UEFA Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 4)

1 November 2011

Plzen – Barcelona
Referee: Robert Schorgenhofer (AUT, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Alain Hoxha (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Norbert Schwab (AUT)
Additional AR 1: Oliver Drachta (AUT)
Additional AR 2: Thomas Gangl (AUT)
Fourth Official: Rene Eisner (AUT)

Valencia – Bayer Leverkusen
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Markus Strombergsson (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Tobias Mattsson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Martin Strombergsson (SWE)

Genk – Chelsea
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Dag Roger Nebben (NOR)
Additional AR 1: Espen Berntsen (NOR)
Additional AR 2: Dag Vidar Hafsas (NOR)
Fourth Official: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)

Arsenal – Marseille
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicola Nicoletti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Massimiliano Grilli (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Antonio Damato (ITA)
Fourth Official: Antonio Giannoccaro (ITA)

Borussia Dortmund – Olympiacos
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolai Golubev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Viacheslav Semenov (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Sergei Karasev (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Aleksei Eskov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Stanislav Sukhina (RUS)

Zenit St. Petersburg – Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee: Stephane Lannoy (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Eric Dansault (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Cano (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Olivier Thual (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Fourth Official: Herve Piccirillo (FRA)

Apoel – FC Porto
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Luca Maggiani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Mauro Bergonzi (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Andrea De Marco (ITA)
Fourth Official: Andrea Gervasoni (ITA)

Bate – AC Milan
Referee: Peter Rasmussen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Henrik Sonderby (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Anders Norrestrand (DEN)
Additional AR 1: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Additional AR 2: Kenn Hansen (DEN)
Fourth Official: Lars Christoffersen (DEN)

2 November 2011

Bayern Munchen – SSC Napoli
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Additional AR 1: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Additional AR 2: Richard Liesveld (NED)
Fourth Official: Pol van Boekel (NED)

Villarreal – Manchester City
Referee: Pedro Proenca (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Tiago Trigo (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Additional AR 1: Joao Capela (POR)
Additional AR 2: Joao Ferreira (POR)
Fourth Official: Hugo Miguel (POR)

Trabzonspor – CSKA Moskow
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Fermin Martinez Ibanez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jimenez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Cesar Muniz Fernandez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva (ESP)

Internazionale – Lille
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER)
Additional AR 1: Christian Dingert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Robert Hartmann (GER)
Fourth Official: Jochen Drees (GER)

Manchester United – Otelul Galati
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Sinisa Premucaj (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Zeljko Novosel (CRO)
Additional AR 1: Igor Pristovnik (CRO)
Additional AR 2: Damir Batinic (CRO)
Fourth Official: Ante Vucemilovic-Simunovic (CRO)

Benfica – Basel
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)
Assistant Referees Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP)
Additional AR 2: David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP)
Fourth Official: Javier Turienzo Alvarez (ESP)

Lyon – Real Madrid
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Silvio Mazzoleni (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Fourth Official: Andrea Romeo (ITA)

Ajax – Dinamo
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Fourth Official: Lee Probert (ENG)

FIFA Referee punched in Moldova

Iulian Bursuc, a former international player with five selections in the national team of Moldova, ended his career with a bang. More specifically, he ended his career by first punching a referee and then promptly retiring from the sport.

Bursuc was arguing with an assistant referee with his team trailing 1-0. When the referee comes to intervene, Bursuc caught FIFA referee Ghenadie Sidenco square in the face with a sickening right hook in the 55th minute of the first division match Iskra-Stal – Sfintu Gheorghe. The hot-tempered player was quickly calmed down by his shocked team-mates, and taken into custody by local police who were on the scene. According to the reports, Bursuc, 35, was "so disgusted" with his own behavior that he immediately retired after the game.

Astonishingly, the referee remained completely calm despite the assault, receiving a little attention from one of the team physios and then getting on with the rest of the match. And he quickly showed that his decision making had not been compromised in the least by Sfintu Gheorghe player’s actions as he sent off opposition defender Andrei Porfireanu for a second bookable offence just three minutes after the match restarted.

This was not the first violence of Iulian Bursuc. In early 2000s, in a championship game between the teams Nistru Otaci and Sheriff Tiraspol, he strangled another FIFA referee, Vladimir Antonov.

Source: Yahoo Sports

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Knockout Stage (Second Leg)

25 October 2011
Independiente Santa Fe– Botafogo
Referee: Roberto Silvera (URU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Pablo Fandino (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Fourth Official: Imer Machado (COL)

26 October 2011
Vasco da Gama– Aurora
Referee: Julio Quintana (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Dario Goana (PAR)
Fourth Official: Marcelo Henrique (BRA)

Libertad – Sao Paulo
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilson Berrio (COL)
Fourth Official: Enrique Caceres (PAR)

Universidad de Chile – Flamengo
Referee: Carlos Amarilla (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Caceres (PAR)
Fourth Official: Julio Bascunan (CHI)

Nepotism in Romanian refereeing

Adrian Vidan had the most AR appointments in the Romanian first league: 300. He has been a FIFA assistant referee since 2000, with 75 international matches under his belt. Last month, the former leaders of the Romanian Referees Committee decided to remove him from the FIFA AR List in order to make room for Valentin Avram, the second of son of Vasile Avram, the ex-chairman of the committee, who managed to put his first son, Marius Avram, on the FIFA List of referees in 2010. The former deputy chairman of the committee, Constantin Gheorghe, also put his son, Sebastian Gheorghe, on the FIFA AR List in 2009. Finally, another associate member of the former national committee, Tudor Constantinescu, had his son, Andrei Constantinescu, nominated for the FIFA AR List this year.

Last week, when the new chairman of the Romanian Referees Committee, Ion Craciunescu, met with all referees from the first two divisions, Vidan stood up and said: "I want to talk! To talk about what happened to me during the last year and a half. It was a hunting lately, I was hunted, I felt hunted”.
- Mr. Vidan, why hunting, why did you feel hunted?
- Because they had made a plan. Looking to make room for their children, they needed to find a victim and they turned to one who is weaker, not as a referee, but in other areas. Then it followed a hunt, I felt it on my skin. I felt, actually hunted.
- What was the first sign?
- To be on the FIFA list you need to be in the first division for two years. Last year they were not allowed to put on the list either Valentin Avram or Andrei Constantinescu. Then they left things as they were, but they had already prepared the ground for their sons.
- Who are they?
- They, who led the committee, Vasile Avram and Constantin Gheorghe. The first sign that something was wrong was in April 2010, CFR - Rapid 1-0, with no problems on the field. After the game, the observer Constantin Gheorghe said that I looked at my watch 15 times, I spit 12 times and I entered the field 4 times. I thought he was joking and, while talking, I asked the waiter something. Gheorghe snapped at me: "You do not look at me when you talk?" and threatened me that I will not be assigned any more matches. Since then I realized that they were preparing something.
- What is the episode number 2?
- In the summer of 2010, my colleague referee Augustus Constantin phoned me and told me that we will be going together to an UEFA tournament. After two days, Vasile Avram called and told me that it would be better for Sebastian Gheorghe, the son of the deputy chairman Constantin Gheorghe, to go at that tournament instead of me, so I stayed home and he was taken there. Then ...
- It was the third episode?
- In the game CFR - Gloria Bistrita 0-1, a year ago, referee Balaj gave a penalty kick after I flagged for a foul in the penalty area. After that match, I was not assigned other games, although the video images clearly showed that it was a penalty kick. The referee observer told me that he gave me the highest mark within the trio, but the Referees Committee explained that I was not assigned other games in order to be… protected. Well, what did I steal in order to be “protected”? This was followed by other episodes, step by step.
- Tell us!
- Last winter, at our annual refresher course, it became clear that people had a plan that they wanted me out. They said at the course: "Some will have to withdraw or we will remove them from the FIFA List in the fall. We are referring to the older referees, because UEFA asked us to rejuvenate the list." A big lie! I met with an international observer and he told me that UEFA never require such things; each committee does what they see fit. They marched on the idea that Valentin Avram and Andrei Constantinescu are young and must enter the FIFA List, while I am 43. At the same course, we passed the fitness tests. The next day, we were told that FIFA require us to do some simulation exercises. On either side were two assistants. In a couple of situations, I signalled different than the other assistant, but I got the correct ones. The next day, when the analysis were made, we were given no advice, but instead they put six videos, all with me: "Look at him: he does not hold the arm straight, runs too slowly, etc”, but nobody said that I had made all the correct decisions!
- What happened next?
- Next up was in April this year. On the day of the first league match Steaua - Urziceni, with only two hours before going to the stadium, I was asked to go to the committee. They put me in a room where there were Vasile Avram (chairman), Constantin Gheorghe (deputy chairman), Dan Petrescu and Constantin Zotta (members). They showed me some stats and said: "Look, we appointed you often and you speak the committee on the back saying that here we promote our children." I asked: "Whom I have spoken to, gentlemen?" and they said, "You know, you know… Craciunescu, who else?" I have not spoken to Craciunescu for years… I went to the game, I was wrong on a goal, because my mind was at that meeting, not at the game… My luck was that it finished 5-0 and nothing has happened.
- However, we do not understand...
- I have another episode, but, frankly, and I am embarrassed to tell it. Last summer, the theoretical tests consisted of two parts: a multiple choice test and video. My mark was 7.02, while the minimum was 7.0. For the video test they could not do anything, because there were clear answers coming from UEFA, I think I got them all correct. I say, what the hell, I did not do anything on the multiple choice test? ... I knew that I answered them correctly. Do you know what they said? "We have not considered the answers that you have indicated with X and circle. Constantin Gheorghe requested that we cancel all your answers." Can you believe it?
- It seems that everything is possible in the refereeing world...
- I think so, especially after a discussion with Vasile Avram that put a lid on it. There are witnesses for whatever I said until this moment; what I say now was a discussion face-to-face with Avram. This happened just a few days before he was arrested for corruption. He said this: “I know that you do not deserve to be removed from the FIFA List, but UEFA had asked us and there is nothing we can do. Plus you are the only one who has not called anyone in the committee". He meant that I had no friends in clubs to intervene for me. I was shocked, I could not believe it, but I said, "If that is the price, thank you, I do not need to stay on the FIFA List. I was not and I did not want to be anyone's servant!" A week later, God punished Avram and he was arrested for corruption.
- What do you want?
- I do not want to appear as a justice, but I had to publicly tell these things for my peace of mind. Anyone in my place would have felt the same, because I was a victim of the nepotism that had taken over the Romanian refereeing. If UEFA's slogan is "We Care About Football”, the Romanian refereeing became "This is a family business". Ghinguleac was their next target. During a match where he was an assistant referee, Constantin Gheorghe phoned the referee observer Tudor Constantinescu, the father of Andrei Constantinescu: “You must give Ghinguleac a low mark!” Constantinescu replied that the AR did nothing wrong, but was rushed: "If I told you to give him a low mark, you must do that!" He eventually complied with those “orders” because both Gheorghe and Constantinescu have sons who are active ARs, while Avram has both sons involved, one as a referee and the other as an assistant referee.

Source: Gazeta Sporturilor

Greek AR booted by Maccabi player

Maccabi Tel Aviv's Yoav Ziv was red-carded in a bizarre fashion when the player's boot flew into the assistant referee Christos Akrivos during Stoke City's Europa League win.

The match had already seen one red card when Stoke were reduced to 10 men following Cameron Jerome's second yellow card before half-time. Greek referee Anastassios Kakos ruled that he had caught Ziv with his arm, a decision which left Stoke City manager Tony Pulis incensed. The Stoke supporters also made their unhappiness clear, booing Ziv every time he touched the ball having felt his reaction to Jerome's contact had been overly dramatic. So it was to the great delight of the home crowd when Ziv was dismissed himself in comical fashion 10 minutes after the restart. Frustrated that no free-kick had been awarded when he was tackled by Shotton by the touchline, Ziv kicked out and managed to fire his boot - which had come loose in the challenge - flying into the assistant referee Christos Akrivos. His flamboyant apologies were to no avail and he received a straight red card. He said afterwards: "With the linesman, it was an accident, unluckily, it hit him, but it was an accident. It is only the second red card in my whole career."

Source: The Telegraph

Portuguese referees with disciplinary proceedings

Joao Ferreira and Paulo Batista are the subject of two disciplinary proceedings for refusing to referee the match Beira Mar – Sporting, in the second round of the Portuguese Primeira Liga.

The Disciplinary Committee is accusing Joao Ferreira (photo) of declining an appointment without a valid justification, in accordance with article 158 of the Disciplinary Regulations, which provides for 1 to 8 games suspension, if found guilty. Joao Ferreira requested to be relieved of his appointment on the eve of the game Beira Mar – Sporting, which took place on 21 August 2011. Paulo Batista has been accused of not accepting an appointment without a good reason, incurring a suspension between 2 to 5 games, according to article 156 of the Portuguese Regulations. The refusal of the two referees was justified at the time as a reaction to the statements of Godinho Lopes, president of Sporting, who strongly criticized their colleague Carlos Xistra, who refereed the match Sporting – Olhanense, which ended in a draw.

Joao Ferreira has been a FIFA Referee since 2003 and officiated the 2011 Portuguese Cup final, Porto – Guimaraes, as well as the 2010 Portuguese Supercup. Last year, Ferreira agreed with the SFA to referee the Premier League match Motherwell – Hearts, but then he changed his mind and refused to officiate instead of his Scottish colleagues who were on strike.

The Association of Portuguese Football Referees (APAF) is concerned with this situation and will offer support to both referees through a firm stand and collective action.

UEFA Europa League – Group Stage (Matchday 3)

20 October 2011

AEK Larnaca – Schalke
Referee: Luca Banti (ITA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Cristiano Copelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Silvio Mazzoleni (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Fourth Official: Carmine Russo (ITA)

Odense – Twente
Referee: David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Cabanero Martinez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Canelo Prieto (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Javier Estrada Fernandez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Jose Paradas Romero (ESP)

Lokomotiv Moscow – AEK
Referee: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicky Siebert (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Angelo Boonman (NED)
Additional AR 1: Reinold Weidemeijer (NED)
Additional AR 2: Tom van Sichem (NED)
Fourth Official: Serdar Gozubuyuk (NED)

Sturm – Anderlecht
Referee: Alan Kelly (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Marc Douglas (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Allen Lynch (IRL)
Additional AR 1: Neil Doyle (IRL)
Additional AR 2: Tomas Connolly (IRL)
Fourth Official: Padraig Sutton (IRL)

Malmo – Metalist
Referee: Firat Aydinus (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Serkan Ok (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Alek Tascioglu (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Ozgur Yankaya (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Baris Simsek (TUR)
Fourth Official: Hakan Ceylan (TUR)

Alkmaar – Austria Vienna
Referee: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Cristian Nica (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Aurel Onita (ROU)
Additional AR 1: Ovidiu Hategan (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Marius Avram (ROU)
Fourth Official: Radu Petrescu (ROU)

Maribor – Braga
Referee: Stephan Studer (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Manuel Navarro (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Matthias Arnet (SUI)
Additional AR 1: Alain Bieri (SUI)
Additional AR 2: Daniel Wermelinger (SUI)
Fourth Official: Stephan Klossner (SUI)

Rennes – Celtic
Referee: Robert Malek (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Maciej Wierzbowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Krzysztof Myrmus (POL)
Additional AR 1: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Additional AR 2: Adam Lyczmanski (POL)
Fourth Official: Sebastian Jarzebak (POL)

Udinese – Atletico
Referee: Alon Yefet (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Danny Krasikow (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Dvir Shimon (ISR)
Additional AR 1: Meir Levi (ISR)
Additional AR 2: Eitan Tabrizi (ISR)
Fourth Official: Orel Grinfeld (ISR)

Maccabi Haifa – Steaua
Referee: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Martinsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Warnmark (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Martin Strombergsson (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Bojan Pandzic (SWE)
Fourth Official: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)

FC Brugge – Birmingham
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Christian Brighi (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Gabriele Gava (ITA)
Fourth Official: Domenico Celi (ITA)

Wisla – Fulham
Referee: Martin Hansson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Henrik Andren (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Joakim Flink (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Markus Strombergsson (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Andreas Ekberg (SWE)
Fourth Official: Michael Lerjeus (SWE)

Tottenham – Rubin
Referee: Manuel De Sousa (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Cardinal (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Ramalho (POR)
Additional AR 1: Vasco Santos (POR)
Additional AR 2: Cosme Machado (POR)
Fourth Official: Rui Rodrigues (POR)

PAOK – Shamrock
Referee: Tony Asumaa (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matti Heininen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mikko Alakare (FIN)
Additional AR 1: Antti Munukka (FIN)
Additional AR 2: Mattias Gestranius (FIN)
Fourth Official: Dennis Antamo (FIN)

Standard – Vorksla
Referee: Simon Lee Evans (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Edward King (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: Philip Thomas (WAL)
Additional AR 1: Dean John (WAL)
Additional AR 2: Kevin Morgan (WAL)
Fourth Official: Huw Jones (WAL)

Hannover – Kobenhavn
Referee: Laurent Duhamel (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Eric Dansault (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Christophe Capelli (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Wilfried Bien (FRA)
Fourth Official: Lionel Jaffredo (FRA)

Rapid – Legia
Referee: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Yuste Jimenez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Victoriano Diaz Casado (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Cesar Muniz Fernandez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Jose Luis Gonzalez (ESP)

Happoel Tel Aviv – PSV
Referee: Sergei Karasev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleg Tselovalnikov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Dmitry Mosyakin (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Vladimir Kazmenko (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Mikhail Vilkov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Igor Egorov (RUS)

Sporting – Vaslui
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fredji Harchay (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Said Ennjimi (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Alexandre Castro (FRA)
Fourth Official: Philippe Malige (FRA)

Zurich – Lazio
Referee: Pawel Gil (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcin Borkowski (POL)

Assistant Referee 2: Piotr Sadczuk (POL)
Additional AR 1: Dawid Piasecki (POL)
Additional AR 2: Pawel Pskit (POL)
Fourth Official: Pawel Raczkowski (POL)

Stoke – Maccabi Tel Aviv
Referee: Anastassios Kakos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Dimitrios Bozatzidis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Christos Akrivos (GRE)
Additional AR 1: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Additional AR 2: Stavros Tritsonis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Ilias Spathas (GRE)

Dynamo Kyiv – Besiktas
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Radojcic (SRB)
Additional AR 1: Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB)
Additional AR 2: Vlado Glodjovic (SRB)
Fourth Official: Bosko Jovanetic (SRB)

Athletic – Salzburg
Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomislav Petrovic (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Miro Grgic (CRO)
Additional AR 1: Domagoj Vuckov (CRO)
Additional AR 2: Goran Gabrilo (CRO)
Fourth Official: Dalibor Mlakar (CRO)

Slovan – PSG
Referee: Lee Probert (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Adam Watts (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Long (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Lee Mason (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Fourth Official: John Moss (ENG)

CONCACAF Champions League – Group Stage (VI)

18 October 2011

FC Dallas – Toronto FC

Referee: Roberto Garcia (MEX, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Marvin Torrentera (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Hector Delgadillo (MEX)
Fourth Official: Francisco Chacon (MEX)

Morelia – Alajuelense
Referee: Roberto Moreno (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Williamson (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Bainez (PAN)
Fourth Official: Rolando Vidal (PAN)

Seattle Sounders – Monterrey
Referee: Enrico Winjgaarde (SUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ramon Louisville (SUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Egberth Paesch (ARU)
Fourth Official: Rudolph Angela (ARU)

19 October 2011
Santos Laguna – Colorado Rapids
Referee: Courtney Campbell (JAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Morgan (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Keble Williams (JAM)
Fourth Official: Kevin Morrison (JAM)

Pumas Unam – Tauro
Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: William Torres (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Francisco Zumba (SLV)
Fourth Official: Elmer Bonilla (SLV)

Herediano – Comunicaciones
Referee: Mauricio Navarro (CAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Hector Vegara (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Belleau (CAN)
Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu (CAN)

20 October 2011
Metapan – Real Espana
Referee: Walter Quesada (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavio Jara (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Marvin Ramirez (CRC)
Fourth Official: Jeffrey Solis (CRC)

Motagua – LA Galaxy
Referee: Walter Lopez (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Gerson Lopez (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Ronaldo De La Cruz (GUA)
Fourth Official: Otto Barrios (GUA)

UEFA Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 3)

18 October 2011

SSC Napoli – Bayern Munchen
Referee: Olegario Benquerenca (POR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Joao Santos (POR)
Additional AR 1: Artur Soares (POR)
Additional AR 2: Carlos Xistra (POR)
Fourth Official: Rui Costa (POR)

Manchester City – Villarreal CF

Referee: Pavel Kralovec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Miroslav Zlamal (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Radek Prihoda (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE)
Fourth Official: Libor Kovarik (CZE)

CSKA Moskow – Trabzonspor
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Child (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Beck (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Jones (ENG)

Lille – Internazionale
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jake Collin (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Stuart Attwell (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Michael Dean (ENG)
Fourth Official: Martin Atkinson (ENG)

Otelul Galati – Manchester United
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Borsch (GER)
Additional AR 1: Christian Dingert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Tobias Welz (GER)
Fourth Official: Peter Gagelmann (GER)

Basel – Benfica
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabor Eros (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gyorgy Ring (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Sandor Szabo (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Mihaly Fabian (HUN)
Fourth Official: Zsolt Szabo (HUN)

Real Madrid – Olympique Lyon
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Emre Eyisoy (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Tolga Ozkalfa (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Suleyman Abay (TUR)
Fourth Official: Huseyin Gocek (TUR)

Dinamo Zagreb – Ajax
Referee: Manuel Grafe (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Markus Hacker (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Guido Kleve (GER)
Additional AR 1: Babak Rafati (GER)
Additional AR 2: Peter Sippel (GER)
Fourth Official: Guido Winkmann (GER)

19 October 2011

Bayer Leverkusen – Valencia CF
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Francis Andrews (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Steven McLean (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Alan Muir (SCO)
Fourth Official: Iain Brines (SCO)

Chelsea London – KRC Genk
Referee: Alexey Nikolaev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Anton Averianov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Tikhon Kalugin (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Stanislav Sukhina (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Maksim Layushkin (RUS)
Fourth Official: Vitali Meshkov (RUS)

Olympique Marseille – Arsenal London
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Primoz Arhar (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Marko Stancin (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Dragoslav Peric (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Roberto Ponis (SVN)
Fourth Official: Matej Jug (SVN)

Olympiacos – Borussia Dortmund
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Berry Simons (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Rob van de Ven (NED)
Additional AR 1: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Additional AR 2: Ed Janssen (NED)
Fourth Official: Richard Liesveld (NED)

Shakhtar Donetk – Zenit St. Petersburg
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Hermans (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Walter Vromans (BEL)
Additional AR 1: Luc Wouters (BEL)
Additional AR 2: Alexendre Bocaut (BEL)
Fourth Official: Christof Dierick (BEL)

Porto – Apoel
Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Annonier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Cano (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Olivier Thual (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Fourth Official: Jean-Charles Cailleux (FRA)

AC Milan – Bate Borisov
Referee: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dag Roger Nebben (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andas (NOR)
Additional AR 1: Espen Berntsen (NOR)
Additional AR 2: Brage Sandmoen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Svein-Erik Edvartsen (NOR)

FC Barcelona – Viktoria Plzen
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Marjan Kirovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Ljubomir Krstevski (MKD)
Additional AR 1: Dimitar Meckarovski (MKD)
Additional AR 2: Goran Spirkoski (MKD)
Fourth Official: Dejan Jakimovski (MKD)

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Knockout Stage

19 October 2011
Sao Paolo – Libertad

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (URU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Pastorino (URU)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Marques (BRA)

Flamengo – Universidad de Chile

Referee: Saul Laverni (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Ariel Bustos (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Fourth Official: Marcelo Henrique (BRA)

Arsenal – Olimpia
Referee: Dario Ubriaco (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Costa (URU)
Fourth Official: Juan Pompei (ARG)

20 October 2011
Velez Sarsfield – Universidad Catolica
Referee: Antonio Arias (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Cesar Franco (PAR)
Fourth Official: Gabriel Favale (ARG)

Universitario – Godoy Cruz
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Camargo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Rafel Rivas (COL)
Fourth Official: Henry Gambetta (PER)

Armenia protest to UEFA over red card in Euro 2012 qualifier

Armenia’s Football Association filed an official protest to UEFA over the refereeing in their Euro 2012 qualifying defeat to Ireland.

Armenia needed to win their final Group B qualifier to finish second and make the play-offs, but lost 2-1 on Tuesday after their goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was sent off by the Spanish referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez after 26 minutes. Berezovsky was dismissed for handball outside his penalty area, but replays clearly showed he chested the ball clear. Replays also showed the referee allowed play to continue after it appeared the Ireland striker Simon Cox did handle the ball moments before Berezovsky was wrongly adjudged to have done so. Iturralde Gonzalez later sent off Ireland's Kevin Doyle after the striker received two yellow cards.

The FA head, Ruben Airapetyan, told reporters that the Armenians want UEFA to cancel Berezovsky's red card rather than punish the referee. Airapetyan dismissed the conspiracy theories of some Armenian fans who suggested UEFA was trying to give Ireland an advantage to balance out the infamous handball by France striker Thierry Henry that cost them the chance of reaching the 2010 World Cup finals. "Trust me, I would never think or believe that it would be possible for UEFA to give such instructions to the referee," Airapetyan said.

Source: The Guardian

De Santis accuses Inter of spying

Former Italian referee Massimo De Santis, who missed the 2006 FIFA World Cup because of the Calciopoli, accused Inter Milano for spying and asked for damages in a history dating back to 2003 called "Telecom Business" by the Italian press, said his lawyer, Paolo Gallinelli.

The claims against Inter were made by former referee Massimo De Santis, who said that in 2002 the club employed a firm to follow him, take photographs of him and tap his phone line.De Santis, according to Mr. Gallinelli, was the victim of a violation of privacy by illegal means, including investigation of his bank accounts ordered by the Inter president, Massimo Moratti, who denied allegations that his club paid a firm of private investigators to spy on one of the referees involved in the Serie A match-fixing scandal. "I can confirm that there have never been instructions to follow anyone", said Moratti. In the same case and for similar facts, former Inter striker Bobo Vieira asked for 21 million euros in damages. Justice has 60 days to convene the two parties for a possible reconciliation, said the lawyer.

For his involvement in Calciopoli, De Santis was removed from the 2006 World Cup list and banned for four years after being found guilty of conspiring to rig Serie A matches in the 2004-2005 season.

Source: Eurosport

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CONCACAF

11 October 2011

Suriname – Dominican Republic

Referee: Paul Ward (CAN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Joe Fletcher (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Darren Clark (CAN)
Fourth Official: Mauricio Navarro (CAN)

Trinidad & Tobago – Barbados
Referee: Raymond Bogle (JAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Morgan (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Garnet Page (JAM)
Fourth Official: Valdin Legister (JAM)

El Salvador – Cayman Islands
Referee: Hugo Cruz Alvarado (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Marvin Ramirez (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Osvaldo Luna (CRC)
Fourth Official: Walter Quesada (CRC)

Bermuda – Guyana
Referee: Rudolph Angela (ARU)
Assistant Referee 1: Egberth Paesch (ARU)
Assistant Referee 2: Oslin Kock (ARU)
Fourth Official: Kevin Morrison (JAM)

Panama – Nicaragua
Referee: Edenilson Ventura (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Hector Recinos (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Mangandi (SLV)
Fourth Official: Walter Lopez (GUA)

Canada – Puerto Rico
Referee: Stanley Lancaster (GUY)
Assistant Referee 1: Dion Inniss (GUY)
Assistant Referee 2: Venton Mars (GUY)
Fourth Official: Otis James (GUY)

St. Kitts & Nevis – Santa Lucia
Referee: Adrian Skeete (BRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Adrian Goddard (BRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Moses (BRB)
Fourth Official: Jeffrey Solis (CRC)

Guatemala – Belize
Referee: Jose Penaloza (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Victor Calderon (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Rangel (MEX)
Fourth Official: Paul Delgadillo (MEX)

Haiti – Curacao
Referee: Leon Clarke (LCA)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Philip (LCA)
Assistant Referee 2: Lewis Francis (LCA)
Fourth Official: Valman Bedeau (GRN)

Antigua & Barbuda – US Virgin Islands
Referee: James Matthew (SKN)
Assistant Referee 1: Graeme Browne (SKN)
Assistant Referee 2: Ike Inniss (SKN)
Fourth Official: Ignatius Baptiste (DMA)

Granada – St. Vincent & Grenadines
Referee: Bryan Willett (ATG)
Assistant Referee 1: Curtis Charles (ATG)
Assistant Referee 2: Audwin Walsh (ATG)
Fourth Official: Mark Young (GUY)

UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers

11 October 2011

Denmark – Portugal
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Luca Maggiani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Fourth Official: Andrea De Marco (ITA)

France – Bosnia
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Francis Andrews (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alan Muir (SCO)

Ireland – Armenia
Referee: Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Perez Del Palomar (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jimenez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Cesar Muniz Fernandez (ESP)

Kazakhstan – Austria 
Referee: Hannes Kaasik (EST)
Assistant Referee 1: Hannes Reinvald (EST)
Assistant Referee 2: Marko Leevand (EST)
Fourth Official: Kristo Tohver (EST)

Germany – Belgium
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andas (NOR)
Fourth Official: Espen Berntsen (NOR)

Turkey – Azerbaijan 
Referee: Peter Rasmussen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Henrik Sonderby (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Niels Hog (DEN)
Fourth Official: Lars Christoffersen (DEN)

Russia – Andorra 
Referee: Eli Hacmon (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Abed Alramili (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Shabtai Nahmias (ISR)
Fourth Official: Menashe Masiah (ISR)

Macedonia – Slovakia
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fredji Harchay (FRA)
Fourth Official: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)

Italy – Northern Ireland
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Aguilar Rodriguez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Fernandez Miranda (ESP)
Fourth Official: Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP)

Slovenia – Serbia
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Hermans (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Walter Vromans (BEL)
Fourth Official: Serge Gumienny (BEL)

Albania – Romania
Referee: Gediminas Mazeika (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vytautas Simkus (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Arturas Pipiras (LTU)
Fourth Official: Sergejus Slyva (LTU)

Sweden – Netherlands
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Fourth Official: Huseyin Gocek (TUR)

Hungary – Finland
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Fermin Martinez Ibanez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)
Fourth Official: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)

Moldova – San Marino
Referee: Petur Reinert (FAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Regin Egholm (FAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan Lidarenda (FAR)
Fourth Official: Eiler Rasmussen (FAR)

Croatia – Latvia
Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Annonier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Cano (FRA)
Fourth Official: Said Ennjimi (FRA)

Georgia – Greece
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Fourth Official: Mauro Bergonzi (ITA)

Malta – Israel
Referee: Bruno Duarte Paixao (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Silva Cardinal (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Venancio Batista Tome (POR)
Fourth Official: Joao Lopes Ferreira (POR)

Bulgaria – Wales
Referee: Pawel Gil (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Piotr Sadczuk (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcin Borkowski (POL)
Fourth Official: Marcin Borski (POL)

Switzerland – Montenegro
Referee: Olegario Bartolo Benquerenca (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Cunha Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Joao Ferreira Dos Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Carlos Taborda Xistra (POR)

Norway – Cyprus
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Cryans (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graham Chambers (SCO)
Fourth Official: Robert Madden (SCO)

Spain – Scotland
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Sjoblom (SWE)
Fourth Official: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)

Lithuania – Czech Republic
Referee: David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Cabanero Martinez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – AFC

11 October 2011

Thailand – Saudi Arabia
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdukhamid Rasulov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)
Fourth Official Viktor Serazitdinov (UZB)

Korea DPR – Uzbekistan
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Rasoul Fouroughi (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Alireza Kahouri (IRN)
Fourth Official: Yadollah Jahanbazi (IRN)

Lebanon – Kuwait

Referee: Masaaki Toma (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: Toru Sagara (JPN)
Assistant Referee 2: Haruhiro Otsuka (JPN)
Fourth Official: Ryuji Sato (JPN)

Indonesia – Qatar
Referee: Abdul Malik Bashir (SIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jeffrey Gek Pheng (SIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tzu Lee (SIN)
Fourth Official: Thiam Leow (SIN)

Singapore – Jordan
Referee: Choi Myung Yong (KOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Jang Jun Mo (KOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Yang Byoung Eun (KOR)
Fourth Official: Kim Sang Woo (KOR)

Australia – Oman
Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Ilyasov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Mamur Saidkasimov (UZB)
Fourth Official: Vladislav Tseytlin (UZB)

Iran – Bahrain
Referee: Peter Green (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Allen (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Hakan Anaz (AUS)
Fourth Official: Strebre Delovski (AUS)

Japan – Tajikistan
Referee: Benjamin Williams (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Cream (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Sabri Mat Daud (MAS)
Fourth Official: Minh Tri Vo (VIE)

Korea Republic – UAE
Referee: Tan Hai (CHN)
Assistant Referee 1: Mu Yuxin (CHN)
Assistant Referee 2: Su Jige (CHN)
Fourth official: Fan Qi (CHN)

China – Iraq
Referee: Saeid Mozaffari (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Hassan Kamranifar (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Davoud Rafatisajedi (IRN)
Fourth Official: Hedayat Mombini (IRN)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CONCACAF

7 October 2011

Cayman Islands – Suriname
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic (USA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Chris Strickland (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Anthony Vasoli (USA)
Fourth Official: Terry Vaughn (USA)

Bermuda – Trinidad & Tobago
Referee: Jeffrey Solis (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Osvaldo Luna (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Octavio Jara (CRC)
Fourth Official: Hector Rodriguez (HON)

Dominican Republic – El Salvador
Referee: Ricardo Cerdas (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Warner Castro (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: David Guzman (NCA)
Fourth Official: David Rubalcaba (CUB)

St. Vincent & Grenadines – Guatemala
Referee: Marcos Brea (CUB)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Rodriguez (CUB)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Castillo (CUB)
Fourth Official: Osiel Nunez (CUB)

Belize – Grenada
Referee: Franklin Jarquin (NCA)
Assistant Referee 1: Keytzel Corrales (NCA)
Assistant Referee 2: William Rocha (NCA)
Fourth Official: Jose Guerrero (NCA)

Barbados – Guyana
Referee: Alain Georges (HAI)
Assistant Referee 1: Patrick Claude (HAI)
Assistant Referee 2: Noel Gubonx (HAI)
Fourth Official: Guidner Edouard (HAI)

US Virgin Islands – Haiti
Referee: Kevile Holder (CAY)
Assistant Referee 1: Dwayne Ebanks (CAY)
Assistant Referee 2: Swason Owen (CAY)
Fourth Official: Kevin Thomas (JAM)

Dominica – Panama
Referee: Enrico Wijngaarde (SUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ramon Louisville (SUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Egbert Paesch (ARU)
Fourth Official: Rudolph Angela (ARU)

Santa Lucia – Canada
Referee: Rolando Vidal (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jaime Smith (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Baines (PAN)
Fourth Official: Roberto Moreno (PAN)

Puerto Rico – St. Kitts & Nevis
Referee: Neal Brizan (TRI)
Assistant Referee 1: Dion Neil (TRI)
Assistant Referee 2: Ainsley Rochard (TRI)
Fourth Official: Lewin Purser (JAM)

Curacao – Antigua & Barbuda
Referee: Oscar Reyna (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cesar Ruano (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Diaz (GUA)
Fourth Official: Otto Barrios (GUA)

UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers

7 October 2011

Greece – Croatia

Referee: Howard Webb (ENG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jake Collin (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Dean (ENG)

Slovakia – Russia
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Fourth Official: Markus Strombergsson (SWE)

Azerbaijan – Austria
Referee: Stephan Studer (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Manuel Navarro (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Sandro Pozzi (SUI)
Fourth Official: Alain Bieri (SUI)

Turkey – Germany
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Darren Cann (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Fourth Official: Stuart Attwell (ENG)

Belgium – Kazakhstan
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Radojcic (SRB)
Fourth Official: Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB)

Armenia – Macedonia
Referee: Robert Schorgenhofer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Alain Hoxha (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Roland Brandner (AUT)
Fourth Official: Gerhard Grobelnik (AUT)

Andorra – Ireland
Referee: Libor Kovarik (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Krystof Menkl (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Emil Ubias (CZE)
Fourth Official: Radek Prihoda (CZE)

Serbia – Italy
Referee: Pedro Proenca Oliveira (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Tiago Bolinhas Trigo (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Ferreira Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Joao Santos Capela (POR)

Northern Ireland – Estonia
Referee: Manuel Grafe (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Markus Hacker (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Guido Kleve (GER)
Fourth Official: Babak Rafati (GER)

Romania – Belarus
Referee: Alan Kelly (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Damien MacGraith (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marc Douglas (IRL)
Fourth Official: David McKeon (IRL)

Bosnia – Luxembourg
Referee: Simon Lee Evans (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Edward King (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: Alun Boore (WAL)
Fourth Official: Huw Jones (WAL)

France – Albania
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Dimitrios Saraidaris (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Leonidas Vasileiadis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Anastasios Sidiripoulos (GRE)

Finland – Sweden
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Child (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Beck (ENG)
Fourth Official: Andre Marriner (ENG)

Netherlands – Moldova
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrej Kokolj (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Milan Kogej (SVN)
Fourth Official: Slavko Vincic (SVN)

Latvia – Malta
Referee: Richard Trutz (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Roman Slysko (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Erik Weiss (SVK)
Fourth Official: Mario Vlk (SVK)

Wales – Switzerland
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Fourth Official: Richard Liesveld (NED)

Montenegro – England
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER)
Fourth Official: Peter Sippel (GER)

Cyprus – Denmark
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Sinisa Premuzaj (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Zeljko Novosel (CRO)
Fourth Official: Igor Pristovnik (CRO)

Portugal – Iceland
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilco Lobbert (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Berry Simons (NED)
Fourth Official: Pol van Boekel (NED)

Czech Republic – Spain
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cristiano Copelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicola Nicoletti (ITA)
Fourth Official: Paolo Mazzoleni (ITA)

Liechtenstein – Scotland
Referee: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dag Roger Nebben (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Lundberg (NOR)
Fourth Official: Tommy Skjerven (NOR)

Craciunescu returns as Head of the Romanian referees

Former FIFA Referee Ion Craciunescu, 61, will be returning as the chairman of the Romanian Referees Committee for a second period, starting on 13 October 2011.

Craciunescu was voted the world’s second-best referee in 1995, when he refereed the UEFA Champions League Final, Ajax Amsterdam – AC Milan. After his retirement, he became an international referee observer and led the Romanian Referees Committee from 2003 to 2005. The last two chairmen of the committee, Gheorghe Constantin (ex-FIFA Referee) and Vasile Avram (ex-FIFA Assistant Referee) were both accused of corruption and they are currently on trial. They were also accused of nepotism when they put their children on the FIFA List, while leading the Romanian refereeing.

The new chairman, Ion Craciunescu, is considered the most qualified former Romanian international referee to lead the committee and his top priority will be to increase the refereeing budget in order to support various development programs.

Craciunescu was the last Romanian who refereed an European final (1995 UEFA Champions League, Ajax - Milan). In 1993, he had been assigned two Asian World Cup qualifiers, Iran – Iraq and Korea Republic – Korea DPR, with heavy political implications. Although he was trusted to do those matches and managed them without any incidents, he was not selected for the 1994 World Cup because FIFA usually only allocates one spot to Eastern European referees and that one went to Sandor Puhl (HUN), who will have been appointed for the final Brazil – Italy. In 1995, when Craciunescu refereed the third place match at the Confederations Cup, Puhl was rated first and Craciunescu second in the IFFHS ranking, the only time when the top two positions were occupied by Eastern European referees.

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Knockout Stage (First Leg)

5 October 2011

Aurora – Vasco da Gama
Referee: Georges Buckley (PER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Yupanqui (PER)
Fourth Official: Oscar Maldonado (BOL)

Universidad Catolica – Velez Sarsfield
Referee: Dario Ubriaco (URU) 

Assistant Referee 1: Pablo Fandino (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Costa (URU)
Fourth Official: Eduardo Gamboa (CHI)