Thursday, 12 March 2026

Europa Conference League 2025/26 - Referee Appointments - Round of 16 (First Legs)

2025/26 UEFA Europa Conference League, referee appointments for Round of 16 (First Legs).  



Thursday 12 March 2026

18:45 CET - Poznań (Stadion Poznań)
KKS LECH POZNAŃ (POL) - SHAKHTAR DONETSK (UKR)
Referee: Rohit Saggi NOR 
Assistant Referee 1: Anders Olav Dale NOR
Assistant Referee 2: Jørgen Rønning Valstadsve NOR
Fourth Official: Daniel Higraff NOR
Video Assistant Referee: Kristoffer Hagenes NOR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Marius Lien NOR
UEFA Referee Observer: Costas Kapitanis CYP
UEFA Delegate: Vito Di Gioia ITA 

18:45 CET - Alkmaar (AZ Stadion) 
AZ ALKMAAR (NED) - AC SPARTA PRAHA (CZE)
Referee: Sebastian Gishamer AUT
Assistant Referee 1: Santino Schreiner AUT
Assistant Referee 2: Roland Brandner AUT
Fourth Official: Walter Altmann AUT
Video Assistant Referee: Manuel Schuettengruber AUT
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Alan Kijas AUT
UEFA Referee Observer: Paolo Valeri ITA
UEFA Delegate: Scott Struthers SCO 

18:45 CET - Samsun (Samsun 19 Mayıs Stadyumu)
SAMSUNSPOR (TUR) - RAYO VALLECANO DE MADRID (ESP) 
Referee: Marian Barbu ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mircea Mihail Grigoriu ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Adrian Vornicu ROU
Fourth Official: Sebastian Colţescu ROU
Video Assistant Referee: Cătălin Popa ROU
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Marcel Birsan ROU
UEFA Referee Observer: Cyril Zimmermann SUI 
UEFA Delegate: Kuanysh Kanapyanov KAZ

18:45 CET - Rijeka (Stadion HNK Rijeka)
HNK RIJEKA (CRO) - RC STRASBOURG ALSACE (FRA) 
Referee: Vassilis Fotias GRE
Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Meintanas GRE
Assistant Referee 2: Michail Papadakis GRE
Fourth Official: Alexandros Tsakalidis GRE
Video Assistant Referee: Angelos Evangelou GRE
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Athanasios Tzilos GRE
UEFA Referee Observer: Stefan Johannesson SWE 
UEFA Delegate: Aleksandra Pejkovska MKD

21:00 CET - London (Selhurst Park)
CRYSTAL PALACE FC (ENG)  - AEK LÁRNAKAS (CYP)
Referee: Igor Pajač CRO
Assistant Referee 1: Bojan Zobenica CRO
Assistant Referee 2: Ivan Mihalj CRO
Fourth Official: Dario Bel CRO
Video Assistant Referee: Ivan Bebek CRO
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Fran Jović CRO
UEFA Referee Observer: Leslie Irvine NIR 
UEFA Delegate: Patrick Bonacker GER

21:00 CET - Florence (Stadio Comunale Artemio Franchi) 
ACF FIORENTINA (ITA) -  RKS RAKÓW CZĘSTOCHOWA (POL) 
Referee: Georgi Kabakov BUL 
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Margaritov BUL
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Venev BUL 
Fourth Official: Radoslav Gidzhenov BUL
Video Assistant Referee: Dragomir Draganov BUL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Nikola Popov BUL
UEFA Referee Observer: Carlos Clos Gómez ESP
UEFA Delegate: Andy Ambler ENG

21:00 CET - Celje (Stadion Celje)
NK CELJE (SVN)  - AEK (GRE) 
Referee: Luis Godinho POR
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Teixeira POR
Assistant Referee 2: Pedro Martins POR
Fourth Official: Fabio Verissimo POR
Video Assistant Referee: André Narciso POR
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Bruno Esteves POR
UEFA Referee Observer: Alain Hamer LUX
UEFA Delegate: Iva Olivari-Uliša CRO

21:00 CET - Olomouc (Andrův stadion)
SK SIGMA OLOMOUC (CZE) - 1. FSV MAINZ 05 (GER) 
Referee: Mohammad Al-Emara FIN
Assistant Referee 1: Turkka Valjakka FIN
Assistant Referee 2: Mika Lamppu FIN
Fourth Official: Peiman Simani FIN
Video Assistant Referee: Pawel Malec POL
Assistant Video Assistant Referee: Kornel Paszkiewicz POL
UEFA Referee Observer: Kyros Vassaras GRE
UEFA Delegate: Jan Willem Van Dop NED
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10 comments:

  1. Chefren10 March 2026 at 14:02

    Gishamer is worth following in Alkmaar. My curiosity about the Austrian referee's "old-fashioned" style is now leading me to try to follow his career closely. We will see which game he is about to have in the Netherlands.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Peter10 March 2026 at 14:55

      I think I have already expressed myself critically after his last assignment – in which you suggested a round of 16 in the Europa League for him: Although I do not follow his performances closely, the appointments (in the knockout phase play-offs 'only' one game in the Conference League, there again 'only' a first leg) already hinted that even in the round of 16 it would only be enough for a first leg, solely in the Conference League. Apart from his debut in the Champions League, I do not get the impression that he is still highly in focus, but rather remains a typical first-group referee.

      Delete
  2. Quilava12 March 2026 at 19:29

    Missed clear YC by Barbu for RAY24 (UB-holding), resulting in a YC for dissent for SAM5.

    However, a very good advantage prior to Rayo's 2nd goal in the next play.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Euro Soccer Ref12 March 2026 at 19:44

    Question to other readers: why Rohit Saggi, after being appointed three times to the UCL in the 2024/25 season, has been limited to only UEL and UECL games this season? Had he some nightmare performance maybe? I watched him in Aston Villa - Salzburg and am following him in Lech Poznań - Shakhtar Donetsk today and he is a perfect example of a talented modern UEFA referee: great fitness and overall presence, strong personality, pressure resistant, etc.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Euro Soccer Ref12 March 2026 at 21:54

    It's almost impossible to get a free kick in Florence, Georgi Kabakov is aplying a very high threshold for penalising challenges. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Euro Soccer Ref12 March 2026 at 22:59

    Big confusion in the added time in Florence - handball spotted by AR1 but the big question was whether inside or outside the penalty area. Kabakov immediately pointed to the spot, then hesitated and it looked like he changed it for FK. After VAR input he awarded penalty without the official VAR gesture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Euro Soccer Ref12 March 2026 at 23:12

      https://streambug.org/cv/c3fb33

      Apart from this incident, expected level by both Saggi (modern style) and Kabakov (experienced) in easy/normal difficulty games.

      Delete
    2. PolandRef12 March 2026 at 23:15

      I think the same...

      Delete
    3. Chefren13 March 2026 at 04:16

      Confusion in the last minute, original decision was a correct one by Kabakov, then I think AR said free kick, but it was impossible for him to detect the point, because with a frontal view on the horizontal line. Still, unclear what was the "final pitch-decision" but correct by VAR to inform about the penalty. Nevertheless, he should have made the signal for mkore clarity, or, to avoid the confusion, he should have made only one gesture indicating only one decision on the pitch.

      Delete
  6. Chefren13 March 2026 at 14:58

    The mentioned incidents from Barbu game:

    38' Missed YC, one can only give up here, zero explanations possible
    https://streambug.org/cv/e198a5

    39' Advantage before goal, good...
    https://streambug.org/cv/9117d2
    ... but it was the advantage "coming" to referee and not the referee thinking about it before. :)

    ReplyDelete

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