18:45 CET - Leverkusen (BayArena)
BAYER 04 LEVERKUSEN (GER) - ARSENAL FC (ENG)
Referee: Halil Umut Meler TUR
Assistant Referee 1: Ibrahim Çaglar Uyarcan TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Abdullah Özkara TUR
Fourth Official: Cihan Aydın TUR
Assistant Referee 2: Abdullah Özkara TUR
Fourth Official: Cihan Aydın TUR
Video Assistant Referee: Rob Dieperink NED
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins POR
UEFA Referee Observer: Carlos Velasco Carballo ESP
UEFA Delegate: Adonis Procopiou CYP
21:00 CET - Paris (Parc des Princes)
PARIS SAINT GERMAIN (FRA) - CHELSEA FC (ENG)
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández ESP
Assistant Referee 1: José Enrique Naranjo Pérez ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Diego Sánchez Rojo ESP
Fourth Official: José Luis Munuera Montero ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Video Assistant Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande ESP
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: César Soto Grado ESP
UEFA Referee Observer: Alfredo Trentalange ITA
UEFA Delegate: Peter Oskam NED
21:00 CET - Madrid (Estadio Santiago Bernabéu)
REAL MADRID CF (ESP) - MANCHESTER CITY FC (ENG)
Referee: Maurizio Mariani ITA
Assistant Referee 1: Daniele Bindoni ITA
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni ITA
Fourth Official: Matteo Marchetti ITA
Video Assistant Referee: Marco Di Bello ITA
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Daniele Chiffi ITA
UEFA Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold NOR
UEFA Delegate: Alexander Miescher SUI
21:00 CET - Bodø (Aspmyra)
Assistant Referee 1: Branislav Hancko SVK
Assistant Referee 2: Jan Pozor SVK
Fourth Official: Michal Očenáš SVK
Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Robert Schröder GER
FK BODØ/GLIMT (NOR) - SPORTING CP (POR)
Referee: Ivan Kružliak SVK Assistant Referee 1: Branislav Hancko SVK
Assistant Referee 2: Jan Pozor SVK
Fourth Official: Michal Očenáš SVK
Video Assistant Referee: Bastian Dankert GER
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Robert Schröder GER
UEFA Referee Observer: Pascal Pierre Garibian FRA
UEFA Delegate: Per Svärd SWE
PSG - CHELSEA: Hernandez-Hernandez (ESP)
ReplyDeleteREAL - MAN. CITY: Mariani (ITA)
LEVERKUSEN - ARSENAL Meler (TUR)
DeleteBODO - SPORTING: Kruzliak (SVK)
wow Umut meler is finally back
ReplyDeletespoke too soon as he and his team made a horrible decision about a penalty given to Arsenal
DeleteLeverkusen vs Arsenal – HALIL UMUT MELER
ReplyDeleteThe Turkish referee once again receives UEFA’s trust after being practically crossed off from the latter stages of European competitions last season. Meler is a EURO referee, so it’s good to see him back in the spotlight.
PSG vs Chelsea – ALEJANDRO HERNÁNDEZ
Maybe we should ask Ahmed what’s going on with Pinheiro? Or will he now continue claiming until next Tuesday that Pinheiro was supposed to referee this match, as he has been doing so far. A big game for the Spanish referee! I have to admit I’m a bit surprised he got this opportunity, but this could very well be his entry ticket for “something bigger” before the end of the season.
Real Madrid vs Man City – MAURIZIO MARIANI
Considering that about 90% of the “biggest” names have already officiated these teams during the league phase, Rosetti once again shows trust in one of his “favorite” referees on the big stage. In my opinion, Mariani is a safe bet for the World Cup, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he ends up with a semifinal in the Champions League or even a final in one of the competitions this season.
Bodø/Glimt vs Sporting – IVAN KRUŽLIAK
Probably the least attractive tie on paper. Kružliak often receives UEFA’s trust, although I feel that since the EURO he has somewhat stagnated, or at least hasn’t shown much progress, as we rarely see him in the most important matches.
These are astonishing appointments… how the hell do mariani and hernandez get those games.. that’s beyond me
ReplyDeleteIs rosetti protecting world cup referees …? Only thing that explains Hernandez, Manzano, kruzliak, meler, gozubuyuk and guida all in the same round of knockout stage
DeleteThese matches might prove to be decisive for Eskas and Mariani
Or maybe the compensation for certain referees is already starting now? Big matches, but they might miss out on the World Cup? 🤔
Deleteyes could be, I think it also might be on purpose to "protect" some referees before the european world cup playoffs, you don't want to send there someone who made a mistake ....
DeleteYou may be right but I personally think that there shouldn't be any protection for referees who are candidates to be the on the pitch for the most important football event. By doing so, don't you admit that media attention is more important the performance. Protection needs to be for developing referees & future talents etc but not for Elite.
DeleteI am kind of surprised with this set actually. These referees could've been used in the previous round easily.
Is it possible that cancelled WC seminar is re-scheduled for this week? Is there any information about it?
The fact is that Mariani is one of the most protected referees and it would probably take a serious scandal for him not to be appointed for several rounds. Personally, I’m actually glad he’s been assigned to this match, because now we’ll see how it looks in front of the entire football public. If he performs excellently – fair enough, it will be deserved. But if the performance isn’t good, then hopefully it will finally be evaluated realistically and on merit.
ReplyDeleteIt’s quite clear that his mistakes, OFRs and other situations are often overlooked for him – and maybe one or two other referees as well. For elite referees who are less protected, those things usually don’t pass without consequences and they tend to be “punished”. I’m not a fan of Mariani and I’m really curious to see how it will look on Wednesday.
Its quite refreshing to see Melee back in the mix of UCL affairs after a long time out. Whatever mistake he might have made, I don't think a lot more other guys are necessarily better than him. Plus he has had excellent performances in the Europa league so far. Deserved in my opinion
ReplyDeleteI also like that he's back .. but I really know that he's not gonna get another ucl game this year unless a miracle happens
DeleteThat penalty in Brugge in last year CL playoff was really something out of control. Let see if he will be back to some good performances he had before. Good luck to him
DeleteLast Game between, Forest - Fenerbahce
ReplyDeletehe awarded a very funny penalty to Fenerbahce :D
Probably the first time that a referee gets a CL KO games without previous CL GS game in that season.
ReplyDeleteIMO that's a very strange thing to do - referees should also somehow qualify for the latter stages with their GS games.
Hernandez continues a positive development, that wasn't really expected. Curious now, what happens with Sanchez in this round (CL 2nd leg appointment or only third choice from Spain).
Mariani makes a lot of sense in my opinion. As a relatively safe WC candidate he needs those games to gain experience and also to prove himself. Furthermore you don't want to repeat always the same names for those teams.
Kruzliak is a normal appointment after a decent group stage. Perhaps more logical to use him in the previous round, but still OK.
In general, I like, that they are using a wider selection than only the 16 referees from the intermediate round. First legs are mostly not that crucial anyway, so they provide an opportunity for that.
It also helps with avoiding every top referee to do 3 CL KO games + WC play-off in a short time period.
My expectations for second legs
ReplyDeleteLiverpool vs galatasaray : letexier
Bayern munich vs atalanta: nyberg
Realmadrid vs mancity : vincic
Psg vs chelsea: joao pinheiro
My prediction for the UEFA Champions League Final this season: Joao Pinheiro.
DeleteMy prediction for the FIFA World Cup Final this season: Joao Pinheiro.
My prediction for the new head of the referees committee: Joao Pinheiro.
I think UEFA should replace the word referee with Pinheiro...
Otherwise red card for Rosetti for DOPAO (Denying an Obvious Pinheiro-Assignment Opportunity) ...
DeleteYou know he is one of the best referees in Europe
DeleteSome crazy scenes at the end of Rangers v Celtic derby yesterday:
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/PremSportsTV/status/2030674595267727740?s=20
Donald Robertson and team put in an excellent performance - full control and acceptance in a tough match with hot atmosphere.
Completely agree, excellent performance. Set his stall out early with a caution after 2'. Game bubbled throughout but Don and team can be very proud of their performance. As for after the final whistle, they are the scenes that no one wishes to see. Hopefully all within the team are OK especially given there was an altercation between players and officials in the tunnel after the final whistle. The report will be very interesting to find out out the full extent of what happened. For me despite his lack of international progress, I would have Don as Scotland's number 2 behind Walsh.
Delete+1
DeleteA set of appointments that is very, very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing we can say, as someone has already written, is that the pool of elite referees appointed for the knockout stage of the Champions League is opening up, also to avoid repeating the same names and to have a rather easier range of choices for the matches that will follow.
Mariani has been given the absolute big match: Real Madrid–Manchester City. The Italian representative, now almost certain of his participation in the World Cup, needs to strengthen his position, but he certainly doesn't come from performances that would, in absolute terms, have justified this appointment.
For me the discussion here is very simple. One can accept it or not, but referees who are considered top-level by a very strong federation like Italy, obtain these matches without necessarily having to demonstrate as much as others. Now, whether one wants to accept that or not is another matter. But regardless of everything, it remains an incontrovertible fact that we can observe.
Then to PSG - Chlesea: here I will immediately say that what I wrote yesterday about the performance of the other Spanish referee, the one who is most likely to go to the World Cup, in Bergamo unfortunately, in my opinion, there was a clear collapse in terms of his evaluation just a few seconds before the end. I'm really curious to see whether he will get another Champions League appointment, but the mistake was one that simply shouldn't have been made.
I explain Hernández Hernández’s appointment also from this perspective, otherwise, in my opinion, he wouldn't have been appointed again so soon after his first appearance at San Siro, where he actually officiated very well. His brilliant performance in Inter match against the Norwegians also helped, but it is clear that a very strong factor—although honestly judgment should still be suspended, is that the Murcian referee may currently be in some difficulty in Rosetti's eyes. In any case, we will see what happens next.
That said, out of nowhere appears the Turkish referee Halil Umut Meler. A strange appointment, one could say at first glance. First of all, we must say that to make this choice now, he is a highly experienced official, so in that sense it's relative, but considering the extremely difficult moment, all the Turkish storm and everything he has had to go through, it was not something one would have expected at this point. Incidentally, opening and closing a parenthesis, one might at this stage even see the Swiss referee Schärer, making a similar argument (maybe second leg for him?).
As I was saying, the Turkish referee seems to be someone the committee wants to test, and the match between Leverkusen and Arsenal, at least in this first leg, is viewed in a very, very flexible way by the committee. Arsenal are seen as overwhelming favorites, and if Leverkusen manage to do something, good for them, but nobody will be waiting for that. The pattern here is very clear, really very clear. Otherwise they would never have appointed him.
And just as they make this choice, as always happens, they do it in the first leg so that they can potentially correct things in the return leg. But I repeat: the Turkish referee still has enormous experience, so that reasoning is relative. However, given that he had been quite absent from the scene, the discussion has to be made almost in absolute terms. From what we have seen in Champions League appointments in recent years, where continuity, officiating group-stage matches and then continuing in the knockout stage, has always been a constant, this particular choice goes lout from that.
DeleteIn any case, I'm certainly pleased for him, because he has been through a lot in recent times, and in most cases through no fault of his own. Still, it's worth noting that he always changes his assistant referees. Unfortunately there is also this issue that the Turkish federation, since Çakır retired, doesn't seem particularly committed to supporting its referees. That's something Rosetti certainly wont like, because he always repeats that referees must first of all have the support of their federation. If they don't even have that, it will be very difficult to build a good international career.
That said, let's move on to the appointment of the Slovak referee Kružliak, who in a way ends up always officiating a Champions League match. Well, this was the weakest match of the round, let's be honest, even though the Norwegians are a surprise. But you can see clearly how the committee uses a name that is obviously highly appreciated, because in the end we have understood that this is what Kružliak is, regardless of performances. And I don't say that in a negative sense. Unless he produces disastrous performances, his “good match,” unlike other referees, always seems to come regularly.
Basically, I'm pleased for him, because if I think about what his situation in the Elite category was years ago, he was close to being dismissed, like other names who unfortunately ended up leaving. However, now perhaps he is definitely receiving a bit more than he would overall have deserved, but in my opinion he is not a bad referee.
Chefren, what do you think about yesterday's appointment of Manzano? I don't think Manzano is a suitable name for Istanbul's tense atmosphere
ReplyDeleteA highly experienced referee to officiate this match, but unfortunately one who recently has paid a high price for a lack of technical accuracy. Very athletic referee, but perhaps compared to the career that one could have been imagined for him, in the end his trajectory has been rather modest for many reasons that came for him during his journey as top referee. He can manage normal matches without problems, but if things start to become complicated, it could be difficult. However he is still a top Spanish referee, and that's what we have today. Personally, I think he can be OK in Istanbul, it could be a complex match for everyone, but certainly less complicated than Galatasaray–Juventus, because we know that English teams tend to try to play rather than commit too many fouls.
DeleteWe have only to wait and see, he officiated many important games in the end.
Meler is back in the Champions League, but I would be cautious with the Turk. If he had refereed one or two games in the initial phase, we could consider an important game like the one in Leverkusen. But since that didn't happen, it would be more viable if he were judged in Lisbon. Anyway. Only his performance in Germany will tell if UEFA makes the best decision or not.
ReplyDeleteThe policy in Nyon seems to change as often as the wind direction.
ReplyDeleteLast season (2025), the Champions League had a very selective group of referees. They had to qualify for this stage through a steady league phase; the performance principle clearly applied. One bad match and a referee was basically done for the rest of the campaign. On top of that, there was a lot of compensation for referees who were not allowed to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup. They were generously rewarded with appointments.
This season (2026), the selections for the Round of 32 initially looked decent and fair. But as of this week, suddenly a much larger pool of referees is being used, and in my view the performance principle no longer seems to prevail. Moreover, referees are not sidelined after a poor performance. Apparently, in a World Cup year very different interests come into play.
To me it looks like the Referees Committee is mainly focused on two things:
1. protecting referees who will soon handle play-off matches - especially Turkey–Romania, Italy and the finals, all high-stakes fixtures, and
2. compensating other referees who will neither get a play-off nor go to the World Cup.
What I wrote yesterday fits this appointments more than the Tuesday officials, two Spanish two Italian for the first legs that means we can end up with two French two English in the second leg matches probably
ReplyDeleteAs a Turk, I am very happy that Meler was appointed to this match. There is incredible pressure and mobbing on football refereeing in our country. After every match, no tactics or game plans are discussed in the media, only referee decisions are discussed. These conversations are not at the normal level, but serious accusations to the extent of insult. Secondly, I think Meler is Turkey's second most talented player ever.referee and as you know, while all European countries are represented by at least 2 referees, this is only 1 in Turkey, I wish we could have seen him on the world cup list
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not Wrong, Umut Meler hadn't been able to officiate big matches for more than two years in Turkey. There were reports about he didn't want to officiate derby games... But This year he performed well in the cup final beetween Galatasaray-Fenerbahçe
DeleteActually, I remember that the information you said is only true for the 2024 - 2025 season. After a good Euro24 tournament that season, he did not manage the derby match to protect himself from criticism and mobbing and focused on his European career, but Brugge - Atalanta last minute
DeleteChefren what happened to serie A referee Antonio Rapuano? Two or three seasons ago, he was getting assigned to many the big games and it looked like he was going to be the an elite referee soon. But now I can't find him on any serie A match let alone a big clash. Is he still refereeing?
DeleteAntonio Rapuano’s path is really quite unusual. Before his rise some time ago, he was a rather anonymous referee, at least in the eyes of the committee and he was mostly assigned to just a few Serie B matches. Then suddenly he got a series of games right and went through a very strong period, which gradually led him to become well established and to referee regularly in Serie A.
DeleteTo follow, he reached the peak with his appointment to a Supercoppa final between Napoli and Inter two years ago, at the beginning of 2024. Rocchi, as often happens, had somewhat burned other referees beforehand and therefore didn't have many alternatives, but Rapuano had earned it. He was appointed to that match, which we can define as the turning point, unfortunately for him, in a negative sense, after a phase of very high-level performances.
It was reported that during that match Rocchi went down to the dressing room at halftime to make some observations. This is what has been reported, of course it can’t be known for certain, but it has been confirmed that he went into the dressing room during halftime, something that almost never happens.
And then from that Supercoppa match onward, he has never again seen the top level he had reached before. And not even so much because of his own fault, because in the end this is the referee he is, but rather due to a complete change of opinion by committee. It's a trend that I usually define as schizophrenic.
In short, he is a referee who tends to caution players very quickly, someone like Maresca, so referees who unfortunately no longer find much space in today football. He makes decisions based on what he thinks in the moment. And during the period when he had managed to climb the ranks a bit, he was getting all the decisions right. Unfortunately, as you can understand, this non-reflective and highly instinctive style, making decisions immediately without really considering who you have in front of you, doesn't work in today's football.
That said, if you analyze his trajectory logically, it doesn't make much sense. Which referee should one consider the real one? The earlier version, who was performing very well, or the one now relegated to only a few Serie A matches. always mid- to low-level games, and basically refereeing mostly in Serie B?
Rapuano isn’t the only one who had such a strange, non-linear trajectory. There are others in Rocchi group who had similar paths, but they never gained Rapuano visibility when they performed very well in Serie A, so they are not known to the wider public outside Italy. But Rocchi is like that: as long as a referee performs well he keeps using him, then he starts to have doubts and eventually sidelines him completely. In my opinion that isn't fair.
The referee has potential, especially the ability to completely isolate himself from pressure and make decisions instantly without caring about the consequences, but unfortunately that is not appreciated in today football.
In any case, to finally answer you question, now he referees rather only in Serie B by committee' choice, not for other reasons. Every now and then he gets a Serie A assignment, just the other day he officiated Atalanta-Udinese—but he doesn't go beyond that level anymore.
The discussion could actually go on much longer, but I really tried to summarize as much as possible. I think the issue is clear.
Games this season:
DeleteRapuano
Serie B: 9 games
Serie A: 6 games
Maresca
Serie B: 5 games
Serie A: 5 games
Unfortunately, the end is near for them...—they are for sure on my list of the most underground arbitri who never made it to the top but who could very well have done it...— in this matter, for me, Maresca is a paradigmatic case...Also in this matter, in the end, Im really sorry that nowadays they select Fabbris & Friends to be in Serie A instead of them.
Maresca is one of Italy's biggest losses, anyone who watched the 2023-2024 season could see how good of a referee he is, I don't understand why he was shut down by Rocchi ( I heard there was an issue when he went refereeing in Greece or something) ... But I can tell you he was better than some of the top referees in Italy.
DeleteI also feel like Chiffi could have had a good shot at being a good international referee.
Wow. Thanks so much for this huge insight. It is indeed a sad one. Until one or two years ago, I always watched a lot of Serie A games, especially when the big 7 teams played against each other. It was lot of quality, competitive and exciting. In that period, I discovered and observed a lot of Seria A referees. A lit of them performed at very good levels. But now, everything seems has dropped. Starting from the big teams, the quality of matches, competitivess, refereeing, star players. All of these have become hugely deficient in the league, leading to reduced interest. Now, I no longer watch as before, except the very top clashes among the top 4 or 5 teams. It's unfortunate, but I hope it will rediscover the spark. But I guess somethings have to change first.
DeleteSecond legs prediction:
ReplyDeleteLiverpool - Galatasaray : Davide Massa
Bayern - Atalanta : Anthony Taylor
Barcelona - Newcastle United : Felix Zwayer
Tottenham - Atlético : Glenn Nyberg
Chelsea - Paris SG : Szymon Marciniak
Man City - Real Madrid : Clément Turpin
Sporting - Bodø : Irfan Peljto
Arsenal - Leverkusen : José María Sánchez
Where is Oliver, unexceptable
DeleteYou'd have to see the outcome of the Europa League appointments today before you can make any definitive prediction for the return legs. Some of the names you listed here may appear in the UEL and end up being out of return legs all together
DeleteMateo Busquets Ferrer in U20 Copa Libertadores, Nacional vs. Santiago Wanderers
ReplyDeleteFull match:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLdz60K7kKQ
Incidents (match minutes):
20:50 YC 19SWA for reckless tackle
22:20, 47:00 blatant cases of kicking the ball after whistle
25:40 YC 6NAC for SPA
27:05 YC 20NAC for reckless tackle (who committed a foul? the tackle being reckless? vs step on leg by 10SWA)
43:35 RC 10NAC for the following violent conduct, correct, but quite strong arguments for a potential 2YC 19SWA for the previous reckless challenge
48:55 while you can keep eyes closed to 22:20 and 47:00, not cautioning 6SWA for this blatant DtR action is mad - such behaviour screams for a YC...
60:25 YC 3SWA for SPA handball
90+0:20 PENALTY awarded for tripping; 1) no replay was shown for a possible offside but it seems a defender close to AR1 kept the attacker onside; 2) the penalty itself is definitely a soft one, rather wouldn't be supported at the highest level
Eswatini’s Letticia Viana Selected for 2026 FIFA World Cup Officiating Team
ReplyDeleteThe list of African referees selected to officiate at the 2026 FIFA World Cup has been revealed with Eswatini’s Letticia Viana earning a prestigious appointment.
Viana who recently officiated in the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations Final, has been selected as one of the Video Assistant Referees (VAR) for the global tournament. Her inclusion marks a proud moment for Eswatini and Southern African football as she is the only official from the Southern African region to make the list.
Centre Referees
• Mustapha Ghorbal (Algeria)
• Jean Ndala (DR Congo)
• Amin Omar (Egypt)
• Pierre Atcho (Gabon)
• Dahane Beida (Mauritania)
Video Assistant Referees (VAR)
• Lahlou Benbraham (Algeria)
• Mahmoud Ashour (Egypt)
• Letticia Viana (Eswatini)
Source: A&Hinternational, Voice of the people news, and others (if you search on the Internet).
Should we expect the official list soon? Are this infos reliable?
I find it interesting that after so many years, people still believe the fake news from the African press.
DeleteGiven the often-false information about African refereeing, I would wait for FIFA.
DeleteWho will FIFA choose?
ReplyDeleteThe selection for the World Cup must only be, at most (even taking into account travel and delays), only weeks away. I don’t watch all the games handled by the cadre of preselected referees - BUT, I probably have watched a number of matches which, understandably, were not on the radar for the majority of Law5 readers. So, I wanted to present an analysis about who from my perspective is likely to be chosen for the (North) American WC, based on my understanding of what FIFA is trying to achieve in refereeing.
The analysis is predicated on two factors, which if they turn out to be different to what I’ll indicate, would make what is written below look rather silly: a) that I’m correct about the identity of certain selections, the ‘100 percenters’, and, b) the rumours circulating that FIFA will completely bloat out the selection, compared to the slot allocations that were originally allotted (adding ≈2 slots to each confed). I’m fairly confident on both of these. The same sort of rumours, namely that Rosetti would increase the number of European referees at the last Euro to even 20 or 22 were -- at least from what I heard -- quite prevalent. I guess that practicality probably ruled against that in the end: there was actually no sense to throw the since-2000 formula in the bin just to include (fe) Sanchez Martinez and Gozubuyuk, so the status quo quite rightly remained.
The best argument in favour of increasing the numbers would be travel, in this WC the antithesis of Qatar 2022 (there will be three different referee bases), as clearly the strategy that FIFA used in 1994 of using quartets of two refs and two linesmen to work games on consecutive days is now long since obsolete. However, I think the travel issue mostly pertains towards reserve referees, which in the era of VAR is now a rather loathed afterthought for the appointment makers, and shouldn’t be a big issue. Overall, I think that Busacca and Collina will resist the temptation to repeat what CONMEBOL did at the last Copa America (and what FIFA used to do until the mid-80s) and take a random, political number of referees to keep everyone happy and then have no clear target for how to use all of the officials whom they have chosen.
But: this is a unique World Cup in almost every respect, so I guess nothing is off the table. The confed-by-confed analysis will follow, starting with AFC, and followed by the remaining confederations in the coming days.
AFC [Asia]
Delete100 percenters: Alireza FAGHANI, Khaled AL-TURAIS.
(1/6)
Let’s start with clearly the highest-rated AFC referee at the present time, Alireza Faghani. I don’t want to write something excessively harsh, but I must say that the refereeing of the Iranian-Australian official is from my point of view the perfect microcosm of why removing an age limit for referees was a mistake: his approach to matches in recent years seems to resemble that of an experienced ‘Sunday League’ official in England; he misses way too many (clear!) fouls, doesn’t have a clear line in disciplinary sanctions, and his manner of interacting with players is really far from satisfying, and seems to mostly consist of losing his temper rather too easily. In the three run-up games to the Club WC final, Faghani had mostly got away with this manner of refereeing, but everything completely fell apart in the final, and to extend the metaphor of ‘Sunday League’ - had a referee handled a Supply League game here (Tier IX/X of grassroots football) in that match, undoubtedly he would have been rejected by the assessor with a very low mark and thus been a candidate for demotion. The way in which Faghani handles matches (for instance) in the Asian CL this season has shown no improvement on the subpar level of officiating from his Club WC. It is clear that Faghani is well-regarded personally by Busacca and Collina, but when the heat of the tournament is on for the assignors, I’m not completely sure that will save him from a sacrificial UEFA-CONMEBOL appmnt relatively early in the tournament - at least, that would be the most canny way to use the then-48yo referee from my perspective. It is easy to write dramatic statements on this blog which have no correlation to real life, but I would say that in principal, the manner in which Faghani handled the PSG-Chelsea final was so amateur/poor that he deserved to be treated like Heber Lopes in 2016, ie total excommunication. Anyway, you can’t question the experience on Faghani’s CV and probably that alone is enough to justify his (inevitable) vote for the WC.
Two of the most ‘in’ nations in Gianni Infantino’s FIFA (indeed two of the most ‘in’ three) are Saudi Arabia and Qatar; people have a short memory, but the beneficial treatment experienced by these two countries is exactly what happened to South Korea in the 1990s and early 2000s thanks to the influence of Chung Mong-joon, about which I really ought write an article to explain what really happened in WC2002. Anyway: some of the matches at WC2026 will be refereed by SAFF and QFA officials, that is quite sure. These facts will obscure the reality that Khaled Al-Turais is a good AFC referee and his selection for the WC is ultimately one that will be merited. I was very pleased to see FIFA, no doubt assisted by the observations of Manuel Navarro (former Swiss linesman, Busacca’s friend, right-hand man to the Swiss for some years in FIFA) switch to Al-Turais from the rather mediocre official, Al-Hoaish, who quite clearly is not WC-level and was rightly dropped by FIFA from the process. Saudi Arabia actually has a very good tradition of sending strict referees to the World Cup, and in modern terms, Al-Turais coheres to that: he lacks charisma and even basic ‘body tension’ in the way he handles games, but makes up for that with smart decision-making - though, it seems he is experiencing a difficult season domestically. I wouldn’t go too over the top on him, but his inevitable selection will be wrongly dismissed on Law5 as completely political.
(2/6)
DeleteA very similar speech can be made as for Al-Turais to the younger of the two Qataris in the race, Salman FALLAHI. I knew Fallahi, from the final of the AFC U23s and his appearance in Yemen-Saudi at the Iraqi Gulf Cup, as rather mediocre and a typical Ballan recommendation: but, I must say, in recent times it seems as though he has managed to reinvent himself (like Al-Turais) as an official with very good technical accuracy. It was said that his selection for the Club WC would precede him from not being selected for the WC, but my personal feeling is the situation has changed and that Fallahi is in a strong position. The problem facing Fallahi is that, as per his demeanour, he is quite distant from players and struggles to either earn respect or empathy from them (Al-Turais can achieve the latter). The incident at the Club WC where a player quite disgracefully tried to kick the ball at him is, unfortunately, the perfect encapsulation of that. So, the doubt about his selection comes from that area: however, I personally would choose him, and still be able to say that it is justifiable and not just ‘an automatic Qatari’.
By far the most interesting question about the Asian choices will be what FIFA decide to do with a very problematic case in their midst, that of Abdulrahman AL-JASSIM. It would have been decided by the relevant officials in the early 2010s that Al-Jassim was heading to WC2022, and that Taleb Salem Al-Marri (the linesman who was AR2 in two WCs with Shukralla) would accompany him. In principle, Al-Jassim is quite a good referee, who has shown the ability to assure match control in even very difficult matches, such as the pre-Covid post-Soviet derby Tajik-Kyrgyz WC qualifier, and one can’t deny that he generally did well in the extremely difficult Arab Cup playoff Sudan-Lebanon. The two big black marks against his name come from two disasters which happened in the very same stadium in FIFA competitions: the very well-known Morocco-Croatia, and the not-that-important Arab Cup game Algeria-Iraq which was handled by him in such an astonishingly bad manner, that writing now I still can’t quite believe it really happened.
While Al-Jassim is so blatantly helped in some respects by the era he is in (QATAR!), he is very clearly not helped in others. The next passage should be worded very carefully. We can start by saying this - different referees are different kind of people, both on and off the field of play; as ‘fans’, we only see the former. The data obtained in the matches for Al-Jassim is rather clear: he doesn’t have great charisma and soft skills. This is, clearly, a disadvantage. If the theme of 2020s in FIFA is ‘be an actor’, then Al-Jassim tries to achieve that by acting in an excessively friendly manner with players, to overcome an apparent lack of ability to naturally have a significant measure of authority over them. Other officials -- whom I am bringing up very deliberately -- like Arppi Filho in the 1980s and Cakir in the 2010s, did not have this problem. Al-Jassim’s consequent over-friendliness reached absolutely comical levels in Algeria-Iraq, but the most blatant trouble that he encountered with it (that I have seen) happened in Morocco-Croatia, when in the last ten minutes of that match, he tried to call over Hakimi in a friendly way, and the PSG right fullback basically told him to ‘f**k off’. This totally disarmed Al-Jassim who had no recourse whatsoever, and just had to stand there and accept being ‘mugged off’, totally losing any authority he had on the FoP. You can’t act like Mateu, if you are not Mateu!
(3/6)
DeleteThe second limit in modern FIFA circles which surely does not help Al-Jassim is a more suppositional matter, and thus I want to be extremely careful about the phrasing so as to not make an incorrect inference. I’ll explain it like this. At WC2010, two of the best referees were Irmatov (uzb) and Nishimura (jpn). They were trusted by the FIFA refereeing operation at that tournament -- which was led by ‘Great Man of Refereeing’ and indeed the best law-enforcer of all-time, Jose Maria Garcia-Aranda -- and those two officials very clearly knew and savoured that trust that FIFA and Aranda had in them. Shy would be too far, but I don’t think it is much of a secret that Irmatov and (especially) Nishimura carried themselves in a different manner to, say, the UEFA and CONMEBOL referees in that competition (internally, I mean). The situation in Massimo Busacca’s FIFA (for it is he and not Collina who is in charge of 90% of the day-to-day running, so I’m told) and how it works on the inside is quite different to the Aranda times. I would argue that it is not a coincidence that the level of Irmatov and Nishimura moved from “excellent”, to near catastrophic, in a manner which noticeably began at the first big tournament where Busacca was the new refereeing director, Confed 2013 (Irmatov did the famous mistake with the laws and Nishimura was terrible in Spain-Uruguay). It seems this nuance was lost on a lot of people, but the dichotomy of pre-2011 and post-2011 Irmatov/Nishimura is, in my mind, crystal clear. This is my final comment on the topic introduced in this paragraph for the time being.
The reason that I’m bringing this up specifically with regards Al-Jassim is that, amazingly, his WC2022 and Arab Cup 2025 were incredibly similar, to a quite extraordinary degree. I will even break my paragraphed writing style in order to underline this:
>> AAJ receives an appointment early in the competition (Usa-Wales; Sudan-Lebanon)
>> The game, from my perspective, goes well; BUT, the style of refereeing by AAJ, with the referee too much in ‘centre-focus’; I feel this will not, to use a colloqualism, ‘vibe’ well with the vision set out by FIFA in their seminars
>> A long-enough-to-be-noteworthy amount of time passes before AAJ is appointed to referee another match
>> The match itself is not really that important (third place; both Algeria and Iraq were nearly 100% sure of advancing)
>> That second game is handled in a catastrophically bad manner, with AAJ looking (I would go as far as to say) ‘depressed’ on the FoP, and with a tactical approach that vastly differs from the first match
(4/6)
DeleteThe interesting commentary, therefore, is to speculate what happened in the period between the first and second matches. However much this is or isn’t a very interesting tale in the genre of ‘modern refereeing’, it should be rendered immaterial in the end. With Algeria-Iraq, the wick at the end of the candle ‘Abdulrahman Al-Jassim’ should have finally run out in FIFA refereeing, and according to merit there is absolutely no alternative but to exclude him from the World Cup. The final interesting twist of this long, 10yrs-plus tale is to wonder whether vice-chairman of the referees committee, Hani Ballan, could use his influence to ensure two Qatari trios are selected for the World Cup: the fact that Al-Jassim and Fallahi both used completely different linesmen in the Club WC and Arab Cup respectively last year could lend some credence to that theory. It would be, according to merit, a complete joke were that be the case, but in my eyes it remains a possibility. We will see!
If Al-Jassim can count on the backing of Ballan, there is another AFC candidate for whom it is said the opposite is true, Ahmed AL-KAF from Oman. The journalist from Oman and authoritative source on international refereeing, Issa Said, can’t count himself a Hani Ballan supporters club member - but I would imagine the overall idea that the Qatari referee manager does not himself have a positive view of Al-Kaf for specific reasons is valid. I am not entirely up with the details of this story, and I know Issa has commented here in the past, so I will invite him to write more about it! Not being able to count on the sort of support that the two/three biggest Gulf countries can rely on (Qat, Ksa, Uae in that order) and need to balance the selections across the various regions of AFC, the ever mounting number of officials from Arab AFC nations also goes against the Omani official. Finally, it seems Al-Kaf experienced an informal ‘rejection’ of his work in the Arab Cup: of all fourteen selected officials, he was one of only two who didn’t stand in any role in either the knockout stage of the tournament or on one of the three Intercontinental matches. This would be an understandable ruling by FIFA, because Al-Kaf’s refereeing in his two group games wasn’t really good - he was too on edge, and his disciplinary control did not consist of a stepped approach, but rather indifferentiatingly screaming at players who presented a threat to match control. He missed a very clear penalty live in his first match; I wouldn’t count the OFR to revoke a penalty in the second against him too much. All of this is a bit sad, because Al-Kaf probably became one of the de facto two best referees in Asia, but all told it seems to me rather likely that he will miss out on the World Cup.
(5/6)
DeleteThe other member of that meritorious duo would be Adham MAKHADMEH, his appearances in the Arab Cup courting (not always undeserving) criticism, but who in my eyes absolutely enhanced his reputation in that tournament, and I feel quite sure that FIFA internally see it the same way too. I recall that there were big hopes for this official from Jordan for quite a while but a bad 2019 (Asian Cup opener and bad performance in U20 Italy-Ecuador) seemed to set him back some years and he was a more-or-less forgotten official in FIFA circles on the road to WC2022. Makhadmeh then came back into focus, it seems partly as a ‘firefighter’ in AFC to handle technically-challenging matches (leaving for instance the Qatari/Saudis with easier, more sonorous ties), and established himself as a candidate for the next World Cup.
In the Arab Cup, the Jordanian official was ‘Borosak-ed’ in his first game: he was called, quite correctly, to an on-field review by the unconvincing Thai VAR Sivakorn Pu-udom in Oman-Saudi. Because the VAR was who he was, and not Irrati/Dankert etc, I very much suspect this already put Makmadmeh’s mind into an ‘adversarial’ position, rather like a Video Support review, as opposed to suspecting he made a mistake. The review was for SFP, the foul should have resulted in a red card, but the original booking only remained after the OFR. This was a mistake, which Makhadmeh can count fortunate that it didn’t curtail his tournament altogether. This affair put Makhadmeh under the pump for his later matches, but the Jordanian responded in probably the best way possible, with first a borderline-heroic handling of the Sudan-Iraq match (taming and even winning over the extremely tricky African side in a deeply impressive way) before authoritatively handling one of the most technically difficult games in the tournament, the Algeria-UAE quarterfinal (though he should probably have awarded a penalty in the last seconds of normal time!). At the very least, the Collina-lookalike from Jordan justified the decision not to reject his performance in the first game where he missed the red card. If I were running WC2026, I would use the tournament to institute a changing of the guard in AFC refereeing stakes: when the time comes, allot Faghani a ‘sacrificable’ game (such as, let’s say, the Miami MD3 Portugal-Colombia) and allow Makhadmeh to be the Asian no1 to handle games later in the tournament, which he has shown the quality to do. The big question should be about whether Makhadmeh has the, to be slightly vernacular about it, ‘cohones’ to still referee well on the big WC stage. But before any of that, I feel quite sure he’ll be selected for the tournament itself.
(6/6)
DeleteRegional variation is an important factor in the selection, and allows one to be quite sure that Ilgiz TANTASHEV from Uzbekistan will referee games in the World Cup. Tantashev has one big advantage and one big disadvantage: in his favour, compatriots in both an AFC politician vice president who was a referee (naturally, the aforementioned Irmatov) and one of the most senior Asian instrcutors (a man named Farkhad Abdullaev). But, counting against him is the unfortunate fact that he has a habit of refereeing matches which turn into a massive fight after the final whistle. If one of his WC ties turns into a post-game brawl, it will be the third year running under FIFA auspicies that this has happened to Tantashev after France-Argentina (’24) and River-Inter (’25). A feature, not a bug, I would suggest. Tantashev has improved quite a lot since he was first on my radar in the 2019 Asian Cup, but I think there is a limit to what he can achieve, particularly in terms of match control and respect/fellowship from players in his matches. His selection for the World Cup will not need be a fight internally, and one can hope the same is true of the games he referees in the tournament.
One of the biggest winners from the Arab Cup in the winter was the Chinese referee hoping to upgrade on his reserve role at the last WC, MA Ning. Ma, who gained notoriety for his rather infamous handling of the last Asian Cup final, was synonymous with rather poor and agitated refereeing, apparently managed to find decent form at something approaching the eleventh hour. The candidate from East Asia who went to the previous (2021) Arab Cup, Japan’s Sato, was thereafter deconsidered from the WC list after his very limited level of refereeing in two games there. One perhaps could have expected Ma to wind up with the same fate in the 2025 Arab Cup, but after three quite decent (not more than decent, though) performances, it seems the Chinese won FIFA’s approval and I would judge his treatment in the knockout stage assignments very positively for Ma fans: not ‘risked’ with any game as main referee, but working as fourth official deep into the competition, even on the final. I think any negative past experiences can now be forgotten. Clearly, he would enter the WC as one of the lower-rated Asian refs, and his target should be emulating Lu Jun in 2002 and getting a second match. I think Ma Ning is the right name for East Asia and he should be chosen.
A less exhaustive analysis is needed for the final two candidates. I hadn’t seen (m)any of his games before, but I was impressed with the manner in which Yusuke ARAKI handled the (now-irrelevant?) playoff decider Iraq-UAE in Basra. I think Araki is a good name to be a reserve referee at the World Cup. Finally, I don’t rate highly the refereeing of the Emirati candidate Omar AL-ALI. Al-Ali gives a very agitated and tense impression on the field of play, appearing very close to boiling over and losing his composure. His sole presence on the list probably only owes to the poor refereeing of the other candidate from the UAE, Al-Naqbi, who refereed poorly at the Paris Olympics and was since eliminated from the race. To underline what I mean about Al-Ali, see here an extraordinarily long OFR conducted by him in the third place playoff of the Egyptian Super Cup (so, not the biggest match in the world…): https://youtu.be/sQALQIZBHRc?t=2014. I think the best that Al-Ali can hope for is replicating his position at the Club WC, that of being a reserve referee.
What a fantastic read. Can we expect the future parts to be written in this thread, or in whatever most-recent UEFA thread is active when you publish them?
DeleteBravo, Mikael!! Thanks
DeleteI have a question for Chefren: how many days in advance does the committee inform referees that they have been appointed, and roughly how early are those decisions made? I’m asking because the situation for the Bayern–Atalanta match might now be suitable for a referee even from Category 1, and there are other ties as well that get practically decided in the first leg. Are the appointments made before both legs of the tie, or after the first match?
ReplyDeleteAccording to what I know, especially from past times, very often they are informed a rather long time before, if possible even two weeks before, however as we saw in recent times, but the appointments are never definitive until the very final changes and it seems we can draw conclusions there are by far many changes. So assignments for second legs in a phase of a competition are mostly made before knowing all about first legs, but the current committee (maybe this is the very different change compared to past) reserves the opportunty to make many changes as they want. Therefore, a change for the original assignment of Bayern - Atalanta is absolutely possibile.
Delete2026 EFL Cup Final
ReplyDeleteReferee: Peter Bankes
AR1: Neil Davies
AR2: Steve Meredith
4th: Thomas Bramall
RAR: Marc Perry
VAR: John Brooks
AVAR Dan Robathan
First "Major" Cup final for Bankes and Meredith. Davies previously did the 2023 FA Cup final.
Refs and AR's typically never do more than 1 final of the same competition (Covid years an exception)
Congratulations to Bankes someone a week ago called that a final was coming to Bankes way after the flawless performance in the premier League London derby big six clash Arsenal vs Chelsea
DeleteLastly great job by the one who correctly predicted that Bankes was getting a final soon rather the FA cup final first
Early YC for LEV #8 quickly followed by another foul. Could have been a second YC but too early in the game
ReplyDeleteCorrect early YC. Could've then been a 2YC 2 minutes later.
ReplyDeleteI think it's the correct decision to issue a very strong public warning
Good start for Meler
ReplyDeleteGood with early YC and then the warninig for the other foul, for me that one not a 100% booking.
ReplyDeleteClearly card for martinelli
ReplyDeleteMeler was hit by the ball but he continued the game,i think it was the right decisionn
DeleteLeverkusen waited for a foul, but I think the decision to continue the game was correct
DeleteCorrect YC now on Martinelli
ReplyDeleteGood First half by Meler
ReplyDeleteAgreed .. pretty solid
DeleteAgree. Strict with clear line. Good authority and players management. Well done for the turkhish referee.
DeleteMatch beggining rn for him
DeleteSo Far Meler Performance is good for the eyes!! 100%
ReplyDeleteGood advange and after yc perfect
DeleteAnd now correct YC after advantage played. Very strong so far from Meler!
DeleteIt's indeed close to a 100% faultless performance. Very rare if not totally forgot in modern refereeing. Well done to him so far. This has been always an attitude by the Turkish, but very often he had been chaotic in recent games. Not today, 100% linear!
ReplyDeleteA performance by Meler so far reminding of his EURO 2024 GS, when he was at his best.
ReplyDeleteMeler detected Saliba's hidden foul perfectly.
ReplyDeleteAnd now very doubtful penalty,more of a simulation in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteWrong PK for Arsenal
ReplyDeleteAnd that is the benefit when you whistle penalty.
ReplyDeleteGrey zone that is more no penalty,but small amount of contact was enough.
Extremely soft penalty to Arsenal, to use an euphemism
ReplyDeleteAngle from in front of the players makes the decision seem supportable. Not a 100% penalty but can understand why he gave it live as the defender was no where near winning the ball.
ReplyDeleteClear exaggeration for me OFR would have been the good cam imo.
DeleteAgree with you all above NO PENALTY but the penalty call can be supported by VARs since the defender slides and on going down he makes contact with attackers leg
DeleteThat’s a huge mistake from VAR not to intervene there
ReplyDeleteNever a penalty.
ReplyDeleteThe good performance of Meler thrown away by one decision here
ReplyDeleteIMO clear wrong penalty and VAR should intervene
ReplyDeletePenalty to Arsenal, really sorry to have a rather controversial call here after excellent game.
ReplyDeleteWatched and rewatched my idea is that there is extremely soft contact, not enough for a penalty for me, I see that defender doesn't play ball, but he doesn't touch opponent for assessing the incident as clear penalty.
From Meler position, it was more expected and maybe obvious choice to give the penalty, but replay presented a different reality for me.
+1
DeleteBLATANT foot under his body… That’s the foul. Not when their feet touched each other..
DeleteThe defender body makes a soft contact with the arsenal attacker trailing leg so in the aftermath a 50/50 decision penalty call
DeleteGreat call PK For tripping. The defender put his leg in an attack path Without getting the ball. It’s defender Responsibility
ReplyDeleteWhat defender responsibility?
DeleteAttacker put his foot on purpose to draw penalty that's his only intention,not to go forward.
If two players are front and back, all responsibility belongs to the player behind, I think it is a very difficult position, both decisions will be accepted
DeleteAttacker uses advantage that was Gaven by defender. The defender should never put his body in that situation
DeleteIMO, never penalty, but play on
DeleteNever penalty for me but normal assesment by Meler from his side point of view. But i don’t understand why Dieperink didn’t call Meler for OFR. Is there a contact ? Perhaps a little one on left foot but strong unaturral fall by attacker and more YC for simulation than PK for me. A pity for Meler who was almost perfect for the rest of match.
ReplyDeleteVAR should have overturned it, its not even soft its a dive, contact of there was any initiated by Madueke
ReplyDeleteDefender is the one who slide so he initiate the contact then attack made first touch of defender leg
DeleteAnd now 2 yc's for corner delay,refreshing to see.
ReplyDeleteBut still,that penalty...
It's good to see this strong management before corner kick now at the very end of the game.
ReplyDeleteI'm extremely sorry for the penalty call in this game, shouldn't have happened, this spoiled, or at least gave room for discussion in a performance that, apart from that, was excellent. Even more excellent if you consider the referee had been previously out from Champions League for a while. But then, you have penalty area decision, always the most difficult situations to be handled.
I'm sure Carlos Velasco Carballo will be vey satisfied, but as it already happened in past for the Turkish, one single incident can be reason for big controversy.
About VAR, here a pure application of the original protocol by Dieperink, correct to stay slent, at least a minimum contact can't be excluded, but in reality better decision to play on (nervetheless, impossible a play on from the pitch in such scenario, unless you are extremely lucky to see everything right).
It's hard for me to blame Dieperink either. It was a very small contact from the defensive player from behind, but it was a fact. And no matter how unnatural or intentional the attacking player's fall may have looked, that's not the point for Dieperink.
Delete'What is clear error?' This is an eternal question. Each referee must experience such cases and find the answer.
I also dont wanna blame meler as he didn’t have the best angle to see the penalty and rather probably relied on his instinct that it seemed live that there was contact
DeleteDieperink might have some trouble tho
I think, this is a perfect example for the misconstruction of the VAR system.
DeleteFirst of all, the level of VAR activity must be switched from "clear and obvious mistake" to "doubtful decision". In that case, Meler would have had the chance of an OFR.
Secondly, an OFR - for whatever reason - must not be an argument for reducing the assessment of a referee. As stated above, Melers penalty decision is understandable from his position, nevertheless Meler fell into the trap of the Arsenal player. Just because there was a minimal touch between defender and offensive player, it never was a foul, just a tricky dive. Sadly the VAR hid behind this minimal touch.
If the level for an OFR is lowered, situations like this would not end in a fault, that in last consequence goes on Meler's account.
I completely agree with the analysis.
DeleteI am very pleased with Meler's performance. He did not have a single wrong or unacceptable decision throughout the match. He never fell out of the match and lost control. Even after the penalty, his last minute corner control and cards were great. He had self-confidence for the penalty decision. But the penalty decision will be discussed in public
ReplyDeleteDespite the little controversy, it is really great to see Meler especially at that level.. He proved he belongs to being in the champions league, and I hope this performance will get him at least far in the Europa League ( a SF would be nice)
ReplyDeleteFor attitude, body language (very alert and even "angry" when needed), disciplunary control, it was absolutely one of the best CL performance ever in recent times.
DeleteThe forwards are taking advantage of the ridiculous protocol and creating any kind of contact, knowing that VAR won't intervene. I hope this is corrected, otherwise we'll be seeing these penalties for a long time. On the other hand, it's impossible that the referee saw the slight contact; he thought he saw the defender bring down the forward, and that's why VAR should have intervened.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree.
DeleteMelee being back with a brilliant and absolutely flawless performance, until... a match-defining wrong OK-call, and a VAR not doing his job. What a pity! But anyway, he is now a real alternative even for following big matches!
ReplyDeleteMeler/ PK
DeleteWrong? Not even close. His foot is under his body. That’s the offence. Then falls with the wrong foot. But wrong? Never. Unwanted by the football fans, yes.
DeleteDanny Blind defends Rob Dieperink on a Dutch TV programma:
ReplyDelete"I understand that VAR doesn't do anything about this, because there's contact with his lower back. Tillman slides and doesn't hit him with his legs, but he does throw him off balance. Then the VAR won't reverse it."
The ultimate question: Was contact the reason he lost balance? How do you prove it wasn't?
Not every contact is a foul.
DeleteThat's a cliché when contact is the right way, right? Isn't it?
DeleteIn my opinion, contacting an opponent from behind in a failed tackle is not a legal contact, meaning that if it is strong enough it can be a foul.
With respect, what football pundits think isn’t particularly relevant on a refereeing blog. Their role is to comment for a general audience, not to analyse decisions based on the Laws of the Game.
DeleteRegarding the penalty in the Arsenal game, I present exactly the same dilemma brought forth yesterday in Guida's Newcastle-Barcelona penalty decision: had the attacker attempted to remain upright, would the referee have awarded a penalty kick? From this perspective, I think we can say both penalties are, if not totally wrong, assuredly "soft", as they say.
ReplyDeleteObviously the main culprits are the commenters here, who praised Meler's performance before the end and therefore jinxed him. ;)
ReplyDeleteI wonder, whether the instruction not to give soft penalties is still active.
If referees would rather not give penalties in situations, where they can't be sure about the offence, we would not have the problem with the VAR. He would only intervene, if a missed penalty was clear, so 50/50 (or less) situations would not result in a penalty.
And if a referee still gives the penalty in those situations, it is correct to blame him for it.
Very soft penalty by Kruzliak to Bodo, confirmed by VAR.
ReplyDeleteLooked like a normal contact nothing worthy of being punished.
Very extreme application of protocol in this stage of UEFA competition, following Rosetti words about one month ago.
UEFA will not be happy with this. Soft penalty.
DeleteSupersoft!
DeleteI do not agree with your opinion. There is a clear charge into the back with force sufficient enough to unfairly knock the attacker down.
DeleteIf this were to be considered a soft penalty due to lack of force, then surely the late penalty awarded Tyneside yesterday would be deemed clearly incorrect.
Now Kruzliak quite correctly awards a penalty kick to Bodo/Glimt in Norway. This is a clear charge in the back, and definitely the correct decision.
ReplyDeleteThe game they play is football, not Chess. Football still is a contact sport, after all.
DeleteSupersoft penalty imho.
It is a contact sport, however, not all types of contact are allowed... Soft? Maybe... Incorrect? Absolutely not 🤷♂️
DeleteFair enough!
DeleteExcellent first half from Mariani in what has been an easy game so far
ReplyDeleteNo issues for Mariani and Hernandez so far.
ReplyDeleteUCL Ro16, 1st leg
ReplyDeleteBodø/Glimt-Sporting
R: I.Kružliak (SVK) VAR: B.Dankert (GER)
4´ Correct Bod15 foul (stamp on foot) whistled, YC as an option but it would be harsh
13´ Correct Bod7 foul whistled also quick reaction to avoid potential confrontation
20´ Very correct YC given to Spo42 (captain) for dissent by word and mainly, behavior as this is unacceptable
22´ Penalty appeal pushing on Bod19, but correctly not whistled
25´ Correct foul (pushing) Bod19 on defender called before head on goal, correctly dellayed whistle
29´ IMO bit soft penalty when Spo13 charged to an opponent, but VAR correctly stayed silent
39´ Correct foul whistled supported by AR1
41´ Correct blatant holding whistled Bod6 on Spo97 close to AR2
44´ Correct YC given to Bod6 on Spo10, crystal clear SPA, supported by AR2
45´ Bodø 2nd goal scored after tight ONside situation, great eye by AR1
Penalty call, in the end just a supportable one, nothing more.
Deletehttps://streambug.org/cv/6ca8c3
Agree, If penalty not whistled VAR would stay silent as well
DeleteExtremely soft
Delete46´ Penalty appeal in Bodø penalty area but correctly denied
Delete53´ Potential 2nd YC for Bod6 on Spo97, not even whistled foul, no propper replay in broadcast but if you compare to penalty kick in first half
57´ Now charging not whistled and free kick given to Sporting for handball, lack of consistency
62´ Correct return to original foul in favour Bodø when advantage did not ensured
76´ Borderline challenge Bod9 stamp on an opponent´s Achilles/heel, YC given
80´ Penalty appeal in Bodø penalty area but correctly denied
90+1´ Correct Sporting offside flagged by AR1 before shot on goal, flag delayed
Sorry for posting off topic, but:
ReplyDeleteValverdes goal (3:0) should be awarded goal of the season.
Just wonderful.
That's why we love football, don't we?
Across the four ties I watched yesterday and today, refereeing teams have given multiple soft defensive free kicks for minimal contact on goalkeepers or defenders on corners and free kicks - the same contact would not be considered a penalty so why the need to whistle every contact. In the Premier League, none of these would be whistled.
ReplyDeleteMariani & Gil Manzano the big offenders for this so far this MD
Deletesomething common among Spanish and Italian referees
DeleteMany, many examples. And yet, much much stronger holding completely ignored by defenders on attackers. It is incredibly safe, rather than accurate, refereeing
DeleteYes, I've written about it yesterday
DeleteCorrect PK whistled by Mariani
ReplyDeleteAdvantage played by Hernandez before 2-2. Expected one really as it would have been a big mistake to blow
ReplyDeleteGreat call
DeleteDonnarumma, very pathetic player, a talent as keeper, but absolutely zero about the rest, said to Mariani after the penalty call: "Perché fate i fenomeni?", meaning something like "Why do you act like heroes"?
ReplyDeleteHe didn't want the penalty call, but it was a very clear one.
But well, we know him, this isn't the first time he goes against referee, he doesn't have enough culture to accept that there is also the loss in football.
I find it funny how players like him are only lying to themselves, he knows its a penalty, and there is no need for the “heroes“comment.
DeleteDonnarumma is having a tough time. lol
DeleteHe knows that his time at Arsenal in England has become a bit distant (and that advantage is likely to increase), in addition to his country's national team that he will face in the playoffs.
His head must be boiling over.
I have to ask, nobody of you mention all the protests after penaltydecisions. Captain Leverkusen at the penalty, this is not to talk with the referee. Players of Sporting at the penalty and after the penalty one player is going right to the referee and restarts the protest. No actions! WHY???
ReplyDeleteCorrect flag by AR1 to rule out Chelsea goal.
ReplyDeleteNow AR2 correctly disallows PSG goal.
DeleteThe courage is gone!!!
ReplyDeleteClear missed yellow card by Hernandez for delaying the restart in the 82nd minute.
ReplyDeleteAgree. That s the sum up of him : courage is gone.
DeleteI didn't understand why Hdz Hdz gave Kvaratskhelia a yellow card. Can someone explain what happened?
ReplyDeleteDissent by action.
DeleteIt wasn't even a foul....
DeleteStrange. The camera didn't capture the play. It only came back when the card confirmation appeared.
DeleteAgree with Juan. Where is the foul here ? And only card of the match for that is simply ridiculous.
DeleteGoood performance by Mariani overall
ReplyDeleteYes, a flawless performance. The two important decisions (PK and no PK a few minutes later) were correct. Otherwise, it was not a difficult game but well managed
DeleteAfter this weeks results, perhaps there will be more room than expected for English officials from the QFs onwards
ReplyDeleteGood week for Olivers chances of big games although I can't imagine he was cheering the Barca goal since he's a Newcastle fan...
DeleteI refrained from saying a good week for Oliver because of that :-)
DeleteStrange incident involving Neto and Ball boy
ReplyDeleteBut between you and me, the ball boy made a scene when he fell to the ground. What a stupid thing to do.
DeleteCome on…that’s a STONEWALL YC here. You can’t push a young boy without any problem like here. What a clown management by Hernandez who prefered to book a player before for dissent with also a completely phantom foul whistled against him…
DeleteAgree ridiculous to fell like this and also not giving the ball to the opponent. But I think a YC should have been given there not RC bcose of the action of the ball boy.
DeleteSorry but no words !
ReplyDeleteFrankly, I’ve had enough of referees like Guida or Hernández who adopt an ultra-permissive line and then suddenly hand out a warning for nothing (for dissent), while also whistling an imaginary foul by the attacker and cutting off his move. Thanks to Umut Meler for being and remaining the way he is.
It’s unbearable to see only one yellow card in the match for that, while other incidents that are far more unacceptable go completely unpunished. How is it possible that Neto, who shoves a ball boy, isn’t even warned? It’s unacceptable for the Spanish referee to let something like that go without any sanction. I can’t believe my eyes. Assaulting a young ball boy, pushing him to the ground, and nothing! What a disgrace! ⚽️
Meler and Siebert..
Delete2 refs that handle matches by the book,the way it should be.
Just to find out a little.
DeleteMeler returned to the Champions League scene, furious with everyone. lol
Of all the judges today, the Turk was the one who applied the most cards (7 in total).
He seems determined to be a better judge after the difficult times he has lived through.
Pedro Neto on the incident with the ballboy: "I want to apologize to the ballboy; I already spoke with him."
ReplyDelete"In the heated game, I wanted to pick the ball up and he was holding it; I gave him a little push."
"I saw that I hurt him; I'm not like this... it was in the heat of the moment; I gave him my shirt; I have to apologize to him."
And not even a…YC card. Unbelievable.
Predictions for the second leg:
ReplyDeleteSporting - Bodo: Oliver
Arsenal - Leverkusen: Kovacs
Chelsea - PSG: Pinheiro
Man City - Real Madrid: Makkelie
Barcelona - Newcastle: Turpin
Bayern - Atalanta: Nyberg
Liverpool - Galatasaray: Letexier
Tottenham - Atlético Madrid: Schärer
Another positive set of performances, maybe this one more positive than Tuesday's.
ReplyDeletePoints for discussions, in my opinion, are first of all the penalty by Meler, shouldn't have been whistled, then the one by Kruzliak but this one being a more supportable situation and some people can agree on the call.
VAR seems to be totally out, zero OFR, only a factual overrule by book for handball in Istanbul and that's basically good, my opinion about this tool has been always the following: it should have been used as help for referee in case of very evident mistakes, not like a second officiating. The main argument by somebody is that soft penalties are not the goal of the field referees who whistle it and that's right, but I think one has to accept that under the argument that referee's discretion on the pitch must be always the same and it must be strong. There has been a drift about VAR and its use, one must say. I know that other argumeents could be questioned by those who want every mistake correct, but in my opinion that's indeed not possible. In this context, to me the call by Polish VAR for Pinheiro in Turin, was absolutely the only decision out of place.
About the second legs, despite of first legs score, all could be still open. I consider absolutely "ended" only the tie that will be played in Munich, Bayern - Atalanta. Don't know whether committee will assign a Category 1, very hard to believe, rather an occasion or an Elite who in normal conditions wouldn't have handled a CL KO game, maybe the new Elite are perfect for this scope. Jablonski not possible because German team involved, maybe Rumsas in case? All must pass before Europa League performances, though.
I think one can consider the rest of games rather open to any outcome, we have seen that many times in CL history. It's not difficult to score an early goal at home, and then everything can happen.
Among the names for second legs, at this point, given that Meler has been assigned, no doubts we will see Schaerer in a game.
And finally again about the Turkish, this was a performance that one can't throw away only becuase of the penalty, another game should follow, I think he wll get Europa League on next stages.
Regarding Meler: The issue I am having is that based on his view/angle, I do not think he can tell whether there was contact or not. Even if there would have been make contact he can not see it. Maybe coaching has changed, but I was always told never to make key decisions based on intuition or instinct only. Hence, with having VAR, I wonder why he gave a penalty on field. If he really could not see it, in my view, he should nit give it and rely on VAR to correct him if there was a foul he missed?
DeleteI watched the game on replay. Up until the penalty, a good performance. Then a wrong penalty [no contact, clear dive], and anyone who clearly misjudges a game-changing moment doesn't perform well, but poorly, like the VAR. In my opinion, neither of them should play in the Champions League or Europa League this season.
DeleteThe ball boy incident in Paris is another example of how even straightforward decisions, a mandatory yellow card in this case, still are source of hesitation from referees who could deal with the situation in few seconds. For me, these omissions, clearly intentional because it's hard to believe he didn't know a caution was required, are very negative. But as long as a committee doesn't give them the proper weight, there is not much that can be done: things will continue to be managed this way. If it were up to me, I would always call for action to be taken against this kind of behaviour on the pitch.
ReplyDeleteTimes of players abusing every moment during a game, must be over. But that's another chapter.
IMO, stop the use of balls held by ball boys. Refer to the most recent FIFA tournaments, place the multiple balls on cones, and allow the players to retrieve the ball themselves.
Delete+1
DeleteConcerning Meler penalty, my apologies for Dieperink with this focus. Clear foul on that angle and I think was the frame looked by VAR refs. Well done Meler and Dieperink !
ReplyDeletehttps://x.com/lea_efc/status/2032003070939279525?s=46&t=Ok5OCp_U1mZPFDKlm4EOGQ
Well, for me watching this video doesn't change much from what I had guessed live. It's absolutely correct that VAR didn't call it back, but it's still a soft penalty in my opinion, one that shouldn't have been awarded. And if you really want every contact to be considered a penalty, then...
DeleteI just said that we understand better why Dieperink stayed silent. And not a dive at all for me. Little contact but supportable call is better than phantom PK. But i understand and share what you say Chefren.
DeleteThis is still a clear exaggeration and i think refs needs to be more strict with this or we gonna see 5 PK every game, here he is clearly waiting 2 sec before falling which is not natural so maybe not a simulation but clearly not a PK imo.
DeleteDidn’t change my initial opinion at all… the contact is very very minimal and these kind of penalties shouldn’t be whistled.. I don’t think the committee will see it as a clear mistake, so everything should be fine for Meler
DeleteWithout wanting to repeat my point, but do we really think Meler could have seen if there was contact or not from his position? I still think it was given based on intuition....
ReplyDeleteThat’s what I said in a previous post… he didn’t have the angle to see it and must have given it based on intuition and his read of the contact.. can’t fault him on this
DeleteAnd why is cant we fault him for calling a foul when he couldn't see it? Genuinely interested to understand this.
Delete