Refereeing World: November 2011

Hategan, the youngest UCL referee

Romanian Ovidiu Hategan will referee next week his first ever UEFA Champions League match. At 31, he will become the youngest referee appointed in the most important European club competition.

Physician by profession, Hategan became referee in 1996 and advanced to the first division in 2006. Two years later, he got his FIFA badge and in 2009 he was included by UEFA in the Talents and Mentors program under the coaching of Andreas Schluchter (SUI). In the same year, he was appointed for the UEFA U-19 European Championship in Ukraine. Seen as one of the Europe’s young hopes in refereeing, he was promoted into the First Class at the beginning of this year. As a result, in 2011 he was assigned two Euro 2012 qualifiers (Czech Republic – Liechtenstein and Norway – Iceland), an international friendly (Russia – Serbia), as well as two Europa League group matches (Dinamo Kyiv – Stoke City and Twente – Odense). If UEFA will be pleased with his performance in the UCL, he is expected to be promoted next year to the Premier Development Class.

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Semi-finals (Second Leg)

29 November 2011
Velez Sarsfield – Liga de Quito
Referee: Jose Buitrago (COL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Abraham Gonzalez (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilmar Navarro (COL)
Fourth Official: Imer Machado (COL)

30 November 2011
Universidad de Chile – Vasco da Gama
Referee: Dario Ubriaco (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Fourth Official: Hector Martinez (URU)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – OFC

22 November 2011
Cook Islands – Samoa

Referee: Peter O’Leary (NZL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Hendrik Hintz (NZL)
Assistant Referee 2: Ravinesh Kumar (FIJ)
Fourth Official: Isidore Assiene-Ambassa (NCL)

American Samoa – Tonga
Referee: Andrew Achari (FIJ)
Assistant Referee 1: David Charles (PNG)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael Joseph (VAN)
Fourth Official: Bruce George (VAN)

24 November 2011
Cook Islands – American Samoa
Referee: Bruce George (VAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jackson Namo (SOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael Joseph (VAN)
Fourth Official: Peter O’Leary (NZL)

Tonga – Samoa
Referee: Averii Jacques (TAH)
Assistant Referee 1: David Charles (PNG)
Assistant Referee 2: Didier Hmuzo (NCL)
Fourth Official: Andrew Achari (FIJ)

26 November 2011
Samoa – American Samoa
Referee: Peter O’Leary (NZL)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Hendrik Hintz (NZL)
Assistant Referee 2: Ravinesh Kumar (FIJ)
Fourth Official: Averii Jacques (TAH)

Tonga – Cook Islands
Referee: Isidore Assiene-Ambassa (NCL)
Assistant Referee 1: Didier Hmuzo (NCL)
Assistant Referee 2: Jackson Namo (SOL)
Fourth Official: Andrew Achari (FIJ)

Deprived of his FIFA badge, Fagundes retired early

Brazilian FIFA referee Salvio Fagundes Filho decided to retire early from refereeing after his national association decided to remove him from the FIFA List for 2012, although he is only 43 and would have been age-eligible for two more years. His last match was the FIFA World Cup qualifier Colombia – Argentina, played last week in Barranquilla. The highlight of his career was the 2011 Copa America final, Uruguay – Paraguay.

"I was notified by the CBF Referees Committee that I will not be included on the FIFA List in 2012 because I am not young enough to take part in future international competitions. This procedure has already been implemented by other countries and CBF communicated their intention this year. The Referees Committee proposed me to continue refereeing in Brazil for the next two years, but without a FIFA badge. In these circumstances, I decided, along with my family, to end my refereeing career, because I believe that I achieved the goals that were possible, by representing the Brazilian refereeing in various international competitions. After 895 professional matches and 43 international matches in 21 years dedicated to refereeing, I would like to thank to all professionals involved in this sport so exciting, football", said Salvio Fagundes Filho in a media release.

Source: Terra

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Semi-finals (First Leg)

23 November 2011
Vasco da Gama – Universidad de Chile
Referee: Antonio Arias (PAR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Caceres (PAR)
Fourth Official: Julio Quintana (PAR)

24 November 2011
Ligua de Quito – Velez Sarsfield
Referee: Jorge Larrionda (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Fourth Official: Martin Vazquez (URU)

UEFA Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 5)

22 November 2011

Bayern Munchen – Villarreal CF

Referee: Markus Strombergsson (SWE, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Sjoblom (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Johan Hamlin (SWE)
Fourth Official: Martin Hansson (SWE)

Napoli – Manchester City
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: Slavko Vincic (SVN)

CSKA Moskva – Lille
Referee: Pavel Kralovec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Antonin Kordula (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Radek Prihoda (CZE)
Fourth Official: Libor Kovarik (CZE)

Trabzonspor – Internazionale
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Stuart Attwell (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Fourth Official: Andre Marriner (ENG)

Manchester United – Benfica
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Tolga Ozkalfa (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Suleyman Abay (TUR)
Fourth Official: Huseyin Gocek (TUR)

Otelul Galati – Basel
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: Dag Vidar Hafsas (NOR)
Fourth Official: Svein-Erik Edvartsen (NOR)

Real Madrid – Dinamo Zagreb
Referee: Alan Kelly (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Damien MacGraith (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marc Douglas (IRL)
Additional AR 1: Padraigh Sutton (IRL)
Additional AR 2: Tomas Connolly (IRL)
Fourth Official: David McKeon (IRL)

Lyon – Ajax
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Tobias Mattsson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Martin Strombergsson (SWE)

23 November 2011

Bayer Leverkusen – Chelsea
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabor Eros (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gyorgy Ring (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Mihaly Fabian (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Sandor Ando-Szabo (HUN)
Fourth Official: Zsolt Szabo (HUN)

Valencia – KRC Genk
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fredji Harchay (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Said Ennjimi (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Clement Turpin (FRA)
Fourth Official: Philippe Malige (FRA)

Olympique Marseille – Olympiacos
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Fourth Official: Silvio Mazzoleni (ITA)

Arsenal – Borussia Dortmund
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: Alexandre Boucaut (BEL)
Fourth Official: Sebastien Delferiere (BEL)

Zenit – Apoel
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Borsch (GER)
Additional AR 1: Markus Wingenbach (GER)
Additional AR 2: Tobias Welz (GER)
Fourth Official: Marco Fritz (GER)

Shakhtar – Porto
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Derek Rose (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Steven McLean (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Stephen O'Reilly (SCO)
Fourth Official: Allan Crawford (SCO)

Bate – Viktoria Plzen
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicky Siebert (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Additional AR 1: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Additional AR 2: Ed Janssen (NED)
Fourth Official: Tom van Sichem (NED)

AC Milan – FC Barcelona
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER)
Additional AR 1: Peter Sippel (GER)
Additional AR 2: Christian Dingert (GER)
Fourth Official: Peter Gagelmann (GER)

Spanish FIFA AR hit by umbrella

Referee Clos Gomez halted Granada's home game with Mallorca after one of his assistants was struck by an object thrown from the crowd.

Assistant referee Aguilar Rodriguez was lining up for a Mallorca corner when his cheek was immediately bloodied after being hit by an umbrella thrown from the crowd. Referee Clos Gomez called an immediate halt to the action and took his assistants, Aguilar Rodriguez and Marco Martinez, with him, abandoning the game not long after. The umbrella appeared to be thrown from the home fans, who minutes earlier had been celebrating their side turning a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 advantage. The incident occurred just after Granada had taken a 2-1 lead through a goal scored by Carlos Martins. He left the field to celebrate the goal with a pre-made t-shirt, was then booked for a foul on Tomas Pina, and the trouble erupted shortly after with Rodriguez being hit in the face by an umbrella. Granada coach Fabricio Gonzalez said "We are in a state of shock. Our fans have always helped us and this is a pity."

The disciplinary committee of the RFEF will meet this week to decide what action to take. The most recent incidents have seen the offending club either penalised with the loss of the game or the remaining minutes being played behind closed doors.

Source: ESPN

FIFA Referee Babak Rafati attempted suicide

The experienced 41-year-old German FIFA referee Babak Rafati was found by his assistant referees in the bathtub of his Cologne hotel on Saturday afternoon, just a few hours before he was supposed to take charge of the Bundesliga match between Mainz and Cologne.

At 13:30, his assistant referees Holger Henschel, Patrick Ittrich and fourth official Frank Willenborg recognized his absence at the pre-match meeting at the Hyatt Hotel. Due to the fact that Rafati did not react when they knocked on his room's door, a service man broke up the door. They found Rafati lying in the bath tub streaming with blood. He had slit his wrists. Parts of some kind of farewell letter have been found but have not been analyzed yet. The assistants did everything they were able to in order to help Rafati, who was immediately taken into the hospital, where medicines fought for his life for hours. Cologne police spokesman Andre Fassbender said there was "no sign of any involvement by a third party" and "it certainly looks like" a suicide attempt.

The father of German referee Babak Rafati, who tried to kill himself hours before officiating a Bundesliga match, said on Sunday that his son had seemed happy in the days leading up to his attempted suicide. “He had a steady job as a banker and was in a stable relationship. He never spoke to me about depression or burn-out. If he had done that, I would have reacted," his father, Djalal Rafati, told Cologne newspaper Express. On Saturday evening, Djalal spoke to his son for the first time since the suicide attempt. "He just said, 'Dad, forgive me for what I have done' and I replied, 'of course, but now you have to recover first'." Djalal said his son was happy in his relationship. "He had been together with his girlfriend for many years and was happy with her, she does everything for him and is a great woman. As far as I am concerned, that has nothing to do with what happened," he said.

Babak Rafati has been a referee for the German federation since 1997 and a top-division referee since 2005. He has taken charge of 84 Bundesliga matches and has been a FIFA referee since 2008. Rafati will be removed from Germany's FIFA List of referees at the end of this year, after he had been voted three times the worst referee in Bundesliga by the German football magazine Kicker.

Lawyer Sven Menke said in a statement that doctors treating Rafati diagnosed him with depression. Rafati believes that the first symptoms surfaced about 18 months ago and they have since intensified, Menke added. "In Mr. Rafati's personal perception, growing pressure to perform for him as a referee and the media pressure linked to that - in combination with the constant fear of making mistakes - became a bigger and bigger burden,'' he wrote. "A burden that, at some point, made even everyday problems seen insoluble and which, in the end, he no longer felt able to cope with". Menke said that Rafati has decided to "deal openly with the illness and face it.'' Once he has been through therapy, he "wants to be able to return to his normal life, as a referee too", the lawyer added.

The incident shocked German football and came two years after Hannover and Germany goalkeeper Robert Enke, who suffered from depression, committed suicide by stepping in front of a train on 10 November 2009. In September 2011, Ralf Rangnick abruptly stepped down as coach of Schalke because of burnout, only six months after taking charge of the club.

The Cologne - Mainz match was postponed as a result of Rafati's suicide attempt. It has been rescheduled for 13 December 2011.

Source: AFP

Referee assaulted by his own assistant

A 20-year-old French referee was attacked by his own assistant during the game between the Under-17 teams Tourrette-Levens and Montet-Bornala, in the region of Nice, France. In the absence of the official assistant referees, the referee asked each team to provide a “linesman”. Everything went well until the referee sent off two players from Montet. At that moment, the "linesman" who was nominated by that team, took the corner flag and hit the referee in the face. "There was a lot of confusion around the referee. He was firstly insulted and then the linesman took the stick that served as the corner flag and threw it against his face” said the captain of Tourrette-Levens, who won 4-3. The injuries were not serious, but the young referee was in "shock", explained one of the people responsible for football in the French region of Cote-D’Azur, Claude Colombo (foto), a former international referee. "We went to visit him in the hospital and did not recognize him", said Colombo. The President of the Montet-Bornala, Gerard Pignon, was bothered by what happened. "I am more annoyed than you may think", he stated. However, this is not unheard of in football at Nice. On 30 October, the referee of a match between the “veterans” teams of Cap d’Ail and Saint-Jean-Beaulieu was pursued and had to take refuge in the dressing room of a tennis club situated nearby.

Source: Football Plus

Police clearance for German referees

German referees will need to have a police certificate of good conduct to be able to work next season, the German football association (DFB) decided on Thursday, as a result of an ongoing tax evasion investigation.
Tax authorities in Germany have focused on unnamed referees who are suspected of having failed to pay taxes on their income. Tax officers went through documents at the DFB headquarters and also searched private homes late last month. "As of next season a police clearance certificate will be a condition for the deployment of all referees and assistants," the DFB said in a statement. It said tax authorities had contacted 49 active referees and referee assistants, including all 41 Bundesliga and second Bundesliga referees. Of those 49 questioned, 42 confirmed they were no longer part of the investigation. In seven cases, those involved said they expected "supplementary assessment". Those affected consider it unlikely that there will be any conviction for any tax offence," the DFB said.

The head of the DFB Referee Committee, Herbert Fandel, said he saw no reason not to trust them and would wait for the results of the probe before taking any other action. "We have no reason to doubt our referees' statements and we will not use the speculation as the starting point for our actions. We will first await the results of the tax authorities before proceeding with an evaluation," Fandel said.

Source: Reuters

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Quarter-finals (Second Leg)

17 November 2011

Universidad de Chile – Arsenal

Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Rivas (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilmar Navarro (COL)
Fourth Official: Imer Machado (COL)

Libertad – Liga de Quito
Referee: Wilson Seneme (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Braatz (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Berkenbrock (BRA)
Fourth Official: Leandro Vuaden (BRA)

International Friendly Matches

15 November 2011

Germany – Netherlands
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)

England – Sweden
Referee: Pavel Kralovec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Miroslav Zlamal (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Wilczek (CZE)

France – Belgium
Referee: Cesar Muniz Fernandez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Fermin Martinez Ibanez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Enrique Andres Samper (ESP)

Ukraine – Austria
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andas (NOR)

Poland – Hungary
Referee: Hannes Kaasik (EST)

Greece – Romania
Referee: Thomas Gangl (AUT)

Macedonia – Albania
Referee: Slavko Vincic (SVN)

Luxembourg – Switzerland
Referee: Sebastien Delferiere (BEL)

Italy – Uruguay
Referee: Duarte Gomes (POR)

Egypt – Brazil
Referee: Banjar Al Dosari (QAT)

Slovenia – USA
Referee: Robert Schorgenhofer (AUT)

Honduras – Serbia
Referee: Elmar Rodas (GUA)

Costa Rica – Spain
Referee: Mauricio Navarro (CAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Joe Fletcher (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Darren Clark (CAN)

UEFA Euro 2012 Play-offs

Second Leg, 15 November 2011

Portugal – Bosnia　
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER)
Fourth Official: Manuel Grafe (GER)

Montenegro – Czech Republic

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Fourth Official: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)

Croatia – Turkey
Referee: Pedro Proenca (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Manuel De Sousa (POR)

Ireland – Estonia
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Berry Simons (NED)
Fourth Official: Bas Nijhuis (NED)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CONMEBOL

15 November 2011

Chile – Paraguay

Referee: Heber Lopes (BRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Emerson Carvalho (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Dibert Pedrosa (BRA)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Marques (BRA)

Ecuador – Peru

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Pablo Fandino (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Costa (URU)
Fourth Official: Martin Vazquez (URU)

Colombia – Argentina
Referee: Salvio Fagundes (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Rocha (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Erick Bandeira (BRA)
Fourth Official: Marcelo Henrique (BRA)

Venezuela – Bolivia
Referee: Georges Buckley (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Abadie (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Fourth Official: Manuel Garay (PER)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CONCACAF

14-15 November 2011

Barbados – Bermuda

Referee: Roberto Moreno (PAN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Williamson (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Victoria (PAN)
Fourth Official: Jose Pineda (HON)

Puerto Rico – St. Lucia

Referee: Bryan Willett (ATG)
Assistant Referee 1: Curtis Charles (ATG)
Assistant Referee 2: Audwin Walsh (ATG)
Fourth Official: Kevin Morrison (JAM)

Cayman Islands – Dominican Republic
Referee: James Matthew (SKN)
Assistant Referee 1: Graeme Browne (SKN)
Assistant Referee 2: Ike Inniss (SKN)
Fourth Official: Ignatius Baptiste (DMA)

St. Vincent & Grenadines – Belize
Referee: Kevin Thomas (JAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Garnet Page (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Kedlee Powell (JAM)
Fourth Official: Raymond Bogle (JAM)

Grenada – Guatemala
Referee: Rudolph Angela (ARU)
Assistant Referee 1: Dion Inniss (GUY)
Assistant Referee 2: Venton Mars (GUY)
Fourth Official: Elmer Bonilla (SLV)

Haiti – Antigua & Barbuda
Referee: Baldomero Toledo (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Chris Strickland (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Eric Boria (USA)
Fourth Official: Silviu Petrescu (CAN)

Trinidad & Tobago – Guyana
Referee: Marlon Mejia (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: William Torres (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Hector Recinos (SLV)
Fourth Official: Joel Aguilar (SLV)

Canada – St. Kitts & Nevis
Referee: Ricardo Cerdas (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Warner Castro (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Osvaldo Luna (CRC)
Fourth Official: Jeffrey Solis (CRC)

El Salvador – Suriname
Referee: Javier Santos (PUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Antonio Lopez (PUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Lemus (GUA)
Fourth Official: Oscar Reyna (GUA)

Panama – Dominica
Referee: Terry Vaughn (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: George Gansner (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Kermit Quisenberry (USA)
Fourth Official: Edvin Jurisevic (USA)

Curacao – US Virgin Islands
Referee: Valdin Legister (JAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Morgan (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Lloyd Reader (JAM)
Fourth Official: Courtney Campbell (JAM)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CAF

15 November 2011

Kenya – Seychelles
Referee: Victor Gomes (RSA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Zakhele Siwela (RSA)
Assistant Referee 2: Lindikhaya Bolo (RSA)
Fourth Official: Lwandile Mfiki (RSA)

Madagascar – Equatorial Guineea
Referee: Parmendra Nunkoo (MRI)
Assistant Referee 1: Vivian Vally (MRI)
Assistant Referee 2: Jean Telvar (MRI)
Fourth Official: Ganesh Chutooree (MRI)

Togo – Guineea-Bissau
Referee: Mal Souley Mohamadou (CMR)
Assistant Referee 1: Francis Bamock (CMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Pierre Enyegue (CMR)
Fourth Official: Aurelien Juenkou (CMR)

Burundi – Lesotho
Referee: Anthony Ramsy Raphael (MWI)
Assistant Referee 1: Jones Chimeza (MWI)
Assistant Referee 2: Victor Nkhata (MWI)
Fourth Official: Dennis Nguluwe (MWI)

Congo DR – Swaziland
Referee: Jean-Michel Moukoko (CGO)
Assistant Referee 1: Hermann Ngoyi (CGO)
Assistant Referee 2: Vital Mapangoulou (CGO)
Fourth Official: Lazard Tsiba (CGO)

Rwanda – Eritrea
Referee: Joshua Bondo (BOT)
Assistant Referee 1: Moemedi Monakwane (BOT)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakwena Simankalele (BOT)
Fourth Official: Kutlwano Leso (BOT)

Congo – Sao Tome e Principe
Referee: Oumar Mahamat (CHA)
Assistant Referee 1: Joel Mbaidemadji (CHA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alfred Madjihoudel (CHA)
Fourth Official: Biani Idriss (CHA)

Tanzania – Chad
Referee: Hamada Nampiandraza (MAD)
Assistant Referee 1: Alberto Razafitsitamy (MAD)
Assistant Referee 2: Pierre Andrivoavonjy (MAD)
Fourth Official: Many Andriatongarivo (MAD)

Mozambique – Comoros
Referee: Ruzive Ruzive (ZIM)
Assistant Referee 1: Alfred Zindove (ZIM)
Assistant Referee 2: Tapfumanei Mutengwa (ZIM)
Fourth Official: Norman Matemera (ZIM)

Namibia – Djibouti
Referee: Samuel Chirinda (MOZ)
Assistant Referee 1: Arsenio Marengula (MOZ)
Assistant Referee 2: Celio Mugabe (MOZ)
Fourth Official: Estevao Matsinhe (MOZ)

Ethiopia – Somalia
Referee: Med Said Kordi (TUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Kamel Abdelmoumen (TUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Fethi Amina (TUN)
Fourth Official: Mohamed Meddeb (TUN)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – AFC

15 November 2011

Qatar – Bahrain

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (JPN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Toru Sagara (JPN)
Assistant Referee 2: Toshiyuki Nagi (JPN)
Fourth Official: Ryuji Sato (JPN)

Lebanon – Korea Republic
Referee: Khalil Al Ghamdi (KSA)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdul Al Kathiri (KSA)
Assistant Referee 2: Nassir Al Mudhaffr (KSA)
Fourth Official: Marai Al Awaji (KSA)

Korea DPR – Japan
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (BHR)
Assistant Referee 1: Yaser Tulefat (BHR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ebrahim Saleh (BHR)
Fourth Official: Salah Alabbasi (BHR)

Kuwait – UAE
Referee: Abdullah Al Hilali (OMA)
Assistant Referee 1: Hamad Al Mayahi (OMA)
Assistant Referee 2: Ghanim Al Bulushi (OMA)
Fourth Official: Ibrahim Al Hosni (OMA)

Jordan – Iraq
Referee: Ali Al-Badwawi (UAE)
Assistant Referee 1: Saleh Al Marzouqi (UAE)
Assistant Referee 2: Saeed Al-Houti (UAE)
Fourth Official: Yaqoob Abdul Baki (OMA)

Singapore – China PR
Referee: Abdullah Balideh (QAT)
Assistant Referee 1: Waleed Al Mannai (QAT)
Assistant Referee 2: Ramzan Al-Naemi (QAT)
Fourth Official: Ali Shaban (KUW)

Saudi Arabia – Oman
Referee: Mohsen Torky (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Hassan Kamranifar (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Reza Sokhandan (IRN)
Fourth Official: Yadollah Jahanbazi (IRN)

Uzbekistan – Tajikistan
Referee: Mohamed Zarouni (UAE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mohammad Jassim (UAE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohamed Al Mehairi (UAE)
Fourth Official: Abdulla Mohamed (UAE)

Indonesia – Iran
Referee: Tan Hai (CHN)
Assistant Referee 1: Mu Yuxin (CHN)
Assistant Referee 2: Han Wei (CHN)
Fourth Official: Zhao Liang (CHN)

Thailand – Australia
Referee: Saeid Mozaffari (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Mohammadreza Abolfazli (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Saeid Alinezhadian (IRN)
Fourth Official: Hedayat Mombini (IRN)

Vergara retires from the FIFA List

Hector Vergara, Canada’s best-known soccer official, has announced that he will retire from his position as a FIFA Assistant Referee on 12 November 2011, after he works a final international match.

“This is an expected retirement as FIFA officials must retire at the age of 45, which will become reality in December 2011. On 11 November 2011, kind of an interesting date (11-11-11), will be my last international match as a FIFA official. I have had a wonderful 19 years on the FIFA list, which has provided me with the opportunity to see the world, experience fantastic sporting events, meet amazing people, make tons of friends, enjoy the “beautiful game” as a referee on the field amongst the world’s best players and teams, as well as be a spectator in awe at what was in front of me. Soccer has allowed me to be involved in 11 FIFA competitions (three of those FIFA World Cups and 14 FIFA World Cup games, Semis and Finals in many of them), Six Gold Cups (three of them in the Finals), Olympic Games and nearly 150 international matches involving Clubs and Nationals Teams playing at the highest competitions in the world.
Of course, like anything in life, I have had some negative experiences and have come across a few individuals, funny enough mainly in Canada , who have tried to prevent my success either for political and personal gain or jealousy. But I am not going to focus on that part, they don’t deserve the attention! Maybe some day in a book we can expose their conduct.
Instead, I want this to be an opportunity to express my gratitude to those that have supported me along the way. It will be impossible to thank so many people that have positively influenced my participation in this great game. However, I will make a note of some who to some degree stand out for specific reasons.
There are many referees in Canada that I have had the pleasure of meeting and working in different games with and every one of them brought something to my experience. However, there is one person in particular that I want to express my thanks to for his contributions to making me better. Mauricio Navarro is the best referee Canada has had for a number of years and we have officiated many important international matches together. He has always been a great friend, who has provided tremendous support and encouragement throughout his years on the FIFA list.

In CONCACAF and FIFA there have been many referees, instructors, assessors and colleagues from around the world that have been part of my career. I am very happy to have met them and participated in some many matches together. We have shared many happy moments and in some cases very difficult ones that have made us all a better person and official. A particular thank you to Mr. Mathurin, who gave me the one opportunity I needed at a young age to make a first impression with FIFA, one that lasted 19 years. I know that he was always there even when no longer officially active. I hope I have not disappointed you!”, said Vergara in a media release.

Source: MSA

International Friendly Matches

11 November 2011

Ukraine – Germany
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernadez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Yuste Jimenez (ESP)

Denmark – Sweden
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Lundberg (NOR)

Netherlands – Switzerland
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Warnmark (SWE)

Hungary – Liechtenstein
Referee: Cristian Balaj (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Zoltan Szekely (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Miklos Nagy (ROU)

Poland – Italy
Referee: Laurent Duhamel (FRA)

Albania – Azerbaijan
Referee: Silvio Mazzoleni (ITA)

Greece – Russia
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)

Cyprus – Scotland
Referee: Meir Levi (ISR)

Belgia – Romania
Referee: Said Ennjimi (FRA)

Georgia – Moldova
Referee: Vusal Aliyev (AZE)

France – USA
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)

Mexico – Serbia
Referee: Walter Lopez (GUA)

Panama – Costa Rica
Referee: Roberto Garcia (MEX)

12 November 2011

England – Spain
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Hermans (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Walter Vromans (BEL)

Wales – Norway
Referee: Gerhard Grobelnik (AUT)

UEFA Euro 2012 Play-offs

First Leg,

11 November 2011

Turkey – Croatia

Referee: Felix Brych (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Borsch (GER)
Fourth Official: Florian Meyer (GER)

Bosnia – Portugal
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Beck (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: David Richardson (ENG)
Fourth Official: Lee Probert (ENG)

Estonia – Ireland
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabor Eros (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gyorgy Ring (HUN)
Fourth Official: Istvan Vad (HUN)

Czech Republic – Montenegro
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Fourth Official: Andre Marriner (ENG)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CONMEBOL

11 November 2011

Uruguay – Chile
Referee: Hector Baldassi (ARG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Gustavo Esquivel (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Diego Bonfa (ARG)
Fourth Official: Nestor Pitana (ARG)

Argentina – Bolivia
Referee: Carlos Vera (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Herrera (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Byron Romero (ECU)
Fourth Official: Alfredo Intriago (ECU)

Paraguay – Ecuador
Referee: Jose Buitrago (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilson Berrio (COL)
Fourth Official: Imer Machado (COL)

Colombia – Venezuela
Referee: Omar Ponce (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Cedeno (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Fourth Official: Daniel Salazar (ECU)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CONCACAF

11 November 2011

US Virgin Islands – Curacao

Referee: Mauricio Navarro (CAN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Hector Vergara (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Belleau (CAN)
Fourth Official: David Gantar (CAN)

Dominican Republic – Cayman Islands

Referee: Jose Guerrero (NCA)
Assistant Referee 1: Keytzel Corrales (NCA)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Espinoza (NCA)
Fourth Official: Oscar Davila (NCA)

Bermuda – Barbados
Referee: Otto Barrios (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cesar Ruano (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Diaz (GUA)
Fourth Official: Elmar Rodas (GUA)

Belize – St. Vincent & Grenadines
Referee: Adrian Skeete (BRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Adrian Goddard (BRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Moses (BRB)
Fourth Official: Trevor Taylor (BRB)

Surinam – El Salvador
Referee: Marcos Brea (CUB)
Assistant Referee 1: Hiran Perez (CUB)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Rodriguez (CUB)
Fourth Official: David Rubacalba (CUB)

Nicaragua – Dominica
Referee: Hugo Cruz (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavio Jara (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Marvin Ramirez (CRC)
Fourth Official: Walter Quesada (CRC)

Antigua & Barbuda – Haiti
Referee: Jose Pineda (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Jaime Duncan (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Lemus (GUA)
Fourth Official: Raul Castro (HON)

Guyana – Trinidad & Tobago
Referee: Enrico Wijngaarde (SUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ramon Louisville (SUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Allison Phillip (GRN)
Fourth Official: Valman Bedeau (GRN)

Saint Kitts & Nevis – Canada
Referee: Elmer Bonilla (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Douglas Bermudez (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Mangandi (SLV)
Fourth Official: Erick Andino (HON)

St. Lucia – Puerto Rico
Referee: Kevile Holder (CAY)
Assistant Referee 1: Dwayne Ebanks (CAY)
Assistant Referee 2: Swason Owen (CAY)
Fourth Official: Raymond Bogle (JAM)

Guatemala – Grenada
Referee: Neal Brizan (TRI)
Assistant Referee 1: Dion Neil (TRI)
Assistant Referee 2: Ainsley Rochard (TRI)
Fourth Official: Kevin Morrison (JAM)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CAF

11 November 2011

Seychelles – Kenya

Referee: Denis Batte (UGA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Ssonko (UGA)
Assistant Referee 2: Balikoowa Ngobi (UGA)
Fourth Official: Ali Kalyango (UGA)

Sao Tome e Principe – Congo
Referee: Sosthene Ngbokaye (CTA)
Assistant Referee 1: Narcisse Siaka (CTA)
Assistant Referee 2: Yvon Doumana (CTA)
Fourth Official: Arcy Dongombe (CTA)

Djibouti – Namibia
Referee: Tessema Bamlak (ETH)
Assistant Referee 1: Kindie Mussie (ETH)
Assistant Referee 2: Tesfaye Omega (ETH)
Fourth Official: Daniel Fekadu (ETH)

Comoros – Mozambique

Referee: David Jane (LES)
Assistant Referee 1: Osias Koto (LES)
Assistant Referee 2: Lesupi Puputla (LES)
Fourth Official: Sentso Mohau (LES)

Eritrea – Rwanda
Referee: Mahamadou Keita (MLI)
Assistant Referee 1: Balla Diarra (MLI)
Assistant Referee 2: Sambou Bagagah (MLI)
Fourth Official: Boubacar Sidibe (MLI)

Equatorial Guinea – Madagascar
Referee: Eric Otogo-Castane (GAB)
Assistant Referee 1: Theophile Vinga (GAB)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilfried Nziengui (GAB)
Fourth Official: Christian Mouity (GAB)

Chad – Tanzania
Referee: Bunmi Ogunkolade (NGA)
Assistant Referee 1: Tunde Abidoye (NGA)
Assistant Referee 2: Abel Baba (NGA)
Fourth Official: Abubakar Ago (NGA)

Guinea-Bissau – Togo
Referee: Malang Diedhiou (SEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Moussa Diakate (SEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Maguette Ndiaye (SEN)
Fourth Official: Ousseynou Kasse (SEN)

Swaziland – Congo DR
Referee: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Ernest Simwanza (ZAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Romeo Kasengele (ZAM)
Fourth Official: Bernard Chabala (ZAM)

Lesotho – Burundi
Referee: Rainhold Shikongo (NAM)
Assistant Referee 1: David Shaanika (NAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Hifitale Shahungu (NAM)
Fourth Official: Ananias Kangandi (NAM)

Somalia – Ethiopia
Referee: Mohamed Ourouke (DJI)
Assistant Referee 1: Hassan Yacin (DJI)
Assistant Referee 2: Aboubaker Said (DJI)
Fourth Official: Hassan Ali (DJI)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – AFC

11 November 2011

Tajikistan – Japan
Referee: Kim Dong Jin (KOR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jeong Hae Sang (KOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Lee Jungmin (KOR)
Fourth Official: Lee Dong Jun (KOR)

UAE – Korea Republic

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)
Fourth Official: Vladislav Tseytlin (UZB)

Iraq – China
Referee: Peter Green (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Denis Silk (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohd Tumin (MAS)
Fourth Official: Chaiya Mahapab (THA)

Kuwait – Lebanon
Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Ilyasov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Mamur Saidkasimov (UZB)
Fourth Official: Vadim Agishev (UZB)

Jordan – Singapore
Referee: Benjamin Williams (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Ccream (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Hakan Anaz (AUS)
Fourth Official: Charymurat Kurbanov (TKM)

Uzbekistan – Korea DPR
Referee: Andre El Haddad (LIB)
Assistant Referee 1: Ali Adi (LIB)
Assistant Referee 2: Hadi El Kassar (LIB)
Fourth Official: Radwan Ghandour (LIB)

Oman – Australia
Referee: Ali Abdulnabi (BHR)
Assistant Referee 1: Sayed Mahfoodh (BHR)
Assistant Referee 2: Nawaf Moosa (BHR)
Fourth Official: Yousef Almarzouq (KUW)

Bahrain – Iran
Referee: Abdul Malik Bashir (SIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jeffrey Gek Pheng (SIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohd Mat Daud (MAS)
Fourth Official: Mohd Abdul Wahab (MAS)

Qatar – Indonesia
Referee: Muhsen Basma (SYR)
Assistant Referee 1: Mohammed Al Nahlawi (SYR)
Assistant Referee 2: Yaser Marad (KUW)
Fourth Official: Ali Sabbagh (LIB)

Saudi Arabia – Thailand
Referee: Liu Kwok Man (HKG)
Assistant Referee 1: Chan Shui Hung (HKG)
Assistant Referee 2: Chung Ming Sang (HKG)
Fourth Official: Ng Kai Lam (HKG)

Einwaller to retire from international refereeing

Austrian Thomas Einwaller, 34, has recently announced his early retirement from international refereeing. He is currently classified by UEFA in the Elite Development Category and has refereed at the UEFA European Championship 2006 in Luxembourg, Meridian Cup 2007 in Spain, Olympic Games 2000 in Beijing, as well as the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2009 in Egypt. He was the youngest European referee candidate pre-selected for the FIFA World Cup 2010, but did not make the final list for South Africa.

Thomas Einwaller motivated his early retirement by two reasons: the increased time required for training and also that both his ARs, Roland Heim and Norbert Schwab, will not be available next year due to retirement. However, the fact that another Austrian referee, Robert Schorgenhofer, recently became no. 1 in his country and got significantly more international appointments must have played an important role in Einwaller’s decision to retire at only 34.

Within the last three years, some well-known World Cup referees shocked the international refereeing by their early retirement: Mark Shield (AUS, 35), Tammy Ogston (AUS, 38), Michael Hester (NZL, 39), Oscar Ruiz (COL, 42). All of them already had at least a World Cup under their belt and were age-eligible for one or more World Cups, but they all cited "other commitments" as the official reason for quitting refereeing so early.

European refereeing mourns death of Giulio Campanati

The world of football, and the refereeing community in particular, have been in mourning since Giulio Campanati, former international referee and member of FIFA’s and UEFA's Referees Committees, passed away at the age of 88.

Campanati took charge of his first Italian Serie A match in 1952 and went on to handle 166 top-flight games until he retired to become a referee administrator in 1966. He had been an international referee from 1956, officiating at the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final second leg between FC Barcelona and Valencia CF in 1962 as well as two European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, in 1964 and 1966. He was also selected to referee at the Rome Olympic Games in 1960.
“It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of former FIFA Referees Committee member Giulio Campanati, whom I had the privilege of knowing personally and spending time with on several occasions at meetings, seminars and other FIFA competitions,” said FIFA President Joseph Blatter in a letter of condolence to Giancarlo Abete, his counterpart at the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). “In the name of the wider international football family and on my own behalf, I offer my most heartfelt condolences.”
The Italian referee served on the refereeing bodies at FIFA and UEFA between 1968 and 1990. He officiated in 18 international matches between 1956 and 1966, and was also as President of the Italian Referees Association from 1972 to 1990. “I will always remember Giulio not only as a great referee, a competent and passionate administrator, and a respected match and referee inspector, but also as a man of authority and character who left his mark on Italian refereeing and contributed to the development of refereeing at European and global level,” added the FIFA President. “I would be very grateful if you could communicate all my sympathy and support to the family and friends of Giulio Campanati during this time of great sadness.”
Giulio Campanati was awarded the UEFA Order of Merit in Ruby in 2000.

Source: FIFA

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Quarter-finals (Second Leg)

9 November 2011
Vasco da Gama – Universitario

Referee: Carlos Amarilla (PAR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Cesar Franco (PAR)
Fourth Official: Julio Quintana (PAR)

10 November 2011
Velez Sarsfield – Independiente Santa Fe

Referee: Enrique Osses (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Mondria (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
Fourth Official: Patricio Polic (CHI)

CAF Champions League Final 2011

First Leg, 6 November 2011
Wydad Casablanca – Esperance Tunis
Referee: Neant Alioum (CMR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Evarist Menkouande (CMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Yanoussa Moussa (CMR)

Second Leg, 13 November 2011
Esperance Tunis – Wydad Casablanca
Referee: Noumandiez Doue (CIV)
Assistant Referee 1: Songuifolo Yeo (CIV)
Assistant Referee 2: Djibril Camara (SEN)

AFC Champions League Final 2011

5 November 2011

Jeonbuk Hyundai – Al Sadd
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB, photo)
Asistant Referee 1: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)

FIFA Club World Cup 2011

Japan, 8-18 December 2011

AFC

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB, 1977)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (UZB, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Bahadyr Kochkarov (KGZ, 1970)

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (JPN, 1972, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Toru Sagara (JPN, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Toshiyuki Nagi (JPN, 1971)

CAF

Referee: Noumandiez Doue (CIV, 1970)
Assistant Referee 1: Songuifolo Yeo (CIV, 1970)
Assistant Referee 2: Djibril Camara (SEN, 1983)

CONCACAF

Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV, 1975)
Assistant Referee 1: William Torres (SLV, 1975)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zumba (SLV, 1982)

CONMEBOL

Referee: Enrique Osses (CHI, 1974)
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Mondria (CHI, 1972)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Astroza (CHI, 1976)

OFC

Referee: Peter O'Leary (NZL, 1972)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Hintz (NZL, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Ravinesh Kumar (FIJ, 1982)

UEFA

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA, 1971)
Assistant Referee 1: Renato Faverani (ITA, 1969)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (ITA, 1969)

Romanian FIFA AR abusively removed from an UCL match

Cristian Nica, the best Romanian assistant referee for the last five years, revealed the incredible story of how he was removed from an international match to make room for the former vice-president of the Romanian Referees Committee's son, Sebastian Gheorghe. Recently, another top assistant referee, Adrian Vidan, broke the silence about the dicretionary methods used by the former Referees Committee to push their children onto the FIFA List. Three out of the 10 names proposed by the former committee for the 2012 FIFA AR List are sons of former committee members. If FIFA will allow it, the new Romanian Referees Committee would like to review the nominations for 2012.

- Is it true that you were replaced from an international match in order to make room for the son of the former vice-president of the committee?
- I know what you are referring to. It is true and I can tell you exactly what happened. In the summer of 2010, UEFA notified the Romanian Referees Committee that Cristian Balaj was appointed for a Champions League match, Milan – Auxerre. Under the procedure, Balaj chose his assistants, Zoltan Szekely and me, along with Sebastian Gheorghe, the vice-president’s son, as a back-up if one of us becomes unavailable.
- You did not end up going to that match. Why?
- Because of the former leaders of the committee. I was appointed to the first division match Medias – Timisoara, along with Hategan and Nagy. Guess who was the referee observer? Constantin Gheorghe, who wanted to put his son in the UCL match. A game without any problems for me turned into a tirade by the observer, who blamed me after the match for one hour and a half! I never saw the report of that game, although, according to the regulations, I should have received it. I found out later that I was marked 7.9 or 7.8, which means a low mark, which usually is awarded when there are significant errors, such as red cards not issued or goals mistakenly canceled.
- And what followed?
- After a few days, we had a meeting with all referees. Before entering the room, someone told me: "Be careful that they are very angry with you!" In the meeting, Vasile Avram, the former chairman of the committee said: "You should know that, even when you have a good match, you can receive low marks because of improper behaviour towards the observer. Do you understand, Nica?” At that point, it was clear that they wanted to chop me.
- Why?
- Well, the UCL match Milan – Auxerre was coming and they needed a reason to replace me with Gheorghe. It was the moment when they called referee Balaj and “suggested” him not to take me anymore, but to take instead the vice-president’s son.
- And what did Balaj do?
- He accepted. Later, he confirmed that it was “suggested” to take along Sebastian Gheorghe, as AR, because… I was not in a good shape. The message was clear and Balaj accepted in order to keep his good relations with the committee.
- Did you have other problems because of that?
- People reached their goal, but in the last round I did my first major error after 10 years in the first division. Vasile Avram, who was the chairman at that time, told me: "Mircea Sandu (president of the Romanian Soccer Federation) is very angry with you for what you did, he is really upset”.
- And why you did not go directly to Mircea Sandu?
- That is what I wanted to do, but when I told Avram about my intention, you know what he said? "Keep quiet, Cristian, I will solve that with Mircea Sandu, do not worry!"
- But at that time why you did not not ask for an explanation from the vice-president Constantin Gheorghe
- What could I have asked, "Why did you take me off and put your son in my place?" It would have jeopardized my entire career. I had just been released from an international match, was the message not clear?
- Did you talk to him after the committee was changed?
- No and I do not even want to deal anymore with such people who have suppressed all that is valuable in Romanian refereeing. Career advancement did not consider anymore the value of a referee or assistant, but everything was done to promote the nepotism. In September, a week before he was arrested, Avram and his committee submitted the proposals for the 2012 FIFA AR List. After 5 years at the top, they put me down to no. 4, while Gheorghe jr. was moved to no. 2, although he only got his international badge two years ago. That says everything about their “family business”.
- Did you complain to referee Balaj about his acceptance?
- No, but back then I was angry with him. Later, I forgave him.After Avram and Gheorghe were removed from the committee, I found again the pleasure and motivation to referee.

Source: Gazeta Sporturilor

UEFA Europa League – Group Stage (Matchday 4)

3 November 2011

Rubin – Tottenham

Referee: Florian Meyer (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Holger Henschel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Christoph Bornhorst (GER)
Additional AR 1: Peter Sippel (GER)
Additional AR 2: Markus Wingenbach (GER)
Fourth Official: Babak Rafati (GER)

Shamrock – PAOK

Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitri Zhuk (BLR)
Assistant Referee 2: Stanislau Savitski (BLR)
Additional AR 1: Valery Vialichka (BLR)
Additional AR 2: Sergei Tsinkevich (BLR)
Fourth Official: Dzianjs Shcharbakou (BLR)

Vorksla – Standard
Referee: Libor Kovarik (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Krystof Menkl (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Patrik Filipek (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Radek Prihoda (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Radek Matejek (CZE)
Fourth Official: Tomas Kokourek (CZE)

Kobenhavn – Hannover
Referee: Eric Braamhaar (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Angelo Boonman (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Rob Van de Ven (NED)
Additional AR 1: Serdar Gozobuyuk (NED)
Additional AR 2: Reinold Wiedemeijer (NED)
Fourth Official: Kamphuis Jochem (NED)

Legia – Rapid
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)

Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Sjoblom (SWE)

Additional AR 1: Michael Lerjeus (SWE)

Additional AR 2: Johan Hamlin (SWE)

Fourth Official: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)

PSV – Hapoel
Referee: Stuart Attwell (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Long (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Jones (ENG)

Vaslui – Sporting
Referee: Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 1: Sigurdur Thorleifsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 2: Gunnar Gunnarsson (ISL)
Additional AR 1: Magnus Thorisson (ISL)
Additional AR 2: Thorvaldur Hjaltalin (ISL)
Fourth Official: Erlendur Eiriksson (ISL)

Lazio – Zurich
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Dimitris Saraidaris (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Leonidas Vasileiadis (GRE)
Additional AR 1: Anastassios Kakos (GRE)
Additional AR 2: Stavros Tritsonis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE)

Maccabi Tel Aviv – Stoke
Referee: Duarte Gomes (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Joao Santos (POR)

Assistant Referee 2: Venancio Tome (POR)

Additional AR 1: Carlos Xistra (POR)

Additional AR 2: Paulo Batista (POR)

Fourth Official: Marco Ferreira (POR)

Besiktas – Dynamo Kyiv
Referee: Tommy Skjerven (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Geir Age Holen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Steinar Holvik (NOR)
Additional AR 1: Brage Sandmoen (NOR)
Additional AR 2: Anders Johansen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Trond Doyle (NOR)

Salzburg – Athletic
Referee: Stanislav Todorov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolai Angelov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Ventsislav Gavrilov (BUL)
Additional AR 1: Nikolai Yordanov (BUL)
Additional AR 2: Georgi Yordanov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Anton Genov (BUL)

PSG – Slovan
Referee: Marc Courtney (NIR)
Assistant Referee 1: Eamon Shanks (NIR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paul Munn (NIR)
Additional AR 1: Mervyn Smyth (NIR)
Additional AR 2: Raymond Crangle (NIR)
Fourth Official: Arnold Hunter (NIR)

Metalist – Malmo
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Zunic (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gregor Rojko (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Slavko Vincic (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Davor Drecnik (SVN)
Fourth Official: Mitja Zganec (SVN)

Austria Vienna – Alkmaar
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA)

Assistant Referee 2: Fredji Harchay (FRA)

Additional AR 1: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)

Additional AR 2: Wilfried Bien (FRA)

Fourth Official: Pascal Vileo (FRA)

Braga – Maribor
Referee: Leontios Trattou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Soteriou (CYP)

Assistant Referee 2: Charalambos Charalambos (CYP)

Additional AR 1: Marios Panayi (CYP)

Additional AR 2: Marios Stamatis (CYP)

Fourth Official: Marios Tsaggaris (CYP)

Birmingham – FC Brugge
Referee: Marcin Borski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafal Rostkowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Additional AR 1: Dawid Piasecki (POL)
Additional AR 2: Daniel Stefanski (POL)
Fourth Official: Tomasz Garbowski (POL)

Celtic – Rennes
Referee: Bruno Paixao (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Sergio Serrao (POR)
Additional AR 1: Bruno Esteves (POR)
Additional AR 2: Vasco Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Rui Silva (POR)

Atletico – Udinese
Referee: Istvan Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Zsolt Szpisjak (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Toth (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Sandor Ando-Szabo (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Adam Nemeth (HUN)
Fourth Official: Roland Veizer (HUN)

Schalke – Larnaca
Referee: Hannes Kaasik (EST)
Assistant Referee 1: Marco Leevand (EST)
Assistant Referee 2: Dmitri Vinogradov (EST)
Additional AR 1: Kristo Tohver (EST)
Additional AR 2: Jan Roos (EST)
Fourth Official: Roomer Tarajev (EST)

Steaua – Maccabi Haifa
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicky Siebert (NED)

Assistant Referee 2: Patrick Langkamp (NED)

Additional AR 1: Danny Makkelie (NED)

Additional AR 2: Ed Janssen (NED)

Fourth Official: Tom van Sichem (NED)

Twente – Odense
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Sovre (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduard Dumitrescu (ROU)
Additional AR1: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Robert Dumitru (ROU)
Fourth Official: Sebastian Coltescu (ROU)

Fulham – Wisla
Referee: Halis Ozkahya (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Baki Akkin (TUR)

Assistant Referee 2: Cem Satman (TUR)

Additional AR 1: Tolga Ozkalfa (TUR)

Additional AR 2: Baris Simsek (TUR)

Fourth Official: Koray Gencerler (TUR)

AEK – Lokomotiv
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Graham Chambers (SCO)

Assistant Referee 2: George Drummond (SCO)

Additional AR 1: Robert Madden (SCO)

Additional AR 2: Stephen O’Reilly (SCO)

Fourth Official: Allan Crawford (SCO)

Anderlecht – Sturm
Referee: Menashe Masiah (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Nissan Davidy (ISR)

Assistant Referee 2: Amihay Mozes (ISR)

Additional AR 1: Eli Hacmon (ISR)

Additional AR 2: Haim Jakov (ISR)

Fourth Official: Shay Shirit (ISR)

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