Collina: "Knowing the Laws of the Game is no longer sufficient”

UEFA Chief Refereeing Officer Pierluigi Collina and AFC referee Ravshan Irmatov from Uzbekistan said that in order to become a top referee on an international level, knowing the rules of the game is no longer sufficient.

Speaking on first day of the 10th annual Dubai Sports Council conference, Italian referee legend Collina (photo) said that a modern referee has to know every single player on the field, along with his capabilities and his most possible movements and actions, especially during standard situations. "There was a time where a very good referee had to know the soccer rules by heart. This is over. Today, only the referee who can estimate as good as possible what might happen during the match has the potential to reach world-class", said 55-year-old Collina, who was been named IFFHS's "Best Referee of the Year" for six consecutive years during his time as a FIFA Referee from 1995 to 2005. Collina was famous for never touring the city he travelled to during his career, but he remained in his hotel room the whole day before the match in order to study the host and guest team and every single player through databases and video analyses.

Irmatov agreed, saying that an in-depth match preparation is no longer a distinction. "Anticipating the characteristics of a football match is very important for success as the way how it is played today is much faster and more dynamic than before." Irmatov, 38, was named "Best Referee in Asia" for five times (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014). A FIFA official since 2003, the Uzbek elite referee was selected to officiate the final match of both the 2008 and 2011 FIFA Club World Cup.

Collina said the questions a referee has to ask himself ahead of the game are "Do you know all payers? Who are the biggest players, their tactics, their characteristics and their records in previous encounters?" Collina completed the referee workshop of the conference by showing a video analysis of a standard free kick situation when Bayern Munich played against FC Barcelona which gave an example how players position themselves in advance near their counterparts to stop them through unfair movements.

Source: Xinhua

Video referees in England?

The introduction of video referees in the Premier League has moved a step closer, after the FA sent out a questionnaire that could see English football being used to trial the wider use of technology at matches. Red cards, penalty kicks, goals, violent conduct, offsides and incidents off the ball – all could be up for video scrutiny, if the clubs are supportive. The feedback will be used by the FA to formulate a strategy in time for the Annual General Meeting of the International Football Association Board in March. It could be that the FA will volunteer the English leagues to be guinea pigs for experiments and studies using the new rules. Depending on the results of the questionnaire, the capability for video reviews could be in place as early as next season.
The FA letter was sent to the Premier League, Football League, Professional Footballers Association and League Managers Association, and was forwarded to Premier League clubs on December 18. The clubs have been asked to return the questionnaires, either in writing or verbally, by January 6, with the Premier League intending to form a working group to report to their shareholders meeting on February 4. In the FA's covering letter, which gives FA Head of Refereeing Neale Barry as a point of contact and is headed 'The use of technology in football', the FA make it plain that they are for the exploration of video assistance for referees, but want to progress only with the collaboration of the clubs and key stakeholders, such as players and managers. It reads: 'The results of the questionnaire will help shape any proposals made to the IFAB for English football to conduct an experiment to further assess and explore the effectiveness of potential technology solutions.' The FA warn that, even if the clubs are in favour, the IFAB has previously been resistant to the introduction of technology. Barry is a member of the IFAB's Technical Advisory Panel — which also includes former referees Pierluigi Collina and David Elleray. The last proposals regarding video assistance were made by the Dutch FA last year and were met with rebuttal. In the past, Major League Soccer and the Brazilian federation have also volunteered to hold trials. If only a fragment of the process covered in the FA questionnaire is acted upon it would represent the most radical shake-up of football since the modern rules were formulated. As well as asking the clubs what decisions would be open to review, the FA have also requested feedback on the length of time needed to review decisions, whether or not a break in play is necessary for decision reviews and whether an area of the stadium should be set aside for the match official to consult video. The prospect of managerial challenges to calls made by the referee — a version of the decision review system in cricket — the chain of authority between match referee and video referee and the unsolicited intervention of the remote referee are also covered.

The questionnaire sent to Premier League clubs
1. With regard to key match decisions that could be reviewed, which of the following do you believe should be reviewed using technology?
a) Yellow cards
b) Red cards
c) Red card offences seen, but not detected by the referee
d) Penalty area incidents that may result in a penalty kick
e) Offences that take place close to the penalty area
f) Goals scored with possible offside or foul play in the build-up to a goal
g) Unseen incidents, such as violent conduct
h) Second yellow cards
i) Tackles that may have resulted in a second yellow card, but where the referee took no further action
j) Offside offences that immediately result in a goal
k) Mistaken identity

2. Are there any other key match decisions you think should be included?

3. When should the review take place?
a) Only when play has been stopped by the referee and he wishes to review an incident?
b) Only when play has been stopped by the referee and the 'remote referee' (match officials with access to multiple angles on instant replay) advises the referee to review an incident?
c) Only when play has been stopped and the team manager wishes to 'challenge' a decision?
d) By the referee stopping play when he is uncertain of a decision to review it?
e) The 'remote referee' intervening if he believes the referee has made a mistake and asking him to stop play?
f) By the team manager requesting to stop play to challenge a decision?

4. What length of time is appropriate to stop the game to review a decision or for the remote referee to review a decision before advising the referee to stop the game?
a) 15 seconds
b) 30 seconds
c) 45 seconds
d) Less than 2 minutes
e) As long as it takes

5. If a referee has to review a decision it is likely that until technology has advanced he will have to use a pitch-side monitor. This will impact on the length of stoppage. Where should this review take place?
a) In the technical area?
b) In a pitchside location which is public?
c) In a pitchside location which is private?

6. Who should make the final decision after reviewing a replay of the incident?
a) Match referee
b) Another referee in remote location communicating directly with the referee

c) Other

7. Football decisions can be very subjective. In the event that the video review is inconclusive how the final decision should be made?
a) The referee's initial decision stands
b) The referee decides having reviewed the footage
c) The remote referee's decision stands

8. Do you believe that video technology should be used to aid match officials' decision-making in the following games?
a) Premier League
b) Championship
c) League One and Two
d) FA Cup

Source: Daily Mail

UEFA Futsal Euro 2016

Serbia, 2-13 February 2016 

Referees
1. Gerald Bauernfeind (AUT, 1981)
2. Marc Birkett (ENG, 1978)
3. Ondrej Cerny (CZE, 1979)
4. Kamil Cetin (TUR, 1984, photo)
5. Eduardo Fernandes (POR, 1979)
6. Fernando Gutierrez (ESP, 1971)
7. Oleg Ivanov (UKR, 1972)
8. Gabor Kovacs (HUN, 1978)
9. Pascal Lemal (BEL, 1972)
10. Alessandro Malfer (ITA, 1975)
11. Timo Onatsu (FIN, 1973)
12. Cedric Pelissier (FRA, 1976)
13. Ivan Shabanov (RUS, 1978)
14. Bogdan Sorescu (ROU, 1974)
15. Sasa Tomic (CRO, 1975)
16. Admir Zahovic (SVN, 1982)

Reserve Referees
1. Tomasz Frak (POL, 1981)
2. Lukas Pesko (SVK, 1983)

Referee Observers/Instructors
1. Pedro Galan Nieto (ESP)
2. Perry Gautier (BEL)
3. Massimo Cumbo (ITA)
4. Ivan Novak (CRO)
5. Ramon Alonso (ESP)

FIFA Club World Cup Final 2015: Faghani (IRN)

20 December 2015

Final
River Plate – FC Barcelona
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Reza Sokhandan (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohammadreza Mansouri (IRN)
Fourth Official: Alioum Alioum (CMR)
Reserve AR: Evarist Menkouande (CMR)

Match for Third Place
Sanfrecce Hiroshima – Guangzhou Evergrande
Referee: Matt Conger (NZL)
Assistant Referee 1: Tevita Makasini (TGA)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Lount (NZL)
Fourth Official: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Reserve AR: Alexander Guzman (COL)

Busacca: Male and female referees have to work together

When Massimo Busacca was appointed as the Head of the FIFA Refereeing Department in 2011, he had a clear idea for the preparation of elite referees: the deeper the knowledge of the game, the better the results. And as Busacca now looks ahead to the cycle leading to the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, his idea is to take these methods one step further – and to do so in a unified, joint effort for men’s and women’s football.

“Men and women have to work together, because we are convinced that this should be our philosophy. The game is the same, the decisions they take are the same, and thus the preparation for the referees and assistant referees should be, too,” said Busacca. “That is why in all our seminars – starting with two important elite ones in February 2016 – we will present exactly the same information and we’ll organise activities to discuss and analyse situations together; men and women referees”. The core of Busacca’s philosophy lies in the idea that, much like footballers, referees must prepare themselves for every match from all standpoints - even tactically. “Football is very fast nowadays, but even if you run like Forrest Gump, if you don’t understand the game, you won’t be at the right place at the right time,” he explained. “Before a game, a coach instructs a player about how the other team lines up, what are the characteristics of the opponents, etc. It should be the same for referees: they should know if a team plays 4-3-3 or 4-3-2-1; if they play on the counter-attack… Before the ball is coming, you should be able to know where it will be, and that has to be repeated and simulated to exhaustion. Referees are not machines and mistakes can occur, but this is how you create uniformity and consistency to minimise them." As much focus as Busacca puts into knowledge and theory, though, there is no way to ignore the increasing physical demands of refereeing elite football. Although that too comes side-by-side with understanding the game, which was the rationale behind his department’s adaptation of FIFA’s fitness tests for referees. “It’s not a big change: essentially, we work on reducing the distances and shortening the limits. We need more agility and explosion. In the modern game, the effort is no longer about 200m sprints, but several 10m, 20m or 40m ones. This is crucial. There are so many counter attacks at such speed that when a ball is lost you must be really quick in sprinting towards the other box." With the game increasingly faster and the scrutiny intensified – particularly in the case of women’s football – Massimo Busacca’s goal is simply to have all fronts covered. “After the Women’s World Cup in Canada, in our last debrief, I told the referees: in this top level, you need to prepare professionally and know what you are doing. It is the only way you can sustain your decisions. If not, people will not trust them”.

Source: FIFA

Thomas: “I slept the sleep of the just”

“Innovator” and “footballer” are two words rarely associated with the name of Clive Thomas, writes Alex Griffiths. Yet this iconic referee, destined ever to be remembered for ruling out a Zico World Cup goal, remains in touch with the game he cherishes and brings the added perspective of both having played and having fought at the sharp end for law changes we now take for granted.

Of course he is also still the very same age, give or take three months, as Sepp Blatter, who was merely another eager apparatchik encountered by Thomas during Germany ’74. And at the age of 79, just maybe the Welshman has become more circumspect in choosing his battles. Whether or not that is so, however, it did not take long to find a battle he was ready, willing and able to choose. It’s only fair to quote Graham Poll exactly, from ‘Geoff Hurst, the Hand of God and The Biggest Rows in World Football’ – his 2009 follow-up to Seeing Red: “Perhaps Thomas’ decision to end play as Zico was about to score was a horrendous error of judgement. Or perhaps it was to make a point. Perhaps he was exasperated…Perhaps he was punishing them. It is even possible he blew when he did as a theatrical demonstration of his own importance.” With scant acknowledgement of how many years ahead of his time Thomas was in battles fought with the powers that be, Poll went further and accused him of not admitting to mistakes when he did indeed admit to many, in his own autobiography, ‘By The Book’. On the subject of Poll then, Thomas is as forthright as ever: “I’ve got no time at all for him. He made huge blunders [at World Cups], but that was not the worst thing for me. No, Poll went right down in my estimation for what he said concerning a match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Highbury. “There was one particular occasion, I believe it is a very well-known game [February 1st, 2005] thanks to YouTube, and he admitted he was just not able to control the problems in the tunnel. Not only that, and he might realise this himself in retirement, but he went on to say that Wayne Rooney had sworn at him something like 20 times in the first half. Well, that tells me Rooney had no respect for him. It sounds simple I know, but players need and want to know what they can and cannot do, and cheating might well now be worse among players than it has ever been. There was an English referee who came to live in Swansea, a nice enough chap and we met up one night after he moved to Wales. He asked me why I managed to get so many top games when I didn’t get on with the players! I asked him what exactly he meant by that and he said that it surprised him, that’s all, that I wasn’t more of a player’s referee. He said that he never went straight home after a game but instead would go out drinking with the players and as a result he felt they were more likely to do as he told them to, the next time they found themselves on the same pitch. I tried to warn him not to trust the players… for we are the opposite to them, and that, because we are there to ensure the laws are applied, you can’t ever be true friends with players, but he carried on and he was struck off the list shortly afterwards.” Seen by Graham Kelly as a thorn in the Football Association’s side, Thomas pointed the finger at the FA’s alleged failures when it came to the modernisation of its laws, in its maintenance of fan discipline, in its resistance to FIFA, as well as something else that at least it could not be accused of since 1992: a lack of resistance to the good, old Football League. Now those were the days!

At the very real risk of poking impertinently at an old wound, I’d been prompted in advance to ask Thomas about Argentina ’78, and whether the word ‘regret’ ever came into the equation. While it may have defined his career for many, did that necessarily mean he would ever ‘go there’? Having watched the incident on live TV as a goggle-eyed boy of 11, I was happy to gamble on the memory banks if necessary… and just in case yours need topping up, take a look here. Keeping my powder dry, it turns out, could well have nudged Thomas to offload what had been on his mind a long, long time. Others might call it an exclusive, but as the first-hand account of Mar Del Plata and the 1-1 draw between Sweden and Brazil emerged from my landline, I took care to write down every last syllable. “I was later lambasted by colleagues and that never concerned me. I was told by [referee chief] Jose Maria Codesal I was wrong back in the dressing room, but you know, even as Brazilians shouted ‘Gol’ in front of me, the decision had actually been accepted by the players. There was no argument, in fact both linesmen told me, ‘well done’. After I had dressed, two English journalists, Powell of The Mail and Jones of The Mirror, told me outside that there was talk of sending me straight home, which never did happen. On the plane I was also made aware that the president of FIFA being a Brazilian might become a factor but I still said I would take them on, purely on what Law 7 [covering Allowance for Time Lost] states, and I would have. Having flown back to Buenos Aires, at the reception in the Carlton Hotel, in my broken Spanish, I asked for my key and no phone calls as I headed up to my room.” What followed constituted new information certainly not in the book of 30 years ago, which cast the besieged official’s claim of ‘sleeping the sleep of the just’ in a vastly different light: “In the middle of the night, the phone did ring and the desk was saying this man says he must speak to you. I agreed to take the call and it was the late Cliff Morgan, of the BBC. ‘We are taking you out,’ he said. ‘I want you out of that bed in 15 minutes and you are coming out with us.’ “That’s how Cliff and the commentator David Coleman came to take me out clubbing, and true friends that they were, neither of them so much as once asked anything about the game. It made me realise who my friends were, to be honest with you, and they proved to be close friends indeed. “Now I look back and yes, I would have preferred it to have gone differently, but as I told [FIFA’s] Friedrich Seipelt, who woke me by phone the next day: waiting until any longer after the corner to terminate the game would not have been honest. My old mate, Jack Taylor was right in what he told the BBC… that it was not the diplomatic thing to do. Even so, the BBC proved I was right when it came to adding up the time. And, even today, two men approached me out walking and spoke of their respect at my decision. Not a week goes by without it being raised.”

So however unrepentant this Norwich City signing-turned ground staffer turned-globally infamous man in the middle remains, it cannot ever be said Thomas put his career before his hopeless devotion to the game itself. “People are fantastic to me you know, they always want to talk and whether or not they agree with a decision or not, once I have explained my viewpoint to them, never once have I had any abuse in return from a member of the public. I’m not by any means suggesting people have always agreed with a decision, but they have always been satisfied that what I have given has been an honest decision. That’s why I said I slept the sleep of the just after my last game in Argentina and that’s why I will always be able to sleep. What I got from my career was the respect from supporters, managers and others who matter for my motives and my love for the game. Now, no matter how many matches you watch on the television you will never see the referee blow his whistle for full-time while the ball is in the area. So, do I understand why people disagree with me? Yes, but I also know the very same people also say, ‘we respect you, because you’re honest’. And you can’t beat that, can you?”

Source: YATR

English referees promised chauffeur-driven cars during Christmas

The move is designed to help officials stay mentally and physically fresh in hectic festive period when they often have to make multiple long journeys.

Top English referees have been granted a Christmas wish - by getting driven to Premier League games over the festive season. Match officials normally drive themselves to a meeting place and pick up a lift for the rest of the way to matches. But they have campaigned to get chauffeur-driven cars all the way for the busy Boxing Day and festive games - and have finally got their way. It is designed to allow them to relax and also be fresh after a busy Christmas if they have to make long journeys. The move has gone down well with referees, with many having several games over the busy programme.

Source: Mirror

FIFA Club World Cup 2015 – Semi-finals

16 December 2015
Sanfrecce Hiroshima – River Plate
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Wärnmark (SWE)
Fourth Official: Matt Conger (NZL)
Reserve AR: Tevita Makasini (TGA)

17 December 2015
FC Barcelona – Guangzhou Evergrande
Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Zumba (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Marvin Torrentera (MEX)
Fourth Official: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Reserve AR: Alexander Guzman (COL)

FIFA Club World Cup 2015 – Match for Fifth Place

16 December 2015

Club America – TP Mazembe
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Reza Sokhandan (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohammadreza Mansouri (IRN)
Fourth Official: Ryuji Sato (JPN)
Reserve AR: Akane Yagi (JPN)

UEFA Euro 2016 Referees

The UEFA Referees Committee has appointed the 18 referees who will take charge of the 51 matches at UEFA Euro 2016.

The list of referees who have been selected:

1. Martin Atkinson (ENG, 1971)

2. Felix Brych (GER, 1975)

3. Cüneyt Cakir (TUR, 1976)

4. Mark Clattenburg (ENG, 1975)

5. William Collum (SCO, 1979)

6. Jonas Eriksson (SWE, 1974)

7. Ovidiu Hategan (ROU, 1980)

8. Sergei Karasev (RUS, 1979)

9. Viktor Kassai (HUN, 1975)

10. Pavel Kralovec (CZE, 1977)

11. Björn Kuipers (NED, 1973)

12. Szymon Marciniak (POL, 1981)

13. Milorad Mažić (SRB, 1973)

14. Svein Moen (NOR, 1979)

15. Nicola Rizzoli (ITA, 1971, photo)

16. Damir Skomina (SVN, 1976)

17. Clement Turpin (FRA, 1982)

18. Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP, 1971)

As at UEFA Euro 2012 and in the European Qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2016, the referees will have added support through the deployment of additional assistant referees. Each refereeing team will consist of a referee, two assistant referees and two additional assistant referees. The majority of assistants and additional assistants will come from the same country as the referee. A third assistant referee will also be appointed and will stay on standby until the start of the tournament. The full referee teams will be announced in February 2016.

The preparation of the referees for UEFA Euro 2016 will include various courses and training activities, including:

• 26–28 January 2016 – UEFA assistant referee course in Cyprus.

• 1–5 February 2016 – UEFA's annual winter course with all UEFA Elite group referees, including the UEFA EURO 2016 referees. The referees will receive technical instructions, as well as physical training plans to follow until the final tournament.

• 18–22 April 2016 – UEFA Euro 2016 preparatory referee course in France. The referee 'quintets' will train together and undergo fitness tests and review the application of the technical instructions they have received.

The referee teams will arrive in France on 6 June 2016 for the final tournament.

Source: UEFA

UEFA Referee Categories 2016

Men

Elite

Martin Atkinson (ENG), Deniz Aytekin (GER), Ivan Bebek (CRO), Felix Brych (GER), Cüneyt Cakir (TUR), Mark Clattenburg (ENG), William Collum (SCO), Jonas Eriksson (SWE), David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP), Ovidiu Hategan (ROU), Sergei Karasev (RUS), Viktor Kassai (HUN), Pavel Kralovec (CZE), Björn Kuipers (NED), Szymon Marciniak (POL), Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP), Milorad Mažić (SRB), Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR), Bas Nijhuis (NED), Daniele Orsato (ITA), Nicola Rizzoli (ITA), Gianluca Rocchi (ITA), Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE), Damir Skomina (SVN), Paolo Tagliavento (ITA), Craig Thomson (SCO), Clement Turpin (FRA), Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP), Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP).

First Category

Ievgenii Aranovskyi (UKR), Luca Banti (ITA), Benoît Bastien (FRA), John Beaton (SCO), Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS), Kevin Blom (NED), Tamas Bognar (HUN), Sergii Boiko (UKR), Ruddy Buquet (FRA), Tony Chapron (FRA), Sebastien Delferiere (BEL), Oliver Drachta (AUT), Aleksei Eskov (RUS), Javier Estrada Fernandez (ESP), Simon Evans (WAL), Mattias Gestranius (FIN), Pawel Gil (POL), Jesus Gil Manzano (ESP), Hüseyin Göcek (TUR), Serdar Gözübüyük (NED), Manuel Gräfe (GER), Serge Gumienny (BEL), Arnold Hunter (NIR), Stefan Johannesson (SWE), Matej Jug (SVN), Jakob Kehlet (DEN), Istvan Kovacs (ROU), Ivan Kruzliak (SVK), Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR), Harald Lechner (AUT), Liran Liany (ISR), Robert Madden (SCO), Danny Makkelie (NED), Andre Marriner (ENG), Gediminas Mazeika (LTU), Paolo Mazzoleni (ITA), Michael Oliver (ENG), Halis Özkahya (TUR), Clayton Pisani (MLT), Pawel Raczkowski (POL), Robert Schörgenhofer (AUT), Artur Soares Dias (POR), Manuel De Sousa (POR), Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD), Tobias Stieler (GER), Marijo Strahonja (CRO), Martin Strömbergsson (SWE), Anthony Taylor (ENG), Alexandru Tudor (ROU), Istvan Vad (HUN), Slavko Vinčič (SVN), Tobias Welz (GER), Alon Yefet (ISR), Miroslav Zelinka (CZE), Felix Zwayer (GER).

Second Category
Anatoliy Abdula (UKR), Aliyar Aghayev (AZE), Thorvaldur Arnason (ISL), Marius Avram (ROU), Cristian Balaj (ROU), Alain Bieri (SUI), Marcin Borski (POL), Alexandre Boucaut (BEL), Kevin Clancy (SCO), Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP), Sebastian Coltescu (ROU), Nikola Dabanović (MNE), Andrew Dallas (SCO), Antonio Damato (ITA), Bastian Dankert (GER), Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP), Amaury Delerue (FRA), Christian Dingert (GER), Neil Doyle (IRL), Svein-Erik Edvartsen (NOR), Andreas Ekberg (SWE), Fredy Fautrel (FRA), Bartosz Frankowski (POL), Marco Fritz (GER), Antony Gautier (FRA), Vlado Glodović (SRB), Orel Grinfeeld (ISR), Marco Guida (ITA), Tore Hansen (NOR), Alexander Harkam (AUT), Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez (ESP), Sergei Ivanov (RUS), Adrien Jaccottet (SUI), Ken Henry Johnsen (NOR), Enea Jorgji (ALB), Georgi Kabakov (BUL), Mete Kalkavan (TUR), Charalampos Kalogeropoulos (GRE), Stephan Klossner (SUI), Artyom Kuchin (KAZ), Sergei Lapochkin (RUS), Jonathan Lardot (BEL), Richard Liesveld (NED), Robert Madley (ENG), Juan Martinez Munuera (ESP), Davide Massa (ITA), Dimitar Meckarovski (MKD), Vitaly Meshkov (RUS), Steven McLean (SCO), Hugo Miguel (POR), Benoît Millot (FRA), Antti Munukka (FIN), Ville Nevalainen (FIN), Christos Nicolaides (CYP), Aleksei Nikolaev (RUS), Ali Palabiyik (TUR), Bojan Pandzić (SWE), Craig Pawson (ENG), Radu Petrescu (ROU), Nikola Popov (BUL), Lee Probert (ENG), Pavle Radovanović (MNE), Nicolas Rainville (FRA), Roi Reinshreiber (ISR), Alan Sant (MLT), Sandro Schärer (SUI), Frank Schneider (FRA), Manuel Schüttengruber (AUT), Eitan Shmuelevitz (ISR), Daniel Siebert (GER), Daniel Stefanski (POL), Ivaylo Stoyanov (BUL), Padraigh Sutton (IRL), Stanislav Todorov (BUL), Kristo Tohver (EST), Leontios Trattou (CYP), Andris Treimanis (LVA), Siarhei Tsynkevich (BLR), Michael Tykgaard (DEN), Paolo Valeri (ITA), Ognjen Valjić (BIH), Pol van Boekel (NED), Bart Vertenten (BEL), Ante Vucemilović-Simunović (CRO), Carlos Taborda Xistra (POR), Anatolii Zhabchenko (UKR).

Third Category
Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE), Alexandr Aliyev (KAZ), Sascha Amhof (SUI), Sandor Ando-Szabo (HUN), Dennis Antamo (FIN), Aleksandrs Anufrijevs (LVA), Petr Ardeleanu (CZE), Alexandros Aretopoulos (GRE), Suren Baliyan (ARM), Veaceslav Banari (MDA), Sven Bindels (LUX), Deniz Bitnel (TUR), Jörgen Burchardt (DEN), Johnny Casanova (SMR), Fabio Costa Verissimo (POR), Raymond Crangle (NIR), Andrew Davey (NIR), Oleksandr Derdo (UKR), Vasilis Dimitriou (CYP), Nenad Djokić (SRB), Alain Durieux (LUX), Adam Farkas (HUN), Trustin Farrugia (MLT), Juri Frischer (EST), Aleksander Gauzer (KAZ), Filip Glova (SVK), Aleksandrs Golubevs (LVA), Sergio Grade Piscarreta (POR), Danilo Grujić (SRB), Dag Vidar Hafsas (NOR), Markus Hameter (AUT), Nikolaj Hänni (SUI), Robert Harvey (IRL), Rahim Hasanov (AZE), Thoroddur Hjaltalin (ISL), Zaven Hovhannisyan (ARM), Dejan Jakimovski (MKD), Edin Jakupović (BIH), Jari Järvinen (FIN), Lorenc Jemini (ALB), Gunnar Jonsson (ISL), Srdjan Jovanović (SRB), Fran Jović (CRO), Jovan Kaludjerović (MNE), Ferenc Karako (HUN), Peter Kjaersgaard (DEN), Georgios Kominis (GRE), Laurent Kopriwa (LUX), Yaroslav Kozyk (UKR), Peter Kralović (SVK), Tvetan Krastev (BUL), Mads-Kristoffer Kristoffersen (DEN), Giorgi Kruashvili (GEO), Georgios Kyzas (GRE), Nicolas Laforge (BEL), Erik Lambrechts (BEL), Kirill Levnikov (RUS), Tiago Lopes Martins (POR), Martin Lundby (NOR), Jens Maae (DEN), Orkhan Mammadov (AZE), Stavros Mantalos (GRE), Boris Marhefka (SVK), Bryn Markham-Jones (WAL), Tim Marshall (NIR), Dimitrios Masias (CYP), Paul McLaughlin (IRL), Yurii Mozharovskyy (UKR), Dumitru Muntean (MDA), Tomasz Musial (POL), Ola Hobber Nilsen (NOR), Glenn Nyberg (SWE), Pavel Orel (CZE), Dominik Ouschan (AUT), Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE), Erez Papir (ISR), Bardhyl Pashaj (ALB), Tihomir Pejin (CRO), Irfan Peljto (BIH), Anders Poulsen (DEN), Radek Prihoda (CZE), Zbynek Proske (CZE), Petur Reinert (FAR), Donatas Rumsas (LTU), Fedayi San (SUI), Joao Santos Capela (POR), Dzianis Shcharbakou (BLR), Lasha Silagava (GEO), Joao Silva Pinheiro (POR), Sergejus Slyva (LTU), Ryan Stewart (WAL), Roomer Tarajev (EST), Alexandru Tean (MDA), Vilhjalmur Thorarinnsson (ISL), Stanislav Todorov (BUL), Alex Troleis (FRO), Alper Ulusoy (TUR), George Vadachkoria (GEO), Mikhail Vilkov (RUS), Ignasi Villamayor (AND), Vladimir Vnuk (SVK), Nikolay Yordanov (BUL), Fyodor Zammit (MLT), Mario Zebec (CRO), Mitja Zganec (SVN).

Women

Elite
Jana Adamkova (CZE), Teodora Albon (ROU), Sandra Braz Bastos (POR), Cristina Dorcioman (ROU), Stephanie Frappart (FRA), Gyöngyi Gaal (HUN), Riem Hussein (GER), Katalin Kulcsar (HUN), Pernilla Larsson (SWE), Efthalia Mitsi (GRE), Kateryna Monzul (UKR), Monika Mularczyk (POL), Sara Persson (SWE), Morag Pirie (SCO), Anastasia Pustovoitova (RUS), Esther Staubli (SUI), Bibiana Steinhaus (GER), Carina Vitulano (ITA), Olga Zadinova (CZE).

First Category
Linn Andersson (SWE), Esther Azzopardi (MLT), Vesna Budimir (CRO), Petra Chuda (SVK), Lorraine Clark (SCO), Rhona Daly (IRL), Amy Fearn (ENG), Florence Guillemin (FRA), Kirsi Heikkinen (FIN), Sofia Karagiorgi (CYP), Zuzana Kovacova (SVK), Marija Kurtes (GER), Eleni Lampadariou (GRE), Lina Lehtovaara (FIN), Karolina Radzik-Johan (POL), Sharon Sluyts (BEL), Marte Soro (NOR), Eszter Urban (HUN), Severine Zinck (FRA).

Second Category
Julia-Stefanie Baier (AUT), Sabine Bonnin (FRA), Paula Brady (IRL), Tania Fernandes Morais (LUX), Sarah Garratt (ENG), Marta Frias Acedo (ESP), Simona Ghisletta (SUI), Kseniya Goryacheva (RUS), Knarik Grigoryan (ARM), Gordana Kuzmanovic (SRB), Justina Lavrenovaite (LTU), Ivana Martincic (CRO), Elia Martinez Martinez (ESP), Ana Minic (SRB), Lois Otte (BEL), Vivian Peeters (NED), Barbara Poxhofer (AUT), Ivana Projkovska (MKD), Tanja Subotic (SVN), Zuzana Valentova (SVK), Kateryna Zora (UKR).

Third Category
Eleni Antoniou (GRE), Ewa Augustyn (POL), Nadeshda Belcheva (BUL), Sabina Bolic (CRO), Cristina Bujor (ROU), Charlotte Carpenter (WAL), Aleksandra Cesen (SVN), Iuliana Demetrescu (ROU), Virginie Derouaux (BEL), Galiya Echeva (BUL), Cathrine Eide (NOR), Cheryl Foster (WAL), Michaela Fritz (AUT), Valentina Garoffolo (ITA), Beatriz Gil Gozalo (ESP), Desiree Grundbacher (SUI), Yuliya Gurbanova (AZE), Sabayel Gurbanova (AZE), Liliya Hasanova (KAZ), Frida Klarlund Nielsen (DEN), Dilek Kocbay (TUR), Sibel Kolcak (TUR), Eliska Kralovec-Kramlova (CZE), Ifeoma Kulmala (FIN), Katarzyna Lisiecka-Sek (POL), Jurgita Macikunyte (LTU), Maria Marotta (ITA), Yuliya Medvedeva (KAZ), Dimitrina Milkova (BUL), Neslihan Muratdagi (TUR), Henrikke Nervik (NOR), Elvira Nurmustafina (KAZ), Tess Olofsson (SWE), Vera Onica (MDA), Hannelore Onsea (BEL), Vera Opeikina (RUS), Meliz Ozcigdem (TUR), Svetlana Patras (MDA), Ruzanna Petrosyan (ARM), Graziella Pirriatore (ITA), Alexandra Ponomareva (RUS), Viola Raudzina (LVA), Anastasiya Romanyuk (UKR), Silvia Rosa Domingos (POR), Meitar Shemesh (ISR), Rachel Shkuri (ISR), Ana Soares Aguiar (POR), Angelika Soeder (GER), Nelli Stepanyan (ARM), Sandra Strub (SUI), Liudmyla Telbukh (UKR), Bojana Tosic (BIH), Biljana Trifunovic (SRB), Volha Tsiareshka (BLR), Andromachi Tsiofliki (GRE), Irina Turovskaya (BLR), Irena Velevackoska (MKD), Ivana Vlaic (BIH).

Futsal

Elite
Gerald Bauernfeind (AUT), Marc Birkett (ENG), Ondrej Cerni (CZE), Kamil Cetin (TUR), Eduardo Fernandes Coelho (POR), Tomasz Frak (POL), Fernando Gutierrez Lumbreras (ESP), Oleg Ivanov (UKR), Borislav Kolev (BUL), Gabor Kovacs (HUN), Pascal Lemal (BEL), Alessandro Malfer (ITA), Timo Onatsu (FIN), Cedric Pelissier (FRA), Ivan Shabanov (RUS), Bogdan Sorescu (ROU), Sasa Tomic (CRO), Admir Zahovic (SVN).

First Category
Josip Barton (MKD), Moshe Bohbot (ISR), Gerd Bylois (BEL), Vasileios Christodoulis (GRE), Juan Cordero Gallardo (ESP), Nuno Costa Bogalho (POR), Viacheslav Daragan (UKR), Swen Eichler (GER), Trayan Enchev (BUL), Balazs Farkas (HUN), Angelo Galante (ITA), Gabriel Gherman (ROU), Nikola Jelic (CRO), Vladimir Kadykov (RUS), Antonis Konstantinides (GRE), Costas Nicolaou (CYP), Dejan Nikolic (SVN), Lukas Pesko (SVK), Zdenek Petr (CZE), Elchin Samadli (AZE), Ozan Soykan (TUR), Sebastian Stawicki (POL), Barry Weijers (NED).

Second Category
Ilya Akimtsev (RUS), Victor Berg Audic (FRA), Veljko Boskovic (MNE), Franco Cachia (MLT), Michalis Christofidis (CYP), Daniele Di Resta (ITA), Ibrahim El Jilali (NED), Marian Gal (SVK), Fabio Gelonese (ITA), Hennadii Hora (UKR), Tarik Keco (BIH), Kalin Kinov (BUL), Gregor Kovacic (SVN), Toni Lehtinen (FIN), Robert Lenting (NED), Petar Mantev (MKD), Nicola Manzione (ITA), Alejandro Martinez Flores (ESP), Iuri Neverov (RUS), Fredric Nilholt (SWE), Arsen Nonikashvili (GEO), Peter Nurse (ENG), Miguel Oliveira Castilho (POR), Francisco Pena Diaz (ESP), Ruben Pinto Guerreiro (POR), Patrik Porkert (AUT), Damir Radovic (SRB), Vladan Radulovic (SRB), Vitali Rakutski (BLR), Simon Rogers (IRL), Gavin Sartain (ENG), David Schaerli (SUI), Borut Sivic (SVN), Aleksandras Sliva (LTU), Simon Todorovic (SVN), Andrej Topic (CRO), Sreten Vasic (SRB), Cédric Waroux (BEL), Grigori Zelentsov (RUS).

Third Category
Nikola Aleksic (SRB), Vedran Babic (CRO), Igor Babovic (SWE), Mario Belavy (SVK), Abdallah Benazzi (NED), Guy Berger (ISR), David Berry (IRL), Mario Bohun (SVK), Viktor Bugenko (MDA), Clinton Cassar (MLT), Serhat Celik (TUR), Martin Cilek (CZE), Christos Christou (CYP), Vasilica Ciuplea (WAL), Ovidiu Curta (ROU), Danijel Darandik (GER), Daniel Deca (ROU), Maksim Dzeikala (BLR), Torbjorn Eidhammer (NOR), Kreshnik Hakram (ALB), Khalil Huseyinli (AZE), Farid Islamov (AZE), Damian Jaruchiewicz (POL), Shota Khukhilava (GEO), Kaloyan Kirilov (BUL), Kaspars Kivliss (LVA), Konstantinos Kommatas (GRE), Talgat Kosmukhambetov (KAZ), Konstantinos Koytsogianos (GRE), Jan Kresta (CZE), Ainar Kuusk (EST), Karel Linhart (CZE), Daniel Matkovic (SUI), Marjan Mladenovski (MKD), Kirill Naishouler (FIN), Ramil Namazov (AZE), Olli Niemela (FIN), Yusif Nurullayev (AZE), Grigori Osomkov (EST), Christophe Paitreault (FRA), Inguns Purins (LVA), Igor Puzovic (BIH), Petar Radojcic (SRB), Omar Rafiq (NOR), Gerard Ramirez (AND), Sylvester Rodrigues (NED), Marco Rothenfluh (SUI), Sabit Selvi (TUR), Dragan Skakic (BIH), Zoran Sofrenic (BIH), Norbert Szilagyi (HUN), Adalbjorn Thornsteisson (ISL), Adrian Tschopp (SUI), Robertas Valikonis (LVA), Lars Van Leeuwen (NED), Andri Vigfusson (ISL), Yaroslav Vovchok (UKR), Stefan Vrijens (BEL), Andrzej Witkowski (POL), Yiangos Yiangou (CYP).

FIFA Club World Cup 2015 – Quarter-finals

13 December 2015

Club America – Guangzhou Evergrande
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Wärnmark (SWE)
Fourth Official: Alioum Alioum (CMR)
Reserve AR: Evarist Menkouande (CMR)

TP Mazembe – Sanfrecce Hiroshima
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Alexander Guzman (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian De la Cruz (COL)
Fourth Official: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Reserve AR: Reza Sokhandan (IRN)

UEFA Referees – Promotions and Demotions 2015/2016

Men

Promoted from Second Category to First Category: Benoît Bastien (FRA, photo), John Beaton (SCO), Jesus Gil Manzano (ESP), Serdar Gözübüyük (NED), Jakob Kehlet (DEN), Istvan Kovacs (ROU), Pawel Raczkowski (POL), Tobias Stieler (GER).

Retired from First Category: Kenn Hansen (DEN). 

Demoted from First Category to Second Category: Cristian Balaj (ROU), Marcin Borski (POL), Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP), Christian Dingert (GER), Steven McLean (SCO), Leontios Trattou (CYP), Pol van Boekel (NED).

Promoted from Third Category to Second Category: Thorvaldur Arnason (ISL), Nikola Dabanović (MNE), Andrew Dallas (SCO), Bartosz Frankowski (POL), Tore Hansen (NOR), Enea Jorgji (ALB), Srdjan Jovanović (SRB), Charalampos Kalogeropoulos (GRE), Ville Nevalainen (FIN), Ali Palabiyik (TUR), Bojan Pandzić (SWE), Nikola Popov (BUL), Roi Reinshreiber (ISR), Sandro Schärer (SUI), Manuel Schüttengruber (AUT), Bart Vertenten (BEL), Anatolii Zhabchenko (UKR). 

Retired from Second Category: Michael Lerjeus (SWE). 

Demoted from Second Category to Third Category: Stanislav Todorov (BUL). 

New FIFA Referees promoted directly to Second Category: Robert Madley (ENG), Frank Schneider (FRA). 

New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Alexandros Aretopoulos (GRE), Veaceslav Banari (MDA), Deniz Bitnel (TUR), Jörgen Burchardt (DEN), Andrew Davey (NIR), Nenad Djokić (SRB), Trustin Farrugia (MLT), Juri Frischer (EST), Filip Glova (SVK), Aleksandrs Golubevs (LVA), Sergio Grade Piscarreta (POR), Robert Harvey (IRL), Ferenc Karako (HUN), Peter Kjaersgaard (DEN), Georgios Kominis (GRE), Georgios Kyzas (GRE), Kirill Levnikov (RUS), Martin Lundby (NOR), Stavros Mantalos (GRE), Boris Marhefka (SVK), Glenn Nyberg (SWE), Pavel Orel (CZE), Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE), Donatas Rumsas (LTU), Fedayi San (SUI), Joao Silva Pinheiro (POR), Ryan Stewart (WAL), Alex Troleis (FRO), Alper Ulusoy (TUR), Fyodor Zammit (MLT), Mario Zebec (CRO).

Women

Promoted from First Category to Elite: Anastasia Pustovoitova (RUS), Olga Zadinova (CZE).

Retired from Elite: Silvia Spinelli (ITA).

Promoted from Second Category to First Category: Vesna Budimir (CRO), Lorraine Clark (SCO).

Retired from First Category: Cristina Babadac-Ionescu (ROU).

Demoted from First Category to Second Category: Elia Martinez Martinez (ESP).

Promoted from Third Category to Second Category: Julia-Stefanie Baier (AUT), Sarah Garratt (ENG), Marta Frias Acedo (ESP), Justina Lavrenovaite (LTU), Ivana Martincic (CRO), Lois Otte (BEL), Vivian Peeters (NED), Barbara Poxhofer (AUT), Ivana Projkovska (MKD), Tanja Subotic (SVN).

Demoted from Second Category to Third Category: Yuliya Medvedeva (KAZ).

Retired from Third Category: Lilach Asulin (ISR), Dilan Gokcek Iscan (TUR), Mihaela Gurdon-Basimamovic (CRO), Kristina Husballe (DEN), Zuzana Strpkova (SVK), Marianne Svendsen (DEN).

New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Sabina Bolic (CRO), Iuliana Demetrescu (ROU), Cheryl Foster (WAL), Michaela Fritz (AUT), Sibel Kolcak (TUR), Maria Marotta (ITA), Alexandra Ponomareva (RUS), Meitar Shemesh (ISR), Rachel Shkuri (ISR), Andromachi Tsiofliki (GRE).

Futsal

Promoted from First Category to Elite: Kamil Cetin (TUR), Tomasz Frak (POL), Borislav Kolev (BUL), Cedric Pelissier (FRA).

Demoted from Elite to First Category: Sebastian Stawicki (POL).

Promoted from Second Category to First Category: Josip Barton (MKD), Moshe Bohbot (ISR), Vasileios Christodoulis (GRE), Juan Cordero Gallardo (ESP), Trayan Enchev (BUL), Nikola Jelic (CRO), Vladimir Kadykov (RUS), Costas Nicolaou (CYP), Zdenek Petr (CZE), Elchin Samadli (AZE), Ozan Soykan (TUR), Barry Weijers (NED).

Retired from First Category: Karel Henych (CZE), Danijel Janosevic (CRO).

Demoted from First Category to Second Category: Franco Cachia (MLT), Francisco Pena Diaz (ESP), Borut Sivic (SVN).

Promoted from Third Category to Second Category: Victor Berg Audic (FRA), Michalis Christofidis (CYP), Ibrahim El Jilali (NED), Tarik Keco (BIH), Peter Nurse (ENG), Patrik Porkert (AUT), Vladan Radulovic (SRB), Simon Rogers (IRL), David Schaerli (SUI), Simon Todorovic (SVN).

New FIFA Referees promoted directly to Second Category: Daniele Di Resta (ITA), Iuri Neverov (RUS).

Retired from Third Category: Septimiu Burtescu (ROU), Epaminondas Stamoulis (GRE).

New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Nikola Aleksic (SRB), Vedran Babic (CRO), Mario Belavy (SVK), Clinton Cassar (MLT), Serhat Celik (TUR), Martin Cilek (CZE), Daniel Deca (ROU), Farid Islamov (AZE), Konstantinos Kommatas (GRE), Jan Kresta (CZE), Daniel Matkovic (SUI), Kirill Naishouler (FIN), Grigori Osomkov (EST), Igor Puzovic (BIH), Petar Radojcic (SRB), Omar Rafiq (NOR), Sylvester Rodrigues (NED), Marco Rothenfluh (SUI), Sabit Selvi (TUR), Norbert Szilagyi (HUN), Adalbjorn Thornsteisson (ISL), Lars Van Leeuwen (NED), Yiangos Yiangou (CYP).

FIFA Futsal World Cup 2016 – Main Round (UEFA)

10-13 December 2015

Group 1 (Gyor)
1. Robert Lenting (NED)
2. Dejan Nikolić (SVN)
3. Fredric Nilholt (SWE, photo)
4. Sebastian Stawicki (POL)

Group 2 (Osijek)
1. Gerd Bylois (BEL)
2. Trayan Enchev (BUL)
3. Vladimir Kadykov (RUS)
4. Gábor Kovács (HUN)

Group 3 (Izmir)
1. Nuno Bogalho (POR)
2. Veljko Bošković (MNE)
3. Fernando Gutiérrez Lumbreras (ESP)
4. Andrej Topić (CRO)

Group 4 (Eindhoven)
1. Cédric Pelissier (FRA)
2. Damir Radović (SRB)
3. Saša Tomić (CRO)
4. Elchin Samadli (AZE)

Group 5 (Chomutov)
1. Josip Barton (MKD)
2. Franco Cachia (MLT)
3. Oleg Ivanov (UKR)
4. Alejandro Martinez Flores (ESP)

Group 6 (Varzim)
1. Moshe Bohbot (ISR)
2. Ondřej Černý (CZE)
3. Kamil Çetin (TUR)
4. Nicola Manzione (ITA)

Group 7 (Bari)
1. Vasilios Christodoulis (GRE)
2. Gabriel Gherman (ROU)
3. Ivan Shabanov (RUS)
4. Aleksandras Sliva (LTU)

Alioum: Neant or Alioum?

In recent years, Cameroonian referee Alioum has been mentioned in the official FIFA documents, as well as in the media, with an undesirable first name "Neant", which means “none”. Alioum (photo) does actually have a first name, which - believe it or not - it is the same as his last name: Alioum.

"I am not the head of the department that deals with referees here. What I know is that the FIFA website caused this issue. At the time of his online application, the FIFA clerk who processed the applications only inputted in the system the name Alioum. But, as there is “Alioum” for the last name, it has “none” in the first name space, as if to say he has no first name. Incredibly, this situation continued for years", said a member of the Cameroon Football Federation.

Source: Star Africa / Arbitro Internacional

UEFA Europa League – Group Stage (Matchday 6)

10 December 2015

Tottenham Hotspur – AS Monaco
Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO, photo)
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: Goran Pataki (CRO)
Referee Observer: Domenico Messina (ITA)

Fenerbahce – Celtic
Referee: Serge Gumienny (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Jimmy Cremers (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Thibaud Nijssen (BEL)
Additional AR 1: Bart Vertenten (BEL)
Additional AR 2: Wim Smet (BEL)
Fourth Official: Dirk Gilon (BEL)
Referee Observer: Vaclav Krondl (CZE)

Ajax – Molde
Referee: Ievgenii Aranovskyi (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Voytyuk (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Sergii Bekker (UKR)
Additional AR 1: Sergii Boiko (UKR)
Additional AR 2: Anatoliy Abdula (UKR)
Fourth Official: Semen Shlonchak (UKR)
Referee Observer: Nuno Castro (POR)

Girondins Bordeaux – Rubin Kazan
Referee: John Beaton (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Francis Connor (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graham Chambers (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Brian Colvin (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Donald Robertson (SCO)
Fourth Official: Douglas Potter (SCO)
Referee Observer: Erol Ersoy (TUR)

Sion – Liverpool
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Alexandros Grevenis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Chrysoula Kourompylia (GRE)
Additional AR 1: Charalampos Kalogeropoulos (GRE)
Additional AR 2: Andreas Pappas (GRE)
Fourth Official: Christos Baltas (GRE)
Referee Observer: Jens Larsen (DEN)

Qäbälä – Krasnodar
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Miklos Nagy (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)
Additional AR 1: Cristian Balaj (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Marius Avram (ROU)
Fourth Official: Mihai Artene (ROU)
Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN)

Borussia Dortmund – PAOK
Referee: Mattias Gestranius (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Peter Aravirta (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mikko Alakare (FIN)
Additional AR 1: Antti Munukka (FIN)
Additional AR 2: Dennis Antamo (FIN)
Fourth Official: Jukka Honkanen (FIN)
Referee Observer: Costas Kapitanis (CYP)

Midtjylland – Club Brugge
Referee: Javier Estrada Fernandez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Teodoro Sobrino Magan (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Jesus Gil Manzano (ESP)
Fourth Official: Roberto Díaz Perez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Eugen Strigel (GER)

Napoli – Legia
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Marjan Kirovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Dejan Kostadinov (MKD)
Additional AR 1: Dimitar Meckarovski (MKD)
Additional AR 2: Dejan Jakimovski (MKD)
Fourth Official: Nikola Karakolev (MKD)
Referee Observer: Pascal Garibian (FRA)

Rapid Wien – Dinamo Minsk
Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Reza Mammadov (AZE)
Additional AR 1: Rahim Hasanov (AZE)
Additional AR 2: Orkhan Mammadov (AZE)
Fourth Official: Mubariz Hashimov (AZE)
Referee Observer: Luciano Luci (ITA)

Viktoria Plzen – Villarreal
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Frederic Cano (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Guillaume Debart (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Benoit Millot (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Mickael Lesage (FRA)
Fourth Official: Philippe Jeanne (FRA)
Referee Observer: Sokol Jareci (ALB)

Slovan Liberec – Olympique Marseille
Referee: Robert Schorgenhofer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Roland Brandner (AUT)
Additional AR 1: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)
Additional AR 2: Dieter Muckenhammer (AUT)
Fourth Official: Roland Riedel (AUT)
Referee Observer: Marian Ruzbarsky (SVK)

Groningen – Braga
Referee: Simon Lee Evans (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Philip Thomas (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: John Roberts (WAL)
Additional AR 1: Bryn Markham-Jones (WAL)
Additional AR 2: Nick Pratt (WAL)
Fourth Official: Daniel Beckett (WAL)
Referee Observer: Drazenko Kovacic (CRO)

Dnipro – Rosenborg
Referee: Stephan Klossner (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Vitali Jobin (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Jean-Yves Wicht (SUI)
Additional AR 1: Alain Bieri (SUI)
Additional AR 2: Sascha Amhof (SUI)
Fourth Official: Johannes Vogel (SUI)
Referee Observer: Rodger Gifford (WAL)

Saint Etienne – Lazio
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Angelo Boonman (NED)
Additional AR 1: Dennis Highler (NED)
Additional AR 2: Ed Janssen (NED)
Fourth Official: Bas Van Dongen (NED)
Referee Observer: Morgan Norman (SWE)

Sporting – Besiktas
Referee: Manuel Grafe (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Borsch (GER)
Additional AR 1: Marco Fritz (GER)
Additional AR 2: Benjamin Brand (GER)
Fourth Official: Christoph Bornhorst (GER)
Referee Observer: Emil Bozhinovski ((MKD)

Skenderbeu – Lokomotiv Moskva
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivica Modric (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Dario Vrabec (CRO)
Additional AR 1: Fran Jovic (CRO)
Additional AR 2: Mario Zebec (CRO)
Fourth Official: Hrvoje Radic (CRO)
Referee Observer: Ioannis Tsachilidis (GRE)

Fiorentina – Belenenses
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolai Golubev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Maksim Gavrilin (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Aleksei Eskov (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Igor Fedotov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Valeri Danchenko (RUS)
Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR)

Lech – Basel
Referee: Robert Madden (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Alastair Mather (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Douglas Ross (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Andrew Dallas (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Alain Muir (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
Referee Observer: Darko Ceferin (SVN)

Anderlecht – Qarabag
Referee: Slavko Vincic (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Bojan Ul (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomaz Klancnik (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Roberto Ponis (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Dragoslav Peric (SVN)
Fourth Official: Andraz Kovacic (SVN)
Referee Observer: Igor Ischenko (UKR)

Apoel – Sparta Praha
Referee: Istvan Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Istvan Albert (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Berettyan (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Sandor Ando-Szabo (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Jozsef Erdos (HUN)
Fourth Official: Laszlo Viszokai (HUN)
Referee Observer: Charles Agius (MLT)

Asteras – Schalke
Referee: Liran Liany (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Danny Krasikow (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: David Bitton (ISR)
Additional AR 1: Alon Yefet (ISR)
Additional AR 2: Menashe Masiah (ISR)
Fourth Official: Amihay Mozes (ISR)
Referee Observer: Zdravko Jokic (SRB)

Partizan – Augsburg
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Giallatini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Marco Guida (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Andrea Gervasoni (ITA)
Fourth Official: Filippo Meli (ITA)
Referee Observer: Rene Temmink (NED)

Athletic – Alkmaar
Referee: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Haquette (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Amaury Delerue (FRA)
Fourth Official: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Referee Observer: Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL)

FIFA Club World Cup 2015 – Play-off

10 December 2015

Sanfrecce Hiroshima – Auckland City
Referee: Alioum Alioum (CMR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Evarist Menkouande (CMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Elvis Noupue (CMR)
Fourth Official: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
Reserve AR: Juan Zumba (SLV)

Copa Sudamericana Final 2015

First Leg, 2 December 2015

Huracan – Santa Fe
Referee: Antonio Arias (PAR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Fourth Official: Ulises Mereles (PAR)
Referee Observer: Martin Vazquez (URU)

Second Leg, 9 December 2015

Santa Fe – Huracan
Referee: Heber Lopes (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Kleber Gil (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Fourth Official: Pericles Cortez (BRA)
Referee Observer: Bernardo Corujo (VEN)

UEFA Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 6)

8 December 2015
VfL Wolfsburg – Manchester United
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Dalibor Djurdjevic (SRB)
Additional AR 1: Danilo Grujic (SRB)
Additional AR 2: Nenad Djokic (SRB)
Fourth Official: Nemanja Petrovic (SRB)
Referee Observer: Manuel Lopez Fernandez (ESP)

Real Madrid – Malmo FF
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Daniele Doveri (ITA)
Fourth Official: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)

Paris SG – Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Robert Madley (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Salisbury (ENG)
Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)

PSV Eindhoven – CSKA Moskva
Referee: David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Cabanero Martinez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Fourth Official: Diego Barbero Sevilla (ESP)
Referee Observer: Murat Ilgaz (TUR)

SL Benfica – Atletico Madrid
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Sovre (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU)
Additional AR 1: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Sebastian Coltescu (ROU)
Fourth Official: Radu Ghinguleac (ROU)
Referee Observer: Sergey Zuev (RUS)

Galatasaray – Astana
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: William Conquer (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Steven McLean (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Kevin Clancy (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alan Mulvanny (SCO)
Referee Observer: Paul Allaerts (BEL)

Manchester City – Borussia Monchengladbach
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Mario Diks (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Hessel Steegstra (NED)
Additional AR 1: Serdar Gozubuyuk (NED)
Additional AR 2: Jochem Kamphuis (NED)
Fourth Official: Rob Van de Ven (NED)
Referee Observer: Alan Snoddy (NIR)

Sevilla FC – Juventus Turin
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Pawel Sokolnicki (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Additional AR 1: Pawel Raczkowski (POL)
Additional AR 2: Tomasz Musial (POL)
Fourth Official: Radoslaw Siejka POL)
Referee Observer: Oguz Sarvan (TUR)

9 December 2015
Bayer Leverkusen – FC Barcelona
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Beck (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jake Collin (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Kevin Friend (ENG)
Fourth Official: John Brooks (ENG)
Referee Observer: Peter Mikkelsen (DEN)

AS Roma – Bate Borisov
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Child (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Jonathan Moss (ENG)
Fourth Official: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Referee Observer: Fritz Stuchlik (AUT)

Olympiakos – Arsenal
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Antonio Damato (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Davide Massa (ITA)
Fourth Official: Andrea Padovan (ITA)
Referee Observer: Michel Vautrot (FRA)

Dinamo Zagreb – Bayern Munchen
Referee: Martin Strombergsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mehmet Culum (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Gustavsson (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Michael Lerjeus (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)
Fourth Official: Per Brogevik (SWE)
Referee Observer: Juan Fernandez Marin (ESP)

Chelsea – FC Porto
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Huseyin Gocek (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Baris Simsek (TUR)
Fourth Official: Emre Eyisoy (TUR)
Referee Observer: Jorn West Larsen (DEN)

Dymamo Kyiv – Maccabi Tel Aviv
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Additional AR 1: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Additional AR 2: Richard Liesveld (NED)
Fourth Official: Charles Schaap (NED)
Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)

Valencia – Olympique Lyon
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Zunic (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Mitja Zganec (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Dejan Balazic (SVN)
Fourth Official: Manuel Vidali (SVN)
Referee Observer: Terje Hauge (NOR)

KAA Gent – Zenit St. Petersburg
Referee: Manuel De Sousa (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Alvaro Mesquita (POR)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Taborda (POR)
Additional AR 2: Joao Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Referee Observer: Hans Reijgwart (NED)