Sunday, 24 May 2026

Domestic League Appointments

Referees in charge of domestic games, starting from Friday 22 May 2026. 

Sven Jablonski to referee German Cup final 


PREMIER LEAGUE


Sunday 24/05

17:00 Brighton & Hove Albion - Manchester United
Samuel Barrott - Simon Bennett, Blake Antrobus - Ruebyn Ricardo
[Stuart Attwell, Steve Meredith]

17:00 Burnley - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Andrew Kitchen - Wade Smith, Andrew Dallison - Adam Herczeg
[Constantine Hatzidakis, Neil Davies]

17:00 Crystal Palace - Arsenal
Farai Hallam - Marc Perry, Matthew Wilkes - Tom Nield
[Nick Hopton, Craig Taylor]

17:00 Fulham - Newcastle United
Robert Jones - Nick Greenhalgh, Sian Massey-Ellis - Samuel Allison
[James Bell, Peter Wright]

17:00 Liverpool - Brentford
Darren England - Scott Ledger, Akil Howson - Thomas Kirk
[Tony Harrington, Adrian Holmes]

17:00 Manchester City - Aston Villa
Andrew Madley - Richard West, Simon Long - David Webb
[Timothy Wood, Jarred Gillett]

17:00 Nottingham Forest - Bournemouth
Craig Pawson - Lee Betts, Alistair Nelson - Gavin Ward
[Paul Howard, Natalie Aspinall]

17:00 Sunderland - Chelsea
Christopher Kavanagh - Daniel Cook, Ian Hussin - Lewis Smith
[Matthew Donohue, Edward Smart]

17:00 Tottenham Hotspur - Everton
Michael Oliver - Stuart Burt, James Mainwaring - Robert Madley
[Paul Tierney, Mark Scholes]

17:00 West Ham United - Leeds United
Anthony Taylor - Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn - Stephen Martin
[John Brooks, Daniel Robathan]




SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF FINAL

Saturday 23/05

16:30 Hull City - Middlesbrough
Jarred Gillett - Neil Davies, Steven Meredith - Michael Salisbury
[Stuart Attwell, Constantine Hatzidakis]




SERIE A ENILIVE

Friday 22/05

20:45 Fiorentina - Atalanta
Mario Perri - Federico Votta, Matteo Pressato - Davide Massa
[Marco Di Bello, Marco Serra]

Saturday 23/05

18:00 Bologna - Internazionale Milano
Kevin Bonacina - Gilberto Laghezza, Andrea Zezza - Matteo Marcenaro
[Ivano Pezzuto, Niccolò Baroni]

20:45 Lazio - Pisa
Maria Sole Ferrieri Caputi - Andrea Niedda, Marco Emmanuele - Davide Di Marco
[Davide Ghersini, Marco Piccinini]

Sunday 24/05

15:00 Parma - Sassuolo
Niccolò Turrini - Davide Imperiale, Marco Trinchieri - Livio Marinelli
[Antonio Giua, Ivano Pezzuto]

18:00 Napoli - Udinese
Andrea Zanotti - Pasquale Capaldo, Mattia Pascarella - Gianluca Manganiello
[Alessandro Prontera, Luca Pairetto]

20:45 Cremonese - Como
Fabio Maresca - Dario Cecconi, Domenico Fontemurato - Andrea Calzavara
[Matteo Gariglio, Giacomo Camplone]

20:45 Hellas Verona - Roma
Simone Sozza - Marcello Rossi, Paolo Laudato - Ermanno Feliciani
[Francesco Meraviglia, Lorenzo Maggioni]

20:45 Lecce - Genoa
Daniele Doveri - Giorgio Peretti, Vito Mastrodonato - Giuseppe Mucera
[Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni, Giacomo Paganessi]

20:45 Milan - Cagliari
Marco Guida - Fabiano Preti, Filippo Bercigli - Giovanni Ayroldi
[Rosario Abisso, Daniele Chiffi]

20:45 Torino - Juventus
Luca Zufferli - Giovanni Baccini, Alessandro Lo Cicero - Andrea Colombo
[Aleandro Di Paolo, Valerio Marini]




SERIE BKT - PROMOTION PLAY-OFF FINAL (I)

Sunday 24/05

20:00 Catanzaro - Monza
Matteo Marchetti - Alessio Berti, Valerio Colarossi - Valerio Crezzini
[Federico Dionisi, Davide Ghersini]




SERIE BKT - RELEGATION PLAY-OFF (II)

Friday 22/05

20:00 Südtirol - Bari (0:0)
Federico La Penna - Giuseppe Perrotti, Alessandro Costanzo - Francesco Fourneau
[Valerio Marini, Daniele Chiffi]




LALIGA EA SPORTS

Saturday 23/05

21:00 Celta de Vigo - Sevilla
Francisco José Hernández Maeso - Iván Massó Granado, Abraham Pérez Dapía - Guillermo Conejero Sánchez
[Valentín Pizarro Gómez, Javier Alberola Rojas]

21:00 Deportivo Alavés - Rayo Vallecano
Jesús Gil Manzano - Ángel Nevado Rodríguez, Javier Martínez Nicolás - Guillermo Cueto Amigo
[Pablo González Fuertes, Rubén Ávalos Barrera]

21:00 Espanyol de Barcelona - Real Sociedad
José Luis Munuera Montero - Antonio Ramón Martínez Moreno, Adrián Díaz González - Pablo Monterrubio Torres
[Iván Caparrós Hernández, Óliver de la Fuente Ramos]

21:00 Getafe - Osasuna
Alejandro Quintero González - José Francisco García Lozano, José Luis Martínez Serrato - Gonzalo González Páez
[Jorge Figueroa Vázquez, Luis Mario Milla Alvendiz]

21:00 Girona - Elche
Alejandro José Hernández Hernández - José Enrique Naranjo Pérez, Marcos Cerdán Aguilar - Fernando Bueno Prieto
[Carlos del Cerro Grande, David Gálvez Rascón]

21:00 Mallorca - Real Oviedo
José María Sánchez Martínez - Raúl Cabañero Martínez, Juan José López Mir - David López Jiménez
[Javier Iglesias Villanueva, César Soto Grado]

21:00 Real Betis - Levante
Mateo Busquets Ferrer - Íñigo Prieto López de Cerain, Gonzalo García González - Aleksandar Ivaylov Angelov
[Daniel Jesús Trujillo Suárez, Juan Luis Pulido Santana]

21:00 Real Madrid - Athletic
Juan Martínez Munuera - Diego Barbero Sevilla, Miguel Martínez Munuera - José Antonio Palomares Gutiérrez
[Raúl Martín González Francés, Víctor García Verdura]

21:00 Valencia - Barcelona
Adrián Cordero Vega - Israel Bárcena Rodríguez, Judit Romano García - Manuel Pozueta Rodríguez
[José Antonio López Toca, Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz]

Sunday 24/05

21:00 Villarreal - Atlético de Madrid
Miguel Sesma Espinosa - Ion Rodríguez Portela, Mario Martín-Consuegra Díaz - Millán Bárcenas Torres
[Rubén Ávalos Barrera, Pablo González Fuertes]




DFB-POKAL - FINAL

Saturday 23/05

20:00 Bayern München - Stuttgart
Sven Jablonski - Sascha Thielert, Eduard Beitinger - Frank Willenborg
[Sören Storks, Christian Fischer]




BUNDESLIGA - RELEGATION PLAY-OFF (II)

Monday 25/05

20:30 Paderborn - Wolfsburg (0:0)
Felix Zwayer - Robert Kempter, Christian Dietz - Max Burda
[Christian Dingert, Frederick Assmuth]




2. BUNDESLIGA - RELEGATION PLAY-OFF

Friday 22/05

20:30 Rot-Weiss Essen - Greuther Fürth
Daniel Schlager - Rafael Foltyn, Tobias Fritsch - Felix Bickel
[Nicolas Winter, Arno Blos]

Tuesday 26/05

20:30 Greuther Fürth - Rot-Weiss Essen (0:1)
Robert Schröder - Jan Clemens Neitzel-Petersen, Stefan Lupp - Felix Prigan
[Johann Pfeifer, Felix-Benjamin Schwermer]




COUPE DE FRANCE CR
ÉDIT AGRICOLE - FINAL

Friday 22/05

21:00 Lens - Nice
Jérôme Brisard - Alexis Auger, Thomas Luczynski - Bastien Dechepy
[Alexandre Castro, Guillaume Paradis]




TAÇA DE PORTUGAL - FINAL

Sunday 24/05

18:15 Sporting CP - Uni
ão Torreense
António Nobre - Nélson Pereira, Francisco Pereira - Hélder Malheiro
[Pedro Ferreira, Ricardo Moreira, Nuno Eiras]




LIGA PORTUGAL MEU SUPER - RELEGATION PLAY-OFF (I)

Saturday 23/05

21:30 Farense - Os Belenenses
João Gonçalves - Pedro Ribeiro, Miguel Martins - Miguel Fonseca
[Rui Oliveira, Fábio Monteiro]




VRIENDENLOTERIJ EREDIVISIE - UEFA CONFERENCE LEAGUE PLAY-OFF FINAL

Sunday 24/05

19:30 Ajax Amsterdam - Utrecht
Allard Lindhout - Johan Balder, Freek Vandeursen - Alex Bos
[Pol van Boekel, Patrick Inia]




KEUKEN KAMPIOEN PLAY-OFF - FINAL (II)

Saturday 23/05

20:00 Volendam - Willem II (2:1)
Sander van der Eijk - Rens Bluemink, Stefan de Groot - Ingmar Oostrom
[Dennis Higler, Rogier Honig]




ZİRAAT 
TÜRKİYE KUPASI - FINAL

Friday 22/05

19:45 Trabzonspor - Konyaspor
Halil Umut Meler - İbrahim Çağlar Uyarcan, Bersan Duran - Adnan Deniz Kayatepe
[Ömer Faruk Turtay, Anıl Usta, Gürcan Hasova]




SCHWEIZER CUP - FINAL

Sunday 24/05

14:00 Stade Lausanne Ouchy - St. Gallen
Luca Cibelli - Matthias Sbrissa, Christophe Loureiro - Nico Gianforte
[Luca Piccolo, Michèle Schmölzer]




SCOTTISH GAS MEN'S SCOTTISH CUP - FINAL

Saturday 23/05

16:00 Celtic - Dunfermline Athletic
Steven McLean - Francis Connor, Scott Anderson - Euan Anderson
[Matthew MacDermid, Gary Hilland]




UAE PRESIDENT'S CUP - FINAL

Friday 22/05

17:45 Al-Jazira - Al-Ain
Raphael Claus - Nailton Oliveira, Fabrini Bevilaqua (BRA) - María Laura Fortunato (ARG)
[Nicolás Lamolina (ARG), Tiago Martins (POR)]




LIGUE 1 MCDONALD'S - RELEGATION PLAY-OFF

Tuesday 26/05

20:45 Saint-Étienne - Nice
Benoît Bastien - Hicham Zakrani, Aurélien Berthomieu - Jérémy Stinat
[Bastien Dechepy, Julien Schmitt]

Friday 29/05

20:45 Nice - Saint-
Étienne
Ruddy Buquet - Erwan Finjean, Huseyin Ocak - Thomas Léonard
[Nicolas Rainville, Cyril Gringore]

44 comments:

  1. Hernandez² gets the crucial Girona v Elche game, a direct clash to avoid relegation.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Watching Turkish Cup final. Extremely challenging environment to survive as a referee. Flares constantly thrown from the stands, enormous amount of stoppages, players contesting everything... If Turkish FA can't solve security matters, the things won't get better there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The last 10 minutes were a total chaos, would be nice to know the effective play time (would be veeery low!). The added six minutes were surely not enough, around nine minutes should've been added, and blowing the final whistle at 97:25 was premature as well but given how both sets of players and team members behaved... well, no one would like to referee in such environment.

      Meler awarded two controversial penalties, the first one to Konyaspor for holding was okay but the handball for which a penalty had been awarded in favour of Trabzonspor was a consequence of movement after a challenge from attacker - whether a foul or not is disputable.

      Many cards given, all of them mandatory. Some soft free kicks maybe but overall it was a really solid performance from Meler given the difficult circumstances.

      Delete
    2. 15' No card for SPA, Meler counting the covering defenders
      https://streamff.link/v/bff30857

      22' YC 5TRA for (team) persistent infringement, basically he got the card for two earlier 17TRA's fouls
      https://streambug.org/cv/68ae9f

      43' SPAlike but no real SPA nor reckless
      https://streamff.link/v/02178585

      45+1' Good advantage and YC 8TRA for reckless step on foot/ankle plus AR2 forgetting about the injured player while assessing offside :D
      https://streamff.link/v/4424532a

      45+4' YC 15TRA for dissent, excellent reaction by the referee!
      https://streamff.link/v/8bbe2940

      45+6' brilliantly spotted reckless use of arm of 16KON, mandatory YC issued
      https://streambug.org/cv/5078f1

      Delete
    3. 47' Possible YC 9KON for unsporting behaviour
      https://streamff.link/v/3a6c5972

      54' Penalty awarded for holding, correct no penalty after penalty execution - attacker is impeded by his teammate
      https://streambug.org/cv/970a67

      59' YC 9KON for SPA - fair challenge?
      https://streamff.link/v/df72010b

      65' YC 17KON for holding
      https://streamff.link/v/cb30e6ef

      76' Penalty awarded for handball; after rewatching it carefully, my congratulations to Meler - defender's reaction is not natural, he makes an extra movement not being a consequence of falling down, brilliant spot!
      https://streambug.org/cv/a6feb1

      79' YC 30TRA for goal celebration
      https://streamff.link/v/57d7186b

      81' GK handling the ball far longer than 8 seconds...
      https://streamff.link/v/3fbb01be

      83' YC 4KON for SPA, YC 20TRA for dissenting at AR1 - a foul or attacker looking for a contact?
      https://streamff.link/v/ffd90190

      87' - 90+8' - chaotic final minutes: confusion with a corner/goal kick, YCs to benches, YC 27TRA for time wasting, YC 4KON for dissent, YC 42TRA for holding, no card GK TRA for time wasting and provoking Konyaspor fans, 2YC to team member
      https://streambug.org/cv/1e3afa

      Delete
    4. "well, no one would like to referee in such environment"

      Weeeeeell, maybe you are just to soft :) it's easy to be a referee in a laboratory conditions with fair play on the pitch and without a noisy crowd...

      Delete
    5. Carl, your point is well-taken; however, there exists a limit to the level of uncivility that can be considered acceptable. When the safety of the participants is endangered, such as when flares are thrown onto the pitch, one must understand that no one, including the best referees in the world, should be forced to work under such conditions.

      Delete
  3. French promotions and demotions have been published today:

    Referees demoted to Fédéral 2: Gaël Angoula (1982), Hakim Ben El Hadj (1978) & Benoît Millot (1982)

    Referees promoted to Fédéral 1: Geoffrey Kubler (1994), Aurélien Petit (1987) & Azzedine Souifi (1994)

    Assistant referees demoted to Fédéral 2: Youssef El Hamzaoui (1992), Cédric Favre (1983) & Julien Garrigues (1989)

    Assistant referees promoted to Fédéral 1: Bastien Courbet (1987), Florent Marmion (1991), Nicolas Rodrigues (1989) & Vianney Rozand (1989)

    Referees promoted to Fédéral 2: Soulaimane Chamel (1998), Gabriel Henry (1998), Pierre Retail (1996) & Thomas Vincent (2000)

    ReplyDelete
  4. New Adidas 26 referee kits being modelled in the Scottish cup final and I am not a fan, they look incredibly tacky and not as stylish as previous kits.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Stripes look bizarre on a referee kit. Good early no penalty decision though

      Delete
    2. Seth Galia with the yellow kit in Ireland - Grenada friendly, unluckily no better pictures
      https://www.instagram.com/p/DYbwCkVDIaW/

      Delete
    3. https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/referee-steven-mclean-during-the-scottish-gas-mens-scottish-news-photo/2277263706

      This is an image of the black on show

      Delete
    4. Stripes on the short is probably one of the worst thing I’ve seen.

      Delete
    5. https://bildbyran.se/thumbnails/2605/18MI/BB260518MI078.jpg

      Already been used for basically the entire season here in Sweden

      Delete
    6. @elliot this is not looking good imo, something's weird.

      Delete
    7. Honestly speaking, I am pleased by the look of the black kit, especially in the context of a (North) American world cup. The white stripes provide (intentionally or otherwise) a respectful nod to "American sports culture", where referees in other sports dress in black and white stripes a la Newcastle, without destroying the overall clean look of the football referee's kit.

      Delete
    8. We use these in my country. At least 90 % of all refs think the shorts are the ugliest piece of thing humanity has ever created.

      Delete
  5. Pretty easy championship playoff final for Gillett. The winning goal for Hull had an attacker in an offside position but he 100% didn't impact the play.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jablonski super lenient in first half. Last warning after last warning for Stuttgart. Bayern players furios, heavy protest in half time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree with this, it's a very odd performance without being a disastrous one so far. Incredibly lenient and slowly losing respect by players.

      Delete
    2. I don‘t think so. Bayern players especially Kimmich try to influence the referee in every game this is their strategy. This doesn’t mean that they don’t appreciate him and his way to whistle the game. Jablonski used his high respect in German football to whistle the game in a very lenient and communicative way, a way German player and fans appreciate very much especially in such a final. There were no mandatory cards in the first half, so it was completely okay to not give a card in the first half.

      Delete
  7. A very dramatic penalty award and signal by Jablonski on 90+1 for handball, correct decision

    ReplyDelete
  8. Bastien for nice saint etienne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bastien has the 1st leg, Buquet the 2nd leg.

      Delete
  9. Good performance by Hernández Hernández in the crucial relegation game Girona v Elche, he's attending WC in good shape.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agree, Quilava.
      Now that the league is over, who do you think were the best and worst referees in La Liga this season? And who do you think will be relegated?

      IMO, the best:
      Alberola Rojas
      Munuera Montero
      Hernández Hernández
      De Burgos Bengoetxea
      Ortiz Arias

      The surprise: Cordero Vega
      The worst: Guzmán Mansilla, Cuadra Fernández, Muñiz Ruiz, Quintero González.

      My candidates for relegation:
      Guzmán Mansilla and Cuadra Fernández (I don't know if Soto Grado will continue for another year)
      Candidates for promotion:
      González Esteban and Lax Franco (Bestard Serbera and Muñiz Muñoz reserves)

      Delete
    2. I'd add Sesma Espinosa to the list of surprises.

      Delete
    3. Wasn’t palencia caballero a candidate for promotion?

      Delete
    4. @Nerazzuri I hope he is! But I haven't been following LaLiga Hypermotion as closely as in previous years.

      Delete
  10. A 4 minute delay at the Tottenham Stadium due to Ar1 Communication issue. Then 2 minutes later the same Ar decides to give a goal kick in what is the most blatantly obvious corner I’ve ever seen and he’s looking right at it 🤷‍♂️

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was shocking, AR clearly focusing the ball, easy call and took the wrong decision. Oliver should have overturned it imo.

      Delete
  11. Kavanagh lets Enzo Fernandez do whatever he wants, and he has already been cautioned. Now, after a foul whistled against him in front of the benches, Enzo clearly manifests dissent in an evident manner, multiple times, making gestures, and he is not even seen by the ref.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Don't think there was any major controversy on the PL final day as far I can tell....

    ReplyDelete
  13. Incredible stupidity on display from Wolfsburg #21 in the Bundesliga relegation playoff. 3 minutes after being booked for delaying the restart, he earns a second yellow for a very clearly reckless challenge in just the 14th minute. Wolfsburg are up a goal but now have to survive 75 minutes down a man. Well done Zwayer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 27 mins,5 YC's and 1 RC.

      Pretty eventful.

      Delete
    2. All correct, Zwayer doing a good job so far. Obviously a very nervous game for the players.

      Delete
    3. Zwayer is very good today. He didn't take this bullshit 'no cards in big game' approach and issued mandatory cautions when needed. In addition, he has a good rapport with players. Now possible RC for SFP/VC step on heel to #32 WOL, only a YC issued, VAR supported.

      Delete
    4. Good performance by Zwayer, and generally a positive note on which to depart for the World Cup. He was excellent in the first 15 minutes especially, with the yellow cards at 11’ being well justified, and he used this moment to manage the emotions of the game. It can be argued that this management contributed to a match in which he faced very high levels of acceptance from the players and very little nonsense, apart from the infamous second yellow card.

      However, there were two key incidents in the second period of extra time, which I believe deserve extra attention, and which are both debatable, but for which I believe Zwayer made the suboptimal supportable decisions:

      115th minute: a Paderborn striker was tripped within the penalty area by a sliding challenge from a Wolfsburg defender who did not come close to playing the ball. The striker stumbled as a result, but decided to stay on his feet and take a shot, which was blocked by a different defender. In my opinion, this block was aided by the stumble and delay caused by the careless tripping, and a penalty kick should have been awarded. One can make the following argument, additionally: had the striker fallen naturally the tripping contact, one would hardly have been able to argue against the awardal of a penalty kick from 12 yards.

      2nd minute of added time after 120 minutes: the challenge from Wolfsburg #4 was assessed as reckless, but arguably deserved a straight red card due to using excessive force. One might perchance view this challenge as an act of frustration from the losing defender. To borrow a turn of phrase from our friend Mikael, I would assess this challenge as a “tackle as an attack.” Yellow card is supportable due to its lacking of severe style of contact.

      Delete
    5. Agree with all,good Zwayer tonight and his no bs approach reminded us of hia compatriot Siebert,style like his.

      Question is now,why dont have that style and additude when handling big euro games?

      Delete
    6. It wasn't the case that he applied a lenient style in his european games. He has had just some problems to get key decisions rightly solved and that has resulted in many OFR's.

      Delete
    7. 11' - YC 21WOL for DtR, YC 7PAD for UB, YC 12WOL (substitute) for UB
      https://streambug.org/cv/e06b87

      14' - 2YC 21WOL for reckless tackle; initially my thought was SFP(!) but Zwayer was perfectly positioned to see that there was no contact with studs
      https://streambug.org/cv/c9f0e4

      19', 53' - correctly rejected penalty appeals
      https://streambug.org/cv/1f9239

      24' - YC 5WOL for SPA
      https://streambug.org/cv/c14c4c

      27' - YC 17PAD for reckless challenge
      https://streambug.org/cv/952e41

      29' - possible YC 4WOL for reckless challenge
      https://streambug.org/cv/d64526

      64' - YC 32WOL for reckless step on heel; possible RC for SFP, I guess some VARs would've jumped in but maybe not a clear and obvious mistake, especially taking into account there was no visible malice in the challenge
      https://streambug.org/cv/13990e

      79' - PAI handball; same incident like in the UCL semi-final, a player has his arm unnaturally positioned but the ball is played by his teammate
      https://streambug.org/cv/6d6e5e

      Delete
    8. 105' - Zwayer resistant to mobbing (to issue a 2YC)
      https://streambug.org/cv/e9070f

      114' - possible YC for dissent
      https://streambug.org/cv/af71fd

      115' - PAI tackle; the incident reported above, I think nobody expected a penalty here
      https://streambug.org/cv/dc0f00

      119' - YC 11PAD for SPA
      https://streambug.org/cv/9e9828

      120+2' - YC 4WOL for reckless tackle, possible RC for SFP due to dynamics but I think the optimal decision was made by Zwayer
      https://streambug.org/cv/0b38df

      Delete
    9. Thanks for the replay at 115', there was less contact than I initially thought. Agreed looking at it again now, not enough for a penalty in any circumstance.

      Delete

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