
VAR Support: Rob Dieperink (Netherlands)
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The UEFA Referees Committee has also announced that Rebecca Welch will referee the 2024 UEFA Women’s Champions League final between FC Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais, to be played at San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, on Saturday 25 May at 18:00 CEST.
An international referee since 2015, the 40-year-old, from England, will take charge of her first UEFA Women’s Champions League final. This season, she has refereed six UEFA Women’s Champions League matches, including the quarter-final second leg between Paris Saint-Germain and BK Häcken FF. She was also appointed as 4th official at last season’s UEFA Women’s Champions League final between FC Barcelona and VfL Wolfsburg in Eindhoven, Netherlands.
2024 UEFA Women’s Champions League Final refereeing team
Referee: Rebecca Welch (England)
Assistants: Natalie Aspinall and Emily Carney (both England)
4th Official: Ivana Martinčić (Croatia)
Reserve AR: Sanja Rođak-Karšić (Croatia)
VAR: Stuart Attwell (England)
Assistant VAR: Katrin Rafalski (Germany)
VAR Support: Katalin Kulcsár (Hungary)
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The UEFA Referees Committee has revealed that Artur Soares Dias of Portugal will referee the 2024 UEFA Europa Conference League final between Olympiakos FC and ACF Fiorentina, to be played at the AEK Arena in Athens, Greece on Wednesday 29 May at 21:00 CEST (22:00 local time).
The Portuguese has been an international referee since 2010 and will be taking charge of his first UEFA club competition final. This season the 44 year-old has officiated four UEFA Champions League matches and two UEFA Europa League matches, including the UEFA Europa League quarter-final first leg between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and West Ham United FC.
2024 UEFA Europa Conference League Final refereeing team
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (Portugal)
Assistants: Paulo Soares and Pedro Ribeiro (both Portugal)
4th Official: Glenn Nyberg (Sweden)
Reserve AR: Mahbod Beigi (Sweden)
VAR: Tiago Martins (Portugal)
Assistant VAR: Christian Dingert (Germany)
VAR Support: Marco Fritz (Germany)
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The UEFA Referees Committee has appointed Slavko Vinčić from Slovenia to referee the 2024 UEFA Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid CF, which takes place at Wembley Stadium in London, England, on Saturday 1 June at 21:00 CEST (20:00 local time).
The 44-year-old, an international referee since 2010, will be officiating his second UEFA club competition final after his appointment as the referee for the 2021 UEFA Europa League final in Seville, Spain, between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers FC. He has refereed seven UEFA Champions League matches this season, including the quarter-final second leg between Borussia Dortmund and Club Atlético de Madrid.
2024 UEFA Champions League Final refereeing team
Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)
Assistants: Tomaž Klančnik and Andraž Kovačič (Slovenia)
4th Official: François Letexier (France)
Reserve AR: Cyril Mugnier (France)
VAR: Nejc Kajtazović (Slovenia)
Assistant VAR: Rade Obrenović (Slovenia)
VAR Support: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy)
So, as always, everything was already decided before semifinals (unless Women's CL due to Chelsea) and with the very evident clue of not appointed referees...
ReplyDeleteVincic refereed the 2022 Europa League final, not 2021. The two, Vincic and Kovacs, both refereed a final in 2022, and now both have climbed one level up compared to 2022.
DeleteAs a referee, it used to be a compliment to be appointed to most challenging ‘high profile’ games in decisive rounds. Examples are a MD6 game in group of death, Ukraine vs Italy or a decisive tie that involves a problematic Italian/Spanish team.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this is not longer the case. The appointment sends the indirect message that the referee is NOT considered for a final.
This Referee Committee started ‘hiding’ Vincic already after MD3 (PSG-Milan). In October 2023, while his 2022/2023 season wasn’t good at all. What followed was:
- A low profile Ukraine-N.Macedonia
- One-sided Naples-Braga MD6
- One-sided Bayern-Lazio R16 (the Italian team gave up before trying)
- And finally a good test in Dortmund, but again “hidden” as most eyes were on Barcelona-PSG.
Meanwhile, Makkelie was assigned to a sensitive Newcastle-Milan after Marciniak whistled a controversial penalty, a tight and very open game in Barcelona-Naples, and finally a Leverkusen against problematic Roma. The Dutch was praised and survived his games without complaints and can be very(!) proud.
Soares Dias was observed by Vassaras (MD5). After that game, all of a sudden UEFA started hiding him as well. Kovacs was tested, congratulations to him, well done! However, Pol van Boekel as VAR is a joke.
Is this a referee management we should praise? I don’t think so. This is politics and has nothing to do with form, skills or merit.
How can you already pre-select a final referee weeks before(!) the winter break? And how do you sell such decision to other referees that had a better season and better appointments?
What happened to the competition element? A healthy competition will improve the overall level of referees and keep them motivated.
What is Rosetti supposed to do with the most sacrificial/heated games next season? After Orsato retires and Marciniak post-WC form descending? There won’t be many volunteers for these games thanks to UEFA’s awful management. There is nothing to win; these referees can only lose.
I’m baffled and disappointed in this UEFA referee committee.
Don’t forget Vincic his most hidden appointment: Poland vs Estonia.
DeleteI disagree regarding the CL season:
DeleteLazio - Atletico and PSG - Milan were two top games, which could be expecte to be difficult
Napoli - Braga still was a direct match for the next round based on the group situation
Lazio went into the 2nd leg against Bayern with a 1-0 lead - so still very open.
Also the QF 2nd leg between Dortmund and Atletico was still completely open.
So I don't see a protection in the CL appointments this season - the games even involved many Italian teams, which is always dangerous.
And of course his appointments in the two KO games were also quite good.
Makkelie also had difficult appointments this season, I certainly agree with that.
But still, all games of Vincic were one-sided (except the game in Dortmund) and not the most risky contexts.
DeleteLazio is definitely not as problematic as e.g. AS Roma. In fact, Lazio lost almost all(?) their away games in GS without too much resistance.
MD1 games are not the most challenging, as teams don’t go all the way and everything is still possible. The focus on referees isn’t too big either, that is why the Refcom tries out new names in MD1-2.
MD6 on the other hand is where a referee is under a Magnifying Glass and where we see the best referees.
Napoli-Braga was already decided after 45 min.
Poland vs Estonia was the lowest profile game of the entire set and extremely one sided.
In addition, Vincic didn’t any box incidents to assess in all his games - no PK’s whistled by him. How can we be sure that he is tested in that regard?
Impressions: It seems that for UEFA it didn't matter much that Slavko Vincic was never in a Real Madrid match, that choice was basically already made. Istvan Kovacs shows the great progress he is making in his career, partly due to the misfortune that happened to his Romanian colleague Hategan, much deserved! About Artur Dias, it is a repeat of what was Del Cerro Grande, UEFA tries to console an elderly referee who ended up not having the opportunity to officiate a European final before.
ReplyDeleteVinčić!!!! Shame, shame, shame for Čeferin, Šajn and Rosetti.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with these comments. I would strongly prefer if the finals were an award not only for a career but also for a strong season in which a referee showed that he is in top form. What more could Makkelie have done? I‘m disappointed… Of course nothing against Vincic who is a good elite referee as well, although not having showed (or did not have the opportunity to show!) in this season. Nevertheless, all the best to all teams!
ReplyDeleteJust to add to the comments. Only 5 years ago, a referee (Damir Skomina) from Slovenia handled the UCL final. And now another Slovenian(Slavko Vincic)? While the former was well deserving as he was one of the best referees in the world then, surely the same can not be said of the later who seems an average politically backed referee who has been selected over more deserving referees. This doesn't speak well of UEFA refereeing. It's such a shame wa are seeing this happening.
ReplyDeleteTo add insult to injury, we will most likely see the same politics play out during the soon coming Euros, making it all the more distasteful. But then, any surprises? It's what we have come to expect with the current crop of UEFA leadership.
Well, good luck to all selected final candidates.
If you like statistics, I could throw in as an even more extreme example that the 1999 Champions League Final was officiated by Italian Pierluigi Collina, before it was entrusted to his compatriot Stefano Braschi the following year. At that time, it was not uncommon to award the final to referees who were left behind at the European Championship or the World Cup in the same year. The 2000 UEFA Cup Final went to Antonio Lopez Nieto, the 2002 Champions League Final to Hellmut Krug, and so on ...
DeleteThat is an interesting observation indeed.
DeleteSlovenia is ranked #30 in the UEFA Club coefficient list and #57 in the FIFA world ranking.
How many Slovenian referees have we seen in UEFA finals over the last 10-12 years? At least 5 right?
For the record: Skomina has 100% deserved his finals and was a very charismatic leader, however Vincic is not in the same league as his compatriot IMO.
DeleteIt’s not a big secret Vincic is a good friend of the UEFA president though…
Same with Hauge in 2006 who was left out for WC but did do CL final.
DeleteHellmut Krug UCL 1998 final
DeleteI wonder who UEFA would have nominated as the fourth official for the Champions League final if Paris Saint-Germain had reached it. For me, a comparably profiled (and available) referee would have been Michael Oliver. The others seem too high in the ranking or too inexperienced (Nyberg, Guida etc.) for such an appointment.
ReplyDeleteZwayer would have been available in that case.
DeleteBut yes, Oliver also makes sense.
Zwayer would have been more probable. Oliver was the 4-th official in last year UEFA league final and he was not able to handle with Mourinho and co.
DeleteYou are right: I didn't consider that Zwayer would have been available in this case.
DeleteCongrats to all selected officiating teams for what they accomplished this year. But there is something that I dont like. How many negative comments about Vincic in final. I dont see so much negative comments in 2022 when Turpin gets it over Danny. Vincic performances was consistent, and OK for the final. Makkelie year come. I already predict him to be on Munich as a referee. All the best!
ReplyDeleteIt is very imprissive indeed for a country like Slovenia to present two Champions League final referees in a so short time (5 years).
ReplyDeleteI think that there can't be a comparison between Skomina and Vincic, the former was definitely better, with an outstanding career.
The referee from Koper has gone through different moments of form, but at the end he has shown the excellence. I still can't say that about Vincic, who is surely a good referee, but hard to think he reached the level of his compatriot. Meanwhile, a third Slovenian seems already at work to become the next one: Obrenovic. We will see. Speaking honestly, one can praise the work by Sajin in his country, but one thing is sure: if we want to see the UEFA as a real confederation, we should ask for this development (like Sajin did at home) and this also means more opportunities, for all countries, otherwise somebody will be allowed to question the choice. Let's mention as example the closer country Austria, I think we can easily say they shouldn't have something less than Slovenia, at least on paper, regarding refereeing, but it seems the situation is definitely not the best. We could continue with Greece, Serbia, Czech Republic and so on.
We should also underline the appointment of a Slovenian VAR. Full trust by committee, but this wouldn't have been the same for other countries. We have observed how many VARs from the countries of other Elite referees were (and still, are) not trusted. For the Slovenian, maybe it was easier to get trust in this role (this is not about his real abilities, of course). Some people could find that unfair, and I would agree, but not for the Slovenian, just for the missing others.
Very well deserved FO assignment for Letexier.
About Kovacs, 100% deserved appointment, we can't add more. Top class refereeing in the CL KO stage games, and I'm glad committee appointed him for a final, despite of the controversy by Barcelona (this could have been an argument in case of committee afraid about public reaction). He will have van Boekel as VAR, I think they never worked together? With Italy and Germany represented by the two clubs, it was impossible for the Romanian to get the trusted VARs. My prediction was Hernandez Hernandez, to give Spain something, but no Spanish at all in the finals, and that's another thing one must underline, when we discover that there are two finals without Spanish clubs. Going back to VAR discussion: here one could say Popa didn't have the same trust of Kajtazovic, but we must also consider that he has been added only recently in the pool of trusted VAR by committee, by far later than the Slovenian. Nevertheless, one could argue. Very good to see Kruzliak fourth official, another deserved choice.
Then, into Soares Dias, close to 45 years old (I don't know if he has planned the retirement, but if I'm not wrong he attended the FIFA course for WC 2026), this can be a reward for the career, for sure not an appointment based on current merit. The Portuguese referee has struggled by far many and many times, he has shown very good performances only in less occasions than the expected. The feeling is that he couldn't achieve more than this final and so committee opted for that, before his retirement. Still to me a very strange management, a few games were enough to get this call. Nyberg as fourth official a choice that we can fully understand.
A few words, to conclude, about Women's CL final, different way of selecting the referee, waiting for semifinals and not deciding before, the idea in my mind is that if Chelsea in final, based on QFs assignments, they would have appointed Olofsson.
Interesting to point out that one year ago it was Foster, so the second UK referee in a row, but since it isn't same country, it's allowed.
Welch was also fourth official in that occasion one year ago.
I think, it shouldn't matter at all, whether a countryman had the final 5 years ago. Just select the referee, which is the best option for the current year.
DeleteRegarding VAR, it is at least consistent to use Kajtazovic and not Popa. The Slovenian had 7 CL games this season including 3 KO games, while the Romanian only had 2 CL games (no KO).
But still Kajtazovic's first CL season, so an alternative chocice would also have been understandable.
Soares Dias would have raised less doubts, if they had simply appointed him in a CL R16 game (e.g. in the place of Massa). In that case, together with his EL QF, it would have been a logical path to this final.
Welch is a logical choice as the first alternatives (Martincic and Olofsson, I think) are also younger.
I think these two statements:
Delete1) Sajn has done a fantastic job in SVN coaching & preparing international referees, Slovenia as a country clearly 'punches above its weight' when it comes to football refereeing (Skomina, Vincic, Jug, Obrenovic...)
2) Slovenia, due to Ceferin's presidency and (specially) Sajn's RefCom duties, also punches above its weight when it comes to the political/institutional support for their referees' careers (appointments, selections for NT youth tournaments, second chances to recover from poor performances, good mentors...)
Can both be true at the same time.
I really don't like how Vinčič is treated here. He used to be a very safe pair of hands, avoids huge mistakes for many years, is surely one of top Elite officials yet he's treated like a middle elite who has reached everything because of his nationality. I really dislike this way of thinking and it's disrespectful to the Slovenian, to be honest.
ReplyDeleteI thought it will be Taylor - still good in UEFA competitions, no English team in the final, big confederation behind him. But if UEFA decided to not appoint him due to performances (most likely too many VAR interventions in his games), then I really don't understand all this storm about why Makkelie isn't selected over Vinčič. I stand behind my words that both performed at similar level and given that Vinčič is older, it's absolutely natural to give him the priority.
I like the choices made by UEFA this year (don't know about women as I didn't follow UWCL).
Hi ESF,
DeleteFirst of all, I really appreciate your comments and analysis on this blog. Keep going.
And I partly agree with your opinion above: Vinčič has been a trusted and reliable Elite referee for years, and hasn’t been involved in many controversial incidents.
However, there is something I don’t like about his final appointment and I will explain. My main complaints are the safe way he is managed and appointed by UEFA in his road to the UCL final.
Take Gil Manzano as example. He was appointed to a delicate Ukraine vs Italy, crucial for qualifying. Everyone knows how the game has ended, due to the nature and importance of the game and the big NT-team involved. Another example is Makkelie in Real-PSG in 2022. The better decision was Orsato in the return tie, because the Italian already handled a UCL final, however for some reason the Refcom decided to appoint the Dutchman in a game where every 50/50 decision would be the talk of the town.
Furthermore, why did we all discuss Marciniak and his AR decision last week? This is due to the nature of the game in the first place, a SF return between two high profile teams and the decision was crucial for the standings. If this had happened in Napoli vs Braga (MD6) and Braga was the losing side, it won’t generate the same headlines as with Marciniak in Real-Bayern.
I respect the Polish a lot, because he had to work very hard in difficult (high profile) games before he was assigned to finals.
Kovacs and his AR made a poor impression in Porto vs Shakhtar (MD6), yet he didn’t generate too many headlines after the game. The game was important for qualification but it wasn’t a tie between two big teams in the spotlight.
What I’m trying to say is: Vinčič was a steady referee (sure!), however I don’t think they exposed him in a way like they did with Makkelie, Manzano or Marciniak before he was appointed to a final. We never saw Vinčič in many sensitive game between two (high profile) teams in a decisive round. It is easy to state he is very reliable and never generated many headlines, but we must admit that this was also due to the way he has been “managed” by Vladimir Šajn. He is 44 years old and has never officiated Real Madrid. That is quite something, isn’t it?
I do recall Vinčič had a very poor game in Inter-Barca (2022), however this was only MD3 and therefore the aftermath didn’t spoil his reputation. This would have been different in a MD5-6 game or a QF-return.
Another factor is luck. Many of his games were one-sided without many KMI incidents in the box. We could argue that he isn’t really tested this season in most of his games, compared to other referees. I hope you respect and understand my opinion.
Sure, I respect it! However, isn't shielding the top candidate for the final (Kuipers at EURO20, Marciniak at WC22, etc.) a standard nowadays? Marciniak last year was exception, he got all the most difficult clashes in UCL, the WC final and as he succeeded in every of them, he was rewarded with the UCL final as well (but maybe also because other options - Makkelie, Vinčič - failed). And yes, that Vinčič never refereed Real Madrid's game in his career is something strange, indeed!
DeleteTrue. But still, I wonder why some referees are exposed a lot in their ‘early’ career, while Turpin and Vinčič were wrapped up in cotton wool in their road to the UCL final, avoiding the most risky UEFA-games by its nature.
DeleteIt seems, the Refcom (Sajn and earlier Batta) had a clear plan and strong influence in Vinčic’ and Turpin appointments, to keep them clean from controversial incidents. As we know, a controversial incident can keep a referee out of the final (e.g. Makkelie with PSG now).
At some point, Manzano or Makkelie will be appointed to a UEFA final. What happens next is that Journalists can sum up a list of controversial incidents, just because they were “exposed” to games with a high profile nature, before they were considered for the Champions League final. And that is the part I don’t like. It is not a fair management to protect Vincic all the way to his UCL final, whereas other referees are exposed so much.
Another good example of a heavily exposed and pushed referee (before he could be considered for a final) is Daniel Siebert btw.
DeleteSo, why do they have a clear plan with some referees and not with others. That’s the question.
Here I agree! I loved Kuipers as a referee but I was 100% against shielding him at the EURO. One can say, he deserved it with his career. It's true but it's also unfair to others during the tournament. I'm sure we'll see the same treatment of Orsato (unless Italy reach SF). Indeed, he's the best referee in the world, together with Marciniak and maybe Turpin, but I would like to see the best performer of the tournament given the final. On the other side, I can easily understand such management. UEFA knows everything about such referee, have full trust in him, saw him in extremely difficult games, therefore take no risk giving him the easy road to the final. Many aspects to consider and understand... It seems we should get used to most experienced top referees being shielded to the finals.
DeleteI can understand many arguments regarding Slavko Vincic. However, I am surprised that no one ever mentioned Anthony Taylor's numerous final appearances here: After the U19 EURO final in 2015, he led the Supercup final in 2020, the Nations League final in 2021, the Club World Cup final in 2023 and the Europa League final in 2023 - all five with Spanish participation, by the way. Given that no one here sees him among the top 3 in Europe and that he has a competitor from England in Michael Oliver who was more successful at both the last World Cup and the last European Championship, I find his CV remarkable.
ReplyDeleteOh to be Danny Makkelie now...
ReplyDelete2022 - Main candidate for UCL final but unfairly punished for brave decision againt PSG
2023 - Not even got a semi final match while Marciniak got both SF 2nd leg and final
2024 - Clearly best and most experienced candidate without a previous final, not even considered for a semi final
World Cup 2022 - Good enough for two very high profile group stage games, not even used in KO stage.
I don't think I have to elaborate on how unfair the Dutchman is treated and I think arguments about him still having time are BS. We all know how difficult it is to maintain this super high level over the years and the best referees today should get the biggest matches. At this point the only conclusion can be that it's very personal against Makkelie.
But still, if you are desparate to demolish the Dutchman's motivation and use another referee, why Vincic? I'm sorry but I disagree with ESF's comment. For me he is just a middle elite referee. He lacks personality and social skills to be among the very best. To me Kovacs, Taylor, Oliver, Letexier would all be better options than Vincic. We can only draw one conclusion: it's pure politics and it stinks!
I assume that Chefren has already analyzed correctly: The finals go to the only three men who were neither used as referees nor as fourth officials in the semi-finals - so the nominations were probably planned before the semi-finals. In this case, Makkelie was most likely eliminated due to the possible presence of Paris Saint-Germain. You could have reserved him for the finals, but then you would have risked that the Champions League would not be possible (Paris Saint-Germain), the Europa League would not be possible either (he already handled the final in 2020) and the Conference League would actually not be possible either (overqualified).
DeleteThere is one more political aspect that might have blocked Danny Makkelie in 2022-now.
DeleteBjörn Kuipers has officiated the EURO final in 2021. With Makkelie himself also reaching the final 3 as a Dutchman.
If we consider how politics work, UEFA probably didn’t want to select another Dutch referee in the very next big final in 2022.
At the EURO 2024, it seems impossible for Makkelie to reach the final after Kuipers’ presence in 2021. As consolidation, it would be fair had they assigned him to the UCL final 2024. I wonder if PSG in the semi was the main obstacle though, because Vincic’ shielded appointments and not the most risky appointments are telling a different story. I had the impression that he was planned for a longer time.