Who will officiate UEFA finals?

Please find below a (short) analysis about the candidates for 2023-24 UEFA CL, EL and ECL finals.

After semifinals' second legs played on this week, it's now time to make an analysis about the candidates for the three cups' finals.

Differently from previous seasons, there has been a very detailed discussion on the blog about the current situation, and some very good points have been highlighted by our readers. The first and maybe most interesting is about the policy of appointments. All EURO selected referees have got at least an appearance as either main referee or fourth official starting from semifinals. The only three missing names are: Slavko Vinčić, Artur Dias and István Kovács. This fact puts in a different shadow the analysis because one could draw the conclusion that the missing names could be surely the appointed referees for the finals.

Nevertheless, we have learnt from the past that we can always expect the unexpected, so trying to write something could have a certain value as well. 

Starting from the pool of candidates for CL finals, we can say that the referees for this year's Wembley masterpiece should be the following: Anthony Taylor, Danny Makkelie,Slavko Vinčić and maybe  István Kovács. Personally, I would have added Felix Zwayer, but now with a German team in final, it's sure he will not handle this game. 

The Romanian referee showed an excellent performance in Barcelona - PSG game, but it is more likely to expect him as referee for Europa League final, following a very clear devleopment path, after having officiated Conference League final two years ago, and waiting for bigger appointments in future. For this reason, I think he will officiate Atalanta - Leverkusen.

If we go back at a few weeks ago, the CL final looked to be planned for the Taylor, who could have officiated the final at home, without English and Italian (still a problem for him) teams. But suddenly he was appointed to the semifinal between Borussia Dortmund and PSG (in which he had a regular performance).  This should rule him out from the game in Wembley, we can't be sure but in the contrary case, Rosetti and the committee would repeat what had already happened in 2016 with an English referee, Clattenburg, who got both a semifinal and the finals. But in my opinion now we are in very different times and this event seems to be hard to happen again (nevertheless, it can't be excluded). Taylor for sure has not the level of Clattenburg The performances of the English have turned into better displays in the last appearances, but the overall season at UEFA level has been rather below expectations. To summarize, the strong argument against the English is that when committee was sure he could have directly handled the final, he was appointed for a semifinal (they would have never made something like that).

To follow, before knowing the appointment for Leverkusen - Roma, my idea was that committee had two candidates to be tested in semifinals, but only one of them, Makkelie, got a game. As said above, this could be a signal that the Slovenian has been kept without an appointment to be saved as referee for the final, while the Dutch has been exposed to a very challenging game like the one in Germany, in which he did well for sure. It was not only a question of performance, but also about how both teams would have reacted after the game. It was the perfect outcome for the referee, without any single complaint. Let's remember, to talk again about Taylor, how things ended one year ago following the Europa League final whistle. So, under this point of view, committee can't have different feelings than being absolutely content. The question is only whether the decision about the final referee for Wembley has been taken before (with the referees left out from assignments) or not. 

Another element is surely the PSG elimination against Borussia Dortmund, something that you wouldn't have expected,. After the famous PSG - Real game involving the Dutch referee two years ago,  he never met again the French side and this could have been a problem in case of final appointment. Now, there isn't this case. 

So, all in all, to make it short: the final referee should be one between the Slovenian and the Dutch. While the management by committee seems to say the Slovenian without doubts (but this rather because they expected PSG in final, at least in my opinion), I think that one must be ready to expect to read the name of the Dutch, this would be quite deserved.

About the Conference League final, I have my doubts about Soares Dias, because the Portuguese referee was never in focus this season. On the other hand, there would have been some candidates, with names like Letexier and Zwayer among them, and why not Meler after the excellent season? But maybe the last assignment for this game, one year ago, with Del Cerro Grande, can suggest us that this final is used for rewarding rather aged referees for their career, not having the glamour of the other two competitions under the eyes of committee, or, in the case of first edition, to reward a promising star (and indeed it was for sure the case) like the Romanian. But maybe not the same attraction for a referee in the middle of career who has done very good things. Still, the Portuguese should have handled something more during the season to justify this call and this would be a very strange choice. Also in this case, I'm open to read different names, but then the question would be: why those three referees didn't get games?

Hopefully we will get anwers soon, as the first final of the three is planned on Wednesday 22 May, the names will be surely released on next week, from tomorrow onwards, and my idea is that referees will be informed during the EURO course in Germany personally by committee (the best management under this point of view).  

And you? What are your opinions about the referees who will be in charge of UEFA finals? Write a comment and discuss with us.