FIFA discussions: Only captains can talk to referees

FIFA is discussing whether to allow only captains to speak to referees, says former Netherlands striker and manager Marco van Basten. It would bring football in line with rugby union, which has strict rules around in-match communication.

Van Basten, FIFA's chief technical development officer, said there have been talks about how to improve player behaviour and respect for officials. "There are a lot of players now who are complaining during a game," he said. Speaking to the BBC, the former Ajax and AC Milan forward added: "I am sure the behaviour of the players can be better - we are thinking about putting it back in the right direction." FIFA, football's world governing body, has recently introduced trials of video referees - where the match official can watch a pitch-side replay of key incidents on a small monitor. It was used in this month's Club World Cup - and was commended by FIFA president Gianni Infantino. "This is what we have to do to help the referees," Van Basten said about the introduction of technology and discussions around changing other rules. "We try to make a good product - dynamic, exciting, but in the end also honest. There's a lot of emotion in the game and that's what's good - but we have to control it also." Asked about comparisons with rugby, Van Basten replied: "I think we can learn from every sport and they can learn from us - but we have to confront the problem." In rugby, only the captain is allowed to speak directly to the referee. In return, the referee is asked to communicate directly with the captain only.

Source: BBC

China target move for world's best referee Clattenburg

The odds have been shortened on another high-profile name joining the megabucks Chinese Super League; only this time it's a referee. Englishman Mark Clattenburg, who was named the best referee in the world at the Globe Soccer Awards, has emerged as a target for the wealthy league. After an exceptional 2016 that saw him take charge of the FA Cup final, the Champions League final and the European Championship final, the 41-year-old from County Durham would be seen as a big coup for the Chinese. Bookmakers Ladbrokes are offering odds of 25-1 for the Premier League official to make the unprecedented move.

Chinese football has been plagued by match-fixing and corruption allegations and the league's organisers would see the recruitment of a high-profile official like Clattenburg as a big step towards tackling the problem. Clattenburg took charge of the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Crystal Palace at Wembley and then the Champions League showpiece between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in Milan in May. He was then selected to officiate the Euro 2016 final between hosts France and Portugal at the Stade de France in Paris in July. Clattenburg was also praised for his handling of crowd trouble during the group match between the Czech Republic and Croatia in Saint-Etienne, when Croatian hooligans threw flares onto the pitch. Clattenburg suspended play for several minutes and kept the players out of danger while the situation was calmed. He was presented with the best referee prize at the Globe Soccer Awards in Dubai, where representatives from the Chinese Super League were present. A number of high-profile players have been attracted to the Chinese league by the extraordinary wages on offer, with Chelsea's Oscar joining Shanghai SIPG in a £60million deal earlier this month. Ramires, Hulk and Graziano Pelle are among those who have joined Chinese teams, while Argentine striker Carlos Tevez has been linked with a £615,000-a-week deal at Shanghai Shenhua.

Source: Daily Mail

Globe Soccer Awards 2016: Clattenburg (ENG)

Taking the top award in the category for referees was the Englishman Mark Clattenburg, who this year won the right to referee the two most important finals in Europe, the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid and the Euro 2016 final between France and Portugal, having been chosen by UEFA’s Chief Refereeing Officer, Pierluigi Collina, since Clattenburg (photo) is considered the best referee of the current crop. 

Nominees for the 2016 Globe Soccer Awards:
AFC: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
CAF: Bakary Gassama (GAM)
CONCACAF: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
CONMEBOL: Nestor Pitana (ARG)
UEFA: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)

IFFHS World’s Best Referee 2016: Clattenburg (ENG)

The Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli, winner 2014 and 2015, is second of this ranking like 2013, because of the fantastic year of Mark Clattenburg, the English referee, who was the referee of the two most important matches of the year in Europe, the Euro final and the Champions League Final. Selected editorial offices and experts from 56 countries around the world took part in the 2016 annual election of the top referee, the 30th time it has been carried out by the IFFHS. Mark Clattenburg (41 years old) began his referee career in the English first division on 1999 and became international referee on 2006. He was the referee of the Olympic Games Football final in London 2012 before his great year 2016 with the two European finals and also the English Cup final. He was for the first time in the Top 10 last year (6th) and made this great jump in 2016. He is the second English referee to win this Award, after Howard Webb, winner in 2010 and 2013. Clattenburg won this ranking with a large margin before Rizzoli and Viktor Kassai ,the Hungarian winner of 2011. Behind the top 3, Jonas Eriksson, Cuneyt Cakir, Björn Kuipers, Felix Brych and Martin Atkinson confirm their usual performances since many years. Europe dominate this ranking this year, but South America (Pitana and Ricci), Central America (Ramos), Africa (Gheas and Diedhiou) and Asia (Sato) are also present with great referees.

IFFHS World’s Best Referees 2016

1. Mark Clattenburg (England, photo) 141 points
2. Nicola Rizzoli (Italy) 65 points
3. Viktor Kassaï (Hungary) 55 points
4. Jonas Eriksson (Sweden) 43 points
5. Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey) 28 points
6. Björn Kuipers (Netherlands) 28 points
7. Felix Brych (Germany) 26 points
8. Martin Atkinson (England) 20 points
9. Damir Skomina (Slovenia) 19 points
10. Nestor Pitana (Argentina) 14 points
11. Sandro Ricci (Brazil) 12 points
12. Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain) 8 points
13. Ghead Grisha (Egypt) 7 points
14. Malang Diedhiou (Senegal) 5 points
14. Cesar Ramos (Mexico) 5 points
16. Ovidiu Hategan (Romania) 3 points
17. Sergei Karasev (Russia) 2 points
18. Clement Turpin (France) 2 points
19. Simon Marciniak (Poland) 2 points
20. William Collum (Scotland) 2 points
21. Ryuji Sato (Japan) 1 point
22. Milorad Mazic (Serbia) 1 point

IFFHS World’s Best Woman Referee 2016: Kulcsar (HUN)

What a fantastic year for Hungary’s top woman referee, Katalin Kulcsar. The 32-year-old was named as the IFFHS 2016 World’s Best Woman Referee. Kulcsar won huge support from football experts in 56 countries around the World in the 5th Annual IFFHS Women’s Awards. It was a very close ranking, Kulcsar had only 5 points more than Katarina Monzul (winner 2015) and Bibiana Steinhaus (winner 2013 and 2014), 6 points more than the Canadian Carol Anne Chenard. Kulcsar began her international career in 2005 and made quickly such progress that she was given control of FIFA U17 World Cup final 2009, of all great international tournaments and finaly the UEFA Champions League final 2016 between Lyon and Wolfsburg. She is the youngest referee to win this award and she leads a ranking where all continents are represented. That shows the fantastic development of the Women Football in the World. Bibiana Steinhaus, winner 2013 and 2014, took the second place like 2012 and 2015. So she is in the World’s Top 2 since 5 years.

IFFHS World’s Best Women Referees 2016

1. Katalin Kulcsar (Hungary, photo) 58 points
2. Kataryna Monzul (Ukraine) 53 points
3. Bibiana Steinhaus (Germany) 53 points
4. Carol Anne Chenard (Canada) 52 points
5. Pernilla Larsson (Sweden) 26 points
6. Teodora Albon (Romania) 24 points
7. Riem Hussein (Germany) 23 points
8. Esther Stäubli (Switzerland) 21 points
9. Stephanie Frappart (France) 20 points
10. Olga Miranda (Paraguay) 11 points
11. Gladys Lengwe (Zambia) 10 points
12. Lucila Venegas (Mexico) 10 points
13. Claudia Umpierrez (Uruguay) 10 points
14. Ok Ri Hyang (Korea DPR) 10 points
15. Carina Vitulano (Italy) 10 points
16. Olga Zadinova (Czech Republic) 9 points
17. Kate Jacewicz (Australia) 8 points
18. Efthalia Mitsi (Greece) 4 points
19. Rita Gani (Malaysia) 3 points
20. Anna Maria Keighley (New Zealand) 1 point

First use of video review at FIFA Club World Cup explained

The live experiment with Video Assistant Referees (VARs) at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan has seen the first instance of video review being used in a match-changing decision. Japan club champions Kashima Antlers were awarded a penalty during their 3-0 semi-final win over Colombia’s Atletico Nacional on Wednesday, only after referee Viktor Kassai undertook an on-field review based on information from VAR Danny Makkelie that Atletico’s Orlando Berrio tripped Daigo Nishi inside the penalty area.

To help explain the incident and the VAR experiment protocol in general, we spoke to David Elleray, who is The IFAB’s Technical Director and a former FIFA international referee.

- Can you explain the incident involving the Video Assistant Referee in the semi-final?

- In this situation, an offence occurred away from the referee’s view. After receiving information from the VAR, he stopped continuing throw-in being taken and went to look at a monitor in the Referee Review Area on the touchline to conduct an on-field review of the incident. It was just over two minutes from the time he blew the whistle to stop the game to the awarding of the penalty kick. Referees do not have to wait until the ball goes out of play – they can stop the game for a review as soon as the ball is in a ‘neutral’ area i.e. when neither team has a good attacking possibility. But we have to remember that this is the first experience some of these referees have had with video assistance. Checking replays, communication between the officials and then the review itself can take time when it’s a completely new situation for them. With further training for those taking part in the live trials around the world, and potentially further refinements to the experiment protocol, we should see the speed of the review process continue to improve. 

- Was there a question of offside in this incident? 

- According to Law 11, a player in an offside position is only penalised if they play the ball or interfere with an opponent. In the semi-final, the VARs’ main focus was the foul on Diago Nishi, which was clear and thus the award of the penalty kick was within the VAR protocol. However, the assistant referee’s decision not to indicate offside was not a clear error as any interference by Nishi was only evident after careful slow motion study of the replays and not during the limited time available for the VAR review. It is important to note that VARs can be used to assist with offside decisions if the offence occurs in the build-up to a goal or penalty. This is covered in the ‘match-changing’ decisions outlined in the protocol.

- More broadly, can you explain how the system works?

- The VAR system works in a very simple way. The referee and the assistant referees carry on officiating the match as if there is no VAR there. All the time, the VAR is checking on the screens what is happening. If something serious is missed or if a clear error has occurred in one of the four match-changing categories, the VAR will inform the referee. The referee then has two options. He can either accept the information from the VAR and change or confirm his decision or, alternatively, he can decide to go and look at the footage directly in the Referee Review Area on the side of the field of play and then take the appropriate action.

- When does the referee conduct an on-field review?

- In principle, if the decision is a factual decision (e.g. was an offence inside or outside the penalty area? did the ball make contact with the player’s arm or the chest? was the player in an offside position?) it can normally be decided only on the information from the VAR and the referee on the field doesn’t need to go and look at the footage himself. An on-field review is usually conducted when it’s a matter of interpretation (e.g. was a foul a red card?) or if the referee has missed a serious incident.

- After the FIFA Club World Cup, what happens next?

- Competition organisers around the world will run trials based on The IFAB protocol and send us great deal of information, which will be analysed by KU Leuven University in Belgium and validated by other universities. They will be studying how often video reviews are used and how often a referee confirms or changes a decision based solely on the information from the VAR or after an on-field review. More importantly, we will want to discover how the VAR system impacts on the behaviour of players, the behaviour of referees, the response of fans in the stadium and the response of people watching on television.

- When will The IFAB make a decision about VARs?

- The IFAB will decide in 2018 or 2019 how well the experiments have gone and whether this is something that we should incorporate into football. That decision will be taken based on all the evidence we receive and the views of the world of football as to whether this is something which will benefit the game. Our hope is that VARs can deliver ‘minimum interference, maximum benefit’ – that the essential flow and the emotion of the game will not be interrupted very often but, if there is an interruption, it will benefit the fairness of the game.

Source: IFAB

Sikazwe: "Lack of communication, no VAR intervention”

The referee of the FIFA Club World Cup final, Zambian Janny Sikazwe, defended himself from the many criticisms he received after allegedly forgiving Sergio Ramos of an expulsion. "It was not the Video Assistant Referee; just a lack of communication between me and my assistant. He pointed out the fault and told me ‘no card’ in the headset, but I understood ‘card’", he said in an interview with filgoal.com, "it was nothing more than that; a lack of understanding".

Despite all the controversy surrounding his decision, Sikazwe says he is very proud of having refereed a match of this caliber: "I thank God for the opportunity to be the first African referee to lead a Club World Cup final. It is time for Africa to grow on the first level of football."

Source: Diario Madridista

FIFA Club World Cup Final 2016: Sikazwe (ZAM)

18 December 2016

Final
Real Madrid – Kashima Antlers
Referee: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jerson Dos Santos (ANG)
Assistant Referee 2: Marwa Range (KEN)
Fourth Official: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Reserve AR: Gyorgy Ring (HUN)
VARs: Danny Makkelie (NED), Damir Skomina (SVN), Bakary Gassama (GAM)

Match for Third Place
Club America – Atletico Nacional
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (BHR)
Assistant Referee 1: Yaser Tulefat (BHR)
Assistant Referee 2: Taleb Al Marri (QAT)
Fourth Official: Abdelkader Zitouni (TAH)
Reserve AR: Philippe Revel (TAH)
VARs: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB), Mark Geiger (USA), Nick Waldron (NZL)

Video review used for penalty decision in FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 semi-final

Video replay technology has been used in the awarding of a penalty for Japan’s Kashima Antlers during their FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 semi-final win over South American club champions Atletico Nacional in Osaka, Japan.

On the half-hour mark, after receiving information about a missed incident from Video Assistant Referee Danny Makkelie, referee Viktor Kassai made the signal to indicate that he would conduct an on-field review of footage via the pitch-side monitor. Prior to that, the assistant referee had correctly applied the ‘wait and see’ technique with regard to the offside position of the player who was fouled. The player was deemed to not be offside, having been unable to challenge the opponent for the ball, and the Hungarian referee subsequently pointed to the penalty mark, having judged from the replay that Daigo Nishi was tripped inside the penalty area by Atletico’s Orlando Berrio. Shoma Doi successfully converted the penalty kick, with the host club going on to win 3-0.

“This is the first-ever live trial with Video Assistant Referees at a FIFA competition, so this is something that is new for everyone – especially to see the referee run to the video replay area at the side of the field,” said Massimo Busacca, FIFA’s Head of Refereeing. “In the incident tonight, the communication between the referee and the video assistant referee was clear, the technology worked well and ultimately the final decision was taken by the referee, which will always be the case since the VARs are only there to support.” According to the experiment protocol drawn up by The IFAB, referees have the option to confirm or change a decision either by relying solely on information provided by the VAR or by reviewing the footage themselves – especially when it’s a matter of interpretation, rather than a factual decision. “The clear message we’ve got from players and coaches throughout the world is that they would like the referee on the day to remain the main decision maker and that’s why the option is always there to go and look at the footage directly,” said David Elleray, Technical Director of The IFAB. The trial with video replay technology at the FIFA Club World Cup marks the end of the testing phase for the VAR project. The IFAB, in consultation with FIFA and participating competition organisers, will decide if any further refinements need to be made to the protocol before live trials go ahead globally. “Once the official experiments begin, the competition organisers will send a great deal of information to The IFAB, which will be analysed by KU Leuven university,” Elleray added. “We’ll be wanting to look at how often video reviews are used and how often a referee confirms or changes a decision based solely on the information from the Video Assistant Referee or after an on-field review. More importantly, we will want to examine how the VAR system impacts on the behaviour of players, the behaviour of referees, the response of fans in the stadium and the response of people watching on television. So there will be a great deal of information that we’ll need before The IFAB takes a final decision on the implementation of VARs in 2018 or 2019 at the latest”.

Source: FIFA

CONMEBOL U-20 Championship 2017

Ecuador, 18 January – 11 February 2017

Referee: Dario Herrera (ARG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Bonfa (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Cristian Navarro (ARG)

Referee: Gery Vargas (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Montano (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: José Antelo (BOL)

Referee: Anderson Daronco (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodrigo Correa (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Guilherme Dias (BRA)

Referee: Roberto Tobar (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Orellana (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: José Retamal (CHI)

Referee: Gustavo Murillo (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Humberto Clavijo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexander León (COL)

Referee: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Macias (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Flavio Nall (ECU)

Referee: Mario Diaz De Vivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Cañete (PAR)

Referee: Diego Haro (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Lopez (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Victor Raez (PER)

Referee: Jonathan Fuentes (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Popovits (URU)

Referee: Jesus Valenzuela (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jorge Urrego (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Franchescoly Chacon (VEN)

Reserve Referees
1. Jose Hoyo (VEN)
2. Guillermo Guerrero (ECU)

FIFA Club World Cup 2016 – Semi-finals

14 December 2016
Atletico Nacional – Kashima Antlers
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Gyorgy Ring (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Toth (HUN)
Fourth Official: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM)
Reserve AR: Marwa Range (KEN)
VARs: Danny Makkelie (NED), Damir Skomina (SVN), Bakary Gassama (GAM)

15 December 2016
Club America – Real Madrid
Referee: Enrique Caceres (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zorrilla (PAR)
Fourth Official: Nawaf Shukralla (BHR)
Reserve AR: Yaser Tulefat (BHR)
VARs: Andres Cunha (URU), Mark Geiger (USA), Ravshan Irmatov (UZB)

FIFA Club World Cup 2016 – Match for Fifth Place

14 December 2016

Jeonbuk Hyundai – Mamelodi Sundowns
Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (BHR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Yaser Tulefat (BHR)
Assistant Referee 2: Taleb Al Marri (QAT)
Fourth Official: Abdelkader Zitouni (TAH)
Reserve AR: Philippe Revel Tahiti (TAH)
VARs: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB), Mark Geiger (USA), Nick Waldron (NZL)

El Clasico assistant referee suspended for “being too friendly” with Barcelona

One of the assistant referees who officiated in El Clasico last weekend has been suspended for two weeks for being too friendly with Barcelona players. Pau Cebrian Devis (photo) was not assigned to a game this week and will also sit out next weekend after the refereeing committee disapproved of his actions at Camp Nou. Radio station Cadena Ser said the committee mentioned in their report how close he was with some Barcelona players in the tunnel by the dressing rooms.

Real Madrid players were furious with some of the decisions made by referee Carlos Clos Gomez and his team during the game, which finished in a 1-1 draw last weekend. They did not make an official complaint but criticised the refereeing publicly. Decisions they were particularly unhappy about were Javier Mascherano getting away with a foul on Lucas Vazquez in the penalty area, Luis Suarez not being flagged offside for his opening goal and Cristiano Ronaldo not being given a penalty when he appeared to be pulled back. Captain Sergio Ramos' criticism of the officials was implicit rather than explicit. He said after the game: "The referee at Camp Nou? I could say a lot of things after watching the game back a couple of times, but it wouldn't change anything. I'm going to keep out of it because I don't want to give headlines. I have a lot of respect for the referees, they're people and they can make mistakes. I find it difficult to believe that they make mistakes [on purpose]. Continuing the stirring is not going to lead anywhere now".

Source: Mirror

FIFA Club World Cup 2016 – Quarter-finals

11 December 2016

Jeonbuk Hyundai – Club America
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Gyorgy Ring (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Toth (HUN)
Fourth Official: Nick Waldron (NZL)
Reserve AR: Marwa Range (KEN)
VARs: Danny Makkelie (NED), Damir Skomina (SVN), Bakary Gassama (GAM)

Mamelodi Sundowns – Kashima Antlers
Referee: Roberto Garcia (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Camargo (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Morin (MEX)
Fourth Official: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB)
Reserve AR: Jerson Dos Santos (ANG)
VARs: Mark Geiger (USA), Nick Waldron (NZL), Andres Cunha (URU)

UEFA Referee Categories 2017

Men

Elite

Martin Atkinson (ENG), Deniz Aytekin (GER), 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).

First Category

Ievgenii Aranovskyi (UKR), Luca Banti (ITA), Benoît Bastien (FRA), John Beaton (SCO), Ivan Bebek (CRO), 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), 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), Martin Strömbergsson (SWE), Anthony Taylor (ENG), 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), Alain Bieri (SUI), Alexandre Boucaut (BEL), Kevin Clancy (SCO), Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP), Sebastian Coltescu (ROU), Nikola Dabanovic (MNE), Andrew Dallas (SCO), Bastian Dankert (GER), Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP), Amaury Delerue (FRA), Christian Dingert (GER), Neil Doyle (IRL), Svein-Erik Edvartsen (NOR), Andreas Ekberg (SWE), Bartosz Frankowski (POL), Marco Fritz (GER), Antony Gautier (FRA), Vlado Glodovic (SRB), Orel Grinfeeld (ISR), Marco Guida (ITA), Tore Hansen (NOR), Alexander Harkam (AUT), Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez (ESP), Arnold Hunter (NIR), Massimiliano Irrati (ITA), 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), Francois Letexier (FRA), Robert Madley (ENG), Juan Martinez Munuera (ESP), Davide Massa (ITA), Dimitar Meckarovski (MKD), Vitaly Meshkov (RUS), 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), Pavle Radovanović (MNE), Nicolas Rainville (FRA), Roi Reinshreiber (ISR), Jose Sanchez Martinez (ESP), Alan Sant (MLT), Sandro Schärer (SUI), Frank Schneider (FRA), Manuel Schüttengruber (AUT), Eitan Shmuelevitz (ISR), Daniel Siebert (GER), Daniel Stefanski (POL), Ivaylo Stoyanov (BUL), Stanislav Todorov (BUL), Kristo Tohver (EST), Leontios Trattou (CYP), Andris Treimanis (LVA), Siarhei Tsynkevich (BLR), Michael Tykgaard (DEN), Paolo Valeri (ITA), Ognjen Valjic (BIH), Pol van Boekel (NED), Bart Vertenten (BEL), Ante Vucemilovic-Simunovic (CRO), Carlos 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), Stefan Apostolov (BUL), Petr Ardeleanu (CZE), Alexandros Aretopoulos (GRE), Furkat Atazhanov (KAZ), Mykola Balakin (UKR), Suren Baliyan (ARM), Veaceslav Banari (MDA), Luca Barbeno (SMR), Jason Barcelo (GIB), 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), Espen Eskas (NOR), Adam Farkas (HUN), Trustin Farrugia (MLT), Horatiu Fesnic (ROU), Juri Frischer (EST), George Gaman (ROU), Aleksander Gauzer (KAZ), Filip Glova (SVK), Aleksandrs Golubevs (LVA), Sergio Grade Piscarreta (POR), Iwan Griffith (WAL), Danilo Grujić (SRB), Dag Vidar Hafsas (NOR), Markus Hameter (AUT), Nikolaj Hänni (SUI), Robert Harvey (IRL), Rahim Hasanov (AZE), Robert Hennessy (IRL), Thoroddur Hjaltalin (ISL), Zaven Hovhannisyan (ARM), Dejan Jakimovski (MKD), Krzysztof Jakubik (POL), Edin Jakupović (BIH), Jari Järvinen (FIN), Lorenc Jemini (ALB), Gunnar Jonsson (ISL), Srdjan Jovanović (SRB), Fran Jović (CRO), Jovan Kaludjerović (MNE), Ferenc Karako (HUN), Keith Kennedy (NIR), Peter Kjaersgaard (DEN), Andi Koci (ALB), 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), Manfredas Lukjancukas (LTU), 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), Aleksei Matiunin (RUS), Paul McLaughlin (IRL), Ian McNabb (NIR), Halil Meler (TUR), Yurii Mozharovskyy (UKR), Dumitru Muntean (MDA), Tomasz Musial (POL), Bojan Nikolic (SRB), Ola Hobber Nilsen (NOR), Genc Nuza (KOS), Glenn Nyberg (SWE), Rade Obrenovic (SVN), Michal Ocenas (SVK), Pavel Orel (CZE), Dominik Ouschan (AUT), Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE), Erez Papir (ISR), Bardhyl Pashaj (ALB), Omar Pashayev (AZE), Tihomir Pejin (CRO), Irfan Peljto (BIH), Anders Poulsen (DEN), Radek Prihoda (CZE), Zbynek Proske (CZE), Petur Reinert (FAR), Donald Robertson (SCO), Donatas Rumsas (LTU), Daniyar Sakhi (KAZ), Fedayi San (SUI), Joao Santos Capela (POR), Dzianis Shcharbakou (BLR), Lasha Silagava (GEO), Joao Silva Pinheiro (POR), Sergejus Slyva (LTU), Kai Steen (NOR), Ryan Stewart (WAL), Duje Strukan (CRO), Roomer Tarajev (EST), Alexandru Tean (MDA), Vilhjalmur Thorarinnsson (ISL), Stanislav Todorov (BUL), Alex Troleis (FRO), Alper Ulusoy (TUR), George Vadachkoria (GEO), Aleksandar Vasic (SRB), Mikhail Vilkov (RUS), Vladimir Vnuk (SVK), Lawrence Wisser (BEL), Nikolai 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 Pavlikova (SVK), Lorraine Clark (SCO), Amy Fearn (ENG), Florence Guillemin (FRA), Kirsi Heikkinen (FIN), Sofia Karagiorgi (CYP), Zuzana Kovacova (SVK), Eleni Lampadariou (GRE), Lina Lehtovaara (FIN), Karolina Radzik-Johan (POL), Marte Soro (NOR), Eszter Urban (HUN), Severine Zinck (FRA).

Second Category

Julia-Stefanie Baier (AUT), Paula Brady (IRL), Tania Fernandes Morais (LUX), Sarah Garratt (ENG), Marta Frias Acedo (ESP), Simona Ghisletta (SUI), Justina Lavrenovaite (LTU), Ivana Martincic (CRO), Ana Minic (SRB), Lois Otte (BEL), Vivian Peeters (NED), Barbara Poxhofer (AUT), Ivana Projkovska (MKD), Tanja Subotic (SVN), Zuzana Valentova (SVK).

Third Category

Eleni Antoniou (GRE), Ewa Augustyn (POL), Jelena Banjeglav (SRB), Sabina Bolic (CRO), Merima Celik (BIH), Aleksandra Cesen (SVN), Tinna Christensen (DEN), Solen Dallongeville (FRA), Iuliana Demetrescu (ROU), Virginie Derouaux (BEL), Galiya Echeva (BUL), Cathrine Eide (NOR), Valentina Finzi (ITA), Cheryl Foster (WAL), Michaela Fritz (AUT), Beatriz Gil Gozalo (ESP), Desiree Grundbacher (SUI), Yuliya Gurbanova (AZE), Sabayel Gurbanova (AZE), Hristiana Guteva (BUL), Liliya Hasanova (KAZ), Rasa Imanalijeva (LTU), Kristina Kazoroh (UKR), Frida Klarlund Nielsen (DEN), Dilek Kocbay (TUR), Eliska Kralovec-Kramlova (CZE), Ifeoma Kulmala (FIN), Triinu Laos (EST), Katarzyna Lisiecka-Sek (POL), Irina Lyussina (BEL), Jurgita Macikunyte (LTU), Maria Marotta (ITA), Maria Martinez Madrona (ESP), 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), Ruzanna Petrosyan (ARM), Graziella Pirriatore (ITA), Alexandra Ponomareva (RUS), Tanja Racic (BIH), Viola Raudzina (LVA), Anastasiya Romanyuk (UKR), Silvia Rosa Domingos (POR), Araksya Saribekyan (ARM), Meitar Shemesh (ISR), Rachel Shkuri (ISR), Shona Shukrula (NED), Ana Soares Aguiar (POR), Angelika Soeder (GER), Nelli Stepanyan (ARM), Sandra Strub (SUI), Lucie Sulcova (CZE), Cristina Trandafir (ROU), Volha Tsiareshka (BLR), Andromachi Tsiofliki (GRE), Irina Turovskaya (BLR), Kateryna Usova (UKR), Irena Velevackoska (MKD), Marina Visnjic (SRB), Karoline Wacker (GER).

Futsal

Elite
Gerald Bauernfeind (AUT), Marc Birkett (ENG), Ondrej Cerni (CZE), Kamil Cetin (TUR), Eduardo Fernandes Coelho (POR), Tomasz Frak (POL), 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), Swen Eichler (GER), Trayan Enchev (BUL), Balazs Farkas (HUN), Angelo Galante (ITA), Nikola Jelic (CRO), Vladimir Kadykov (RUS), Costas Nicolaou (CYP), Lukas Pesko (SVK), Elchin Samadli (AZE), Ozan Soykan (TUR), Barry Weijers (NED).

Second Category
Victor Berg Audic (FRA), Veljko Boskovic (MNE), Michalis Christofides (CYP), Daniele Di Resta (ITA), Ibrahim El Jilali (NED), Hennadii Hora (UKR), Tarik Keco (BIH), Kalin Kinov (BUL), Toni Lehtinen (FIN), Nicola Manzione (ITA), Alejandro Martinez Flores (ESP), Iuri Neverov (RUS), Fredric Nilholt (SWE), Arsen Nonikashvili (GEO), Peter Nurse (ENG), Miguel Oliveira Castilho (POR), Ruben Pinto Guerreiro (POR), Patrik Porkert (AUT), Damir Radovic (SRB), Vladan Radulovic (SRB), Vitali Rakutski (BLR), Simon Rogers (IRL), David Schaerli (SUI), Aleksandras Sliva (LTU), Simon Todorovic (SVN), Andrej Topic (CRO), Grigori Zelentsov (RUS).

Third Category
Olzhas Abrayev (KAZ), Antonios Adamopoulos (GRE), Nikola Aleksic (SRB), Ademir Avdic (SWE), Vedran Babic (CRO), Mario Belavy (SVK), Rastislav Behancin (SVK), Besar Beqiri (KOS), Guy Berger (ISR), David Berry (IRL), Juan Boelen (BEL), Mario Bohun (SVK), Viktor Bugenko (MDA), Clinton Cassar (MLT), Serhat Celik (TUR), Martin Cilek (CZE), Vlad Ciobanu (ROU), Christos Christou (CYP), Vasilica Ciuplea (WAL), Ovidiu Curta (ROU), Daniele D’Adamo (SMR), Danijel Darandik (GER), Daniel Deca (ROU), Maksim Dzeikala (BLR), Eduards Fatkulins (LVA), David Glavonjic (SWE), Kreshnik Hakrama (ALB), Ingo Heemsoth (GER), Tom-Joran Henriksen (NOR), Yevhen Hordiienko (UKR), Carl Hughes (WAL), Besart Ismajli (KOS), Damian Jaruchiewicz (POL), Shota Khukhilava (GEO), Kaloyan Kirilov (BUL), Jan Kliner (CZE), Konstantinos Kommatas (GRE), Talgat Kosmukhambetov (KAZ), Jan Kresta (CZE), Julien Lang (FRA), Daniel Matkovic (SUI), Marjan Mladenovski (MKD), Ales Mocnik (SVN), Kirill Naishouler (FIN), Ramil Namazov (AZE), Olli Niemela (FIN), David Nissen (DEN), Yusif Nurullayev (AZE), Grigori Osomkov (EST), Jacob Pawlowski (GER), Inguns Purins (LVA), Igor Puzovic (BIH), Hikmat Qafarli (AZE), Petar Radojcic (SRB), Omar Rafiq (NOR), Gerard Ramirez (AND), Sylvester Rodrigues (NED), Marco Rothenfluh (SUI), Sabit Selvi (TUR), Oren Simanian (ISR), Zyl Sheriff (GIB), Slawomir Steczko (POL), Norbert Szilagyi (HUN), Sarunas Tamulynas (LTU Adalbjorn Thornsteisson (ISL), Adrian Tschopp (SUI), Aurelien Uzan (FRA), Lars Van Leeuwen (NED), Matthew Vella (MLT), Dejan Veselic (SVN), Yaroslav Vovchok (UKR), Stefan Vrijens (BEL), Andrzej Witkowski (POL), Yiangos Yiangou (CYP).

UEFA Referees – Changes 2016/2017

Men

Retired from Elite Category: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP, photo).

Retired from First Category: Serge Gumienny (BEL), Marijo Strahonja (CRO), Alexandru Tudor (ROU).

Retired from Second Category: Cristian Balaj (ROU), Marcin Borski (POL), Antonio Damato (ITA), Fredy Fautrel (FRA), Richard Liesveld (NED), Steven McLean (SCO), Aleksei Nikolaev (RUS), Lee Probert (ENG), Padraigh Sutton (IRL).

New FIFA Referees promoted directly to Second Category: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA), Francois Letexier (FRA), Jose Sanchez Martinez (ESP).

Retired/removed from Third Category: Danilo Grujic (SRB), Ignasi Villamayor (AND).

New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Andi Koci (ALB), Luis Do Nascimento (AND), Omar Pashayev (AZE), Lawrence Wisser (BEL), Stefan Apostolov (BUL), Duje Strukan (CRO), Jason Barcelo (GIB), Luca Barbeno (SMR), Furkat Atazhanov (KAZ), Daniyar Sakhi (KAZ), Genc Nuza (KOS), Manfredas Lukjancukas (LTU), Ian McNabb (NIR), Keith Kennedy (NIR), Espen Eskas (NOR), Kai Steen (NOR), Krzysztof Jakubik (POL), Robert Hennessy (IRL), Horatiu Fesnic (ROU), George Gaman (ROU), Aleksei Matiunin (RUS), Donald Robertson (SCO), Aleksandar Vasic (SRB), Bojan Nikolic (SRB), Michal Ocenas (SVK), Rade Obrenovic (SVN), Halil Meler (TUR), Mykola Balakin (UKR), Iwan Griffith (WAL).

Women

Retired/removed from First Category: Rhona Daly (IRL), Marija Kurtes (GER), Sharon Sluyts (BEL).

Retired/removed from Second Category: Sabine Bonnin (FRA), Kseniya Goryacheva (RUS), Knarik Grigoryan (ARM), Gordana Kuzmanovic (SRB), Elia Martinez Martinez (ESP), Kateryna Zora (UKR).

Retired/removed from Third Category: Nadeshda Belcheva (BUL), Charlotte Carpenter (WAL), Valentina Garoffolo (ITA), Sibel Kolcak (TUR), Svetlana Patras (MDA), Liudmyla Telbukh (UKR), Bojana Tosic (BIH), Biljana Trifunovic (SRB), Ivana Vlaic (BIH).

New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Araksya Saribekyan (ARM), Irina Lyussina (BEL), Merima Celik (BIH), Tanja Racic (BIH), Hristiana Guteva (BUL), Lucie Sulcova (CZE), Tinna Christensen (DEN), Maria Martinez Madrona (ESP), Triinu Laos (EST), Solen Dallongeville (FRA), Karoline Wacker (GER), Valentina Finzi (ITA), Rasa Imanalijeva (LTU), Shona Shukrula (NED), Jelena Banjeglav (SRB), Marina Visnjic (SRB), Kristina Kazoroh (UKR), Kateryna Usova (UKR).

Futsal

Retired from Elite: Fernando Gutierrez Lumbreras (ESP).

Retired/removed from First Category: Viacheslav Daragan (UKR), Gabriel Gherman (ROU), Antonis Konstantinides (GRE), Dejan Nikolic (SVN), Zdenek Petr (CZE), Sebastian Stawicki (POL).

Retired/removed from Second Category: Ilya Akimtsev (RUS), Franco Cachia (MLT), Marian Gal (SVK), Fabio Gelonese (ITA), Gregor Kovacic (SVN), Robert Lenting (NED), Petar Mantev (MKD), Francisco Pena Diaz (ESP), Gavin Sartain (ENG), Borut Sivic (SVN), Sreten Vasic (SRB), Cédric Waroux (BEL).

New FIFA Referees entered in Second Category: Javier Moreno Reina (ESP), David Urdanoz Apezteguia (ESP).

Retired/removed from Third Category: Igor Babovic (SWE), Abdallah Benazzi (NED), Torbjorn Eidhammer (NOR), Khalil Huseyinli (AZE), Farid Islamov (AZE), Kaspars Kivliss (LVA), Konstantinos Koytsogianos (GRE), Ainar Kuusk (EST), Karel Linhart (CZE), Christophe Paitreault (FRA), Dragan Skakic (BIH), Zoran Sofrenic (BIH), Robertas Valikonis (LVA), Andri Vigfusson (ISL).

New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Hikmat Qafarli (AZE), Juan Boelen (BEL), Jan Kliner (CZE), David Nissen (DEN), Julien Lang (FRA), Aurelien Uzan (FRA), Ingo Heemsoth (GER), Jacob Pawlowski (GER), Zyl Sheriff (GIB), Antonios Adamopoulos (GRE), Oren Simanian (ISR), Olzhas Abrayev (KAZ), Besar Beqiri (KOS), Besart Ismajli (KOS), Sarunas Tamulynas (LTU), Eduards Fatkulins (LVA), Matthew Vella (MLT), Tom-Joran Henriksen (NOR), Slawomir Steczko (POL), Vlad Ciobanu (ROU), Daniele D’Adamo (SMR), Rastislav Behancin (SVK), Ales Mocnik (SVN), Dejan Veselic (SVN), Ademir Avdic (SWE), David Glavonjic (SWE), Yevhen Hordiienko (UKR), Carl Hughes (WAL).

Elizondo appointed Head of Referees in Argentina

Former Argentine referee Horacio Elizondo was appointed as the new Head of the Referee Department within the Argentine Football Federation.

Horacio Elizondo refereed the final of the 2006 World Cup between France and Italy during which he sent-off Zinedine Zidane who head-butted Marco Matterazzi. After working as deputy secretary of state for sports affairs in the government of former Argentine president Nestor Kirchner (2003-2007) and also as a media consultant, Elizondo was inducted boss of Argentine referees and presented to the press in the presence of Armando Pérez, the interim chairman of the AFA. Elizondo was surrounded by Angel Sanchez, who refereed at the 2002 World Cup and Marcelo Habib, current secretary of the Association of Argentine Referees. Hector Baldassi, a former Argentine referee at the 2010 World Cup, was also approached to accompany Elizondo, but this track has been abandoned, Baldassi serving as deputy of the province of Cordoba since December 2013 and could run again in 2017.

The appointment of Horacio Elizondo comes as SADRA, one of the two referees associations in Argentina, has launched a call to strike after one of their colleagues was violently assaulted during a fourth national division match. Guillermo Marconi, representative of the SADRA announced that "the members of his association will not referee the matches of 1st division, National B, First B, Federal A, B and C". This announcement came only a few days before the most explosive game of the year between River Plate and Boca Juniors to be played on Sunday. Diego Abal, the referee appointed to the match, belongs to the AAA (Association des Arbitres Argentinos). The latter has not yet expressed their intentions, but does not rule out joining the movement. His secretary, Federico Beligoy, said he was "in solidarity with SADRA. If we are to join the strike, we will go."

Source: Globo

VARs to be tested live at FIFA Club World Cup 2016

An important piece of history will be made at the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 (8‑18 December in Yokohama and Osaka) with video assistance being used to support referees with “match-changing” decisions for the first time in a FIFA competition.

“This represents a big step forward in terms of testing the technology,” says Marco van Basten, FIFA’s Chief Officer Technical Development. “We feel well prepared after setting everything up with the support of The IFAB, the host broadcaster Dentsu/NTV and Hawk-Eye – one of a number of providers that offer such technology. At the same time, it’s important to remember that we are entering somewhat unchartered territory here, given that we are going live for the first time. Ultimately, these tests should prove invaluable in terms of determining whether the processes are sound or whether any further refinements are needed.” This trial will involve video assistant referees (VARs) being given access to all broadcast feeds inside a video operations room, enabling them to provide information to the referee on the field of play in order to correct clear mistakes in “match-changing” situations. These include serious incidents including goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards and cases of mistaken identity. The VARs will play a supporting role along with the assistant referees and the fourth official, but the referee will continue to take the first as well as the final decision on the field of play. “The VAR system has been developed, just like goal-line technology, to provide additional support for the referee,” says FIFA’s Head of Refereeing Massimo Busacca. “We want the essential flow of the game to be maintained and, as always, the first and the final decisions lie with the referee. This is our philosophy, and these principles as well as the practical application of the technology have been explained and demonstrated to our match officials as part of an ongoing training programme.” 

As usual, the referees and VARs involved in the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 have participated in intensive theoretical and practical training sessions organised by the FIFA Refereeing Department during the week leading up to the competition. The main points of emphasis were on football understanding, reading the game, positioning, teamwork and different football mentalities, with the overall goal of achieving consistency and uniformity. The match officials reviewed video clips of real match situations and participated in practical training sessions with players, which were filmed so that the participants could receive instant feedback from top FIFA refereeing instructors. The final step before the first game included a live training session with players, multiple TV cameras and the Hawk-Eye VAR system at Yokohama Stadium. All of this is building upon the successful trials recently held at international friendly matches in Italy.

By using VARs during the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016, FIFA will be putting The IFAB's VAR protocol through an important test before other competition organisers begin conducting live trials from 2017 onwards. The referee will be able to review footage on a pitchside monitor for certain decisions – a key progression from the “semi-live” tests conducted at recent international friendly matches in Italy (Italy - France in Bari in September and Italy - Germany in Milan in November). With the support of FIFA and The IFAB, competition organisers in 12 countries are already confirmed to participate in the two-year experiments (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Qatar, USA).

Source: FIFA

UEFA Europa League – Group Stage (Matchday 6)

8 December 2016

FC Salzburg – FC Schalke
Referee: Radu Petrescu (ROU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Radu Ghinguleac (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mircea Grigoriu (ROU)
Additional AR 1: Ovidiu Haţegan (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Sebastian Colţescu (ROU)
Fourth Official: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU)
Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)

Villarreal – Steaua Bucureşti
Referee: Manuel Gräfe (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mike Pickel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Holger Henschel (GER)
Additional AR 1: Marco Fritz (GER)
Additional AR 2: Robert Hartmann (GER)
Fourth Official: Christian Gittelmann (GER)
Referee Observer: Michel Piraux (BEL)

Osmanlıspor – FC Zürich
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Manuel Vidali (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Rade Obrenović (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Dragoslav Perič (SVN)
Fourth Official: Andraž Kovačič (SVN)
Referee Observer: Shmuel Shteif (ISR)











PAOK FC – Slovan Liberec





Referee: Andre Marriner (ENG)





Assistant Referee 1: Simon Beck (ENG)





Assistant Referee 2: Harry Lennard (ENG)





Additional AR 1: Robert Madley (ENG)





Additional AR 2: Kevin Friend (ENG)





Fourth Official: Edward Smart (ENG)





Referee Observer: Hervé Piccirillo (FRA)











Qarabağ FK – Fiorentina





Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO)





Assistant Referee 1: Tomislav Petrović (CRO)





Assistant Referee 2: Miro Grgić (CRO)





Additional AR 1: Ante Vučemilović-Šimunović (CRO)





Additional AR 2: Goran Gabrilo (CRO)





Fourth Official: Goran Pataki (CRO)





Referee Observer: Vasily Melnychuk (UKR)











Konyaspor – KAA Gent





Referee: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)





Assistant Referee 1: Henrik Larsen (DEN)





Assistant Referee 2: Heine Sørensen (DEN)





Additional AR 1: Michael Tykgaard (DEN)





Additional AR 2: Jens Maae (DEN)





Fourth Official: Lars Rix (DEN)





Referee Observer: Vladimir Antonov (MDA)











SC Braga – Shakhtar Donetsk





Referee: Ali Palabiyik (TUR)





Assistant Referee 1: Cem Satman (TUR)





Assistant Referee 2: Ceyhun Sesigüzel (TUR)





Additional AR 1: Alper Ulusoy (TUR)





Additional AR 2: Yasar Uğurlu (TUR)





Fourth Official: Ekrem Kan (TUR)





Referee Observer: Jari Maisonlahti (FIN)











Sassuolo Calcio – KRC Genk





Referee: Orel Grinfeeld (ISR)





Assistant Referee 1: Danny Krasikow (ISR)





Assistant Referee 2: Roy Hassan (ISR)





Additional AR 1: Erez Papir (ISR)





Additional AR 2: Eli Hacmon (ISR)





Fourth Official: Nissan Davidy (ISR)





Referee Observer: Sándor Piller (HUN)











Rapid Wien – Athletic Club





Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED)





Assistant Referee 1: Davie Goossens (NED)





Assistant Referee 2: Bas van Dongen (NED)





Additional AR 1: Pol van Boekel (NED)





Additional AR 2: Ed Janssen (NED)





Fourth Official: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)





Referee Observer: Andrejs Sipailo (LVA)











Astra Giurgiu – AS Roma





Referee: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR)





Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR)





Assistant Referee 2: Kemal Yilmaz (TUR)





Additional AR 1: Mete Kalkavan (TUR)





Additional AR 2: Tolga Özkalfa (TUR)





Fourth Official: Serkan Ok (TUR)





Referee Observer: Vladimír Medved (SVK)











Viktoria Plzeň – Austria Wien





Referee: Sergii Boiko (UKR)





Assistant Referee 1: Volodymyr Volodin (UKR)





Assistant Referee 2: Oleksandr Korniyko (UKR)





Additional AR 1: Anatolii Abdula (UKR)





Additional AR 2: Anatolii Zhabchenko (UKR)





Fourth Official: Igor Alokhin (UKR)





Referee Observer: Ioannis Tsachilidis (GRE)











AZ Alkmaar – FC Zenit





Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)





Assistant Referee 1: Kim Haglund (NOR)





Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andås (NOR)





Additional AR 1: Svein Erik Edvartsen (NOR)





Additional AR 2: Tore Hansen (NOR)





Fourth Official: Sven Erik Midthjell (NOR)





Referee Observer: Rodger Gifford (WAL)











Maccabi Tel Aviv – Dundalk FC





Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (AUT)





Assistant Referee 1: Roland Brandner (AUT)





Assistant Referee 2: Roland Riedel (AUT)





Additional AR 1: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)





Additional AR 2: Rene Eisner (AUT)





Fourth Official: Stefan Kühr (AUT)





Referee Observer: Miroslav Liba (CZE)











Anderlecht – AS Saint Étienne





Referee: István Kovács (ROU)





Assistant Referee 1: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)





Assistant Referee 2: Mihai Artene (ROU)





Additional AR 1: Cristian Balaj (ROU)





Additional AR 2: Marius Avram (ROU)





Fourth Official: Valentin Avram (ROU)





Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold (NOR)











FSV Mainz – Qabala SC





Referee: Simon Lee Evans (WAL)





Assistant Referee 1: Gareth Wyn Jones (WAL)





Assistant Referee 2: Lewiss Ross Edwards (WAL)





Additional AR 1: Bryn Markham-Jones (WAL)





Additional AR 2: Nick Pratt (WAL)





Fourth Official: Daniel Beckett (WAL)





Referee Observer: Are Habicht (EST)











Apoel – Olympiacos





Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)





Assistant Referee 1: Juan Yuste Jiménez (ESP)





Assistant Referee 2: Diego Barbero Sevilla (ESP)





Additional AR 1: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP)





Additional AR 2: Iñaki Vicandi Garrido (ESP)





Fourth Official: Miguel Martínez Munuera (ESP)





Referee Observer: Luciano Luci (ITA)











Young Boys – FC Astana





Referee: Clayton Pisani (MLT)





Assistant Referee 1: Alan Camilleri (MLT)





Assistant Referee 2: Edward Spiteri (MLT)





Additional AR 1: Fyodor Zammit (MLT)





Additional AR 2: Cann Trustin Farrugia (MLT)





Fourth Official: William Debattista (MLT)





Referee Observer: René Temmink (NED)











Feyenoord – Fenerbahçe





Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP)





Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)





Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP)





Additional AR 1: Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP)





Additional AR 2: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)





Fourth Official: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez (ESP)





Referee Observer: Fritz Stuchlik (AUT)











Zorya Luhansk – Manchester United





Referee: Tamás Bognár (HUN)





Assistant Referee 1: Balázs Buzás (HUN)





Assistant Referee 2: Zsolt Varga (HUN)





Additional AR 1: Ádam Farkas (HUN)





Additional AR 2: Péter Solymosi (HUN)





Fourth Official: Theodoros Georgiou (HUN)





Referee Observer: Kaj Østergaard (DEN)











Inter Milano – Sparta Praha





Referee: Bart Vertenten (BEL)





Assistant Referee 1: Rien Vanyzere (BEL)





Assistant Referee 2: Thibaud Nijssen (BEL)





Additional AR 1: Erik Lambrechts (BEL)





Additional AR 2: Wim Smet (BEL)





Fourth Official: Yves de Neve (BEL)





Referee Observer: Michael Thomas Ross (NIR)











Southampton – Hapoel Beer Sheva





Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)





Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)





Assistant Referee 2: Matteo Passeri (ITA)





Additional AR 1: Marco Guida (ITA)





Additional AR 2: Davide Massa (ITA)





Fourth Official: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)





Referee Observer: Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL)











OGC Nice – FC Krasnodar





Referee: Sandro Schärer (SUI)





Assistant Referee 1: Johannes Vogel (SUI)





Assistant Referee 2: Jean-Yves Wicht (SUI)





Additional AR 1: Alain Bieri (SUI)





Additional AR 2: Sascha Amhof (SUI)





Fourth Official: Bekim Zogaj (SUI)





Referee Observer: Peter Jones (ENG)











Panathinaikos – Celta Vigo





Referee: Andris Treimanis (LVA)





Assistant Referee 1: Haralds Gudermanis (LVA)





Assistant Referee 2: Aleksejs Spasjonnikovs (LVA)





Additional AR 1: Aleksandrs Golubevs (LVA)





Additional AR 2: Edgards Malcevs (LVA)





Fourth Official: Raimonds Tatriks (LVA)





Referee Observer: Gerard Perry (IRL)











Standard Liège – Ajax





Referee: Robert Madden (SCO)





Assistant Referee 1: Alastair Mather (SCO)





Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Stevenson (SCO)





Additional AR 1: John Beaton (SCO)





Additional AR 2: Donald Robertson (SCO)





Fourth Official: Graeme Stewart (SCO)





Referee Observer: Gaetano De Gabriele (MLT)

FIFA Club World Cup 2016 – Play-off

8 December 2016

Kashima Antlers – Auckland City
Referee: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jerson Santos (ANG)
Assistant Referee 2: Marwa Range (KEN)
Fourth Official: Bakary Gassama (GAM)
Reserve AR: Gyorgy Ring (HUN)
VARs: Danny Makkelie (NED), Damir Skomina (SVN), Bakary Gassama (GAM)

UEFA Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 6)

6 December 2016
Manchester City – Celtic
Referee: Slavko Vinčić (SVN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Bojan Ul (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomaz Klancnik (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Mitja Zganec (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Roberto Ponis (SVN)
Fourth Official: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
Referee Observer: Matteo Trefoloni (ITA)

Basel – Arsenal
Referee: Manuel De Sousa (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Alvaro Mesquita (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Santos (POR)
Additional AR 1: Fabio Verissimo (POR)
Additional AR 2: João Capela (POR)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Referee Observer: Alan Snoddy (NIR)

Paris St. Germain – Ludogorets
Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Damianos Efthymiadis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Polychronis Kostaras (GRE)
Additional AR 1: Charalampos Kalogeropoulos (GRE)
Additional AR 2: Alexandros Aretopoulos (GRE)
Fourth Official: Lazaros Dimitriadis (GRE)
Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)

Dynamo Kyiv – Beşiktaş
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Alan Mulvanny (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Kevin Clancy (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Andrew Dallas (SCO)
Fourth Official: Douglas Potter (SCO)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Tulinger (CZE)

SL Benfica – SSC Napoli
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devis (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Teodoro Sobrino Magán (ESP)
Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)

FC Barcelona – Borussia Monchengladbach
Referee: Sergei Karasev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Anton Averianov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Tikhon Kalugin (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Sergei Lapochkin (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Sergei Ivanov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Igor Demeshko (RUS)
Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)

Bayern München – Atlético Madrid
Referee: Clément Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Fourth Official: Hicham Zakrani (FRA)
Referee Observer: Hans Reijgwart (NED)

PSV Eindhoven – FC Rostov
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Markus Häcker (GER)
Additional AR 1: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Benjamin Brand (GER)
Fourth Official: Eduard Beitinger (GER)
Referee Observer: Carmel Agius (MLT)

7 December 2016
Bayer Leverkusen – AS Monaco
Referee: Gediminas Mazeika (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vytautas Šimkus (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vytenis Kazlauskas (LTU)
Additional AR 1: Sergejus Slyva (LTU)
Additional AR 2: Donatas Rumsas (LTU)
Fourth Official: Dovydas Sužiedėlis (LTU)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

Tottenham Hotspur – CSKA Moskva
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Luca Banti (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Fourth Official: Alessandro Giallatini (ITA)
Referee Observer: Christos Skapoullis (CYP)

Real Madrid – Borussia Dortmund
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: Alfredo Trentalange (ITA)

Legia Warszawa – Sporting CP
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Filippo Meli (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Daniele Doveri (ITA)
Fourth Official: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Referee Observer: Jørn West Larsen (DEN)

Club Brügge – FC Kobenhavn
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Bennett (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Jonathan Moss (ENG)
Fourth Official: Ian Hussin (ENG)
Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)

FC Porto – Leicester City
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Additional AR 1: Tobias Stieler (GER)
Additional AR 2: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
Fourth Official: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Referee Observer: Michel Vautrot (FRA)

Olympique Lyon – Sevilla FC
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Wärnmark (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Markus Strömbergsson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Mehmet Culum (SWE)
Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)

Juventus Turin – Dinamo Zagreb
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Jake Collin (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Lee Mason (ENG)
Fourth Official: Constantine Hatzidakis (ENG)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

UEFA Youth League – Group Stage (Matchday 6)

6-7 December 2016

Basel – Arsenal
Referee: Peter Kralovic (SVK, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Miroslav Benko (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Erik Weiss (SVK)
Fourth Official: Urs Schnyder (SUI)
Referee Observer: Andreas Schluchter (SUI)

Paris St. Germain – Ludogorets
Referee: Johnny Casanova (SMR)
Assistant Referee 1: Marco Ercolani (SMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Laurențiu Ilie (SMR)
Fourth Official: Bastien Dechepy (FRA)
Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)

SL Benfica – SSC Napoli
Referee: Jonathan Lardot (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Frédéric Godelaine (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Vito Di Vincenzo (BEL)
Fourth Official: Tiago Cardoso Antunes (POR)
Referee Observer: Antonio Almeida Costa (POR)

Dynamo Kyiv – Beşiktaş
Referee: Dzianis Shcharbakou (BLR)
Assistant Referee 1: Yury Khomchanka (BLR)
Assistant Referee 2: Anton Gusev (BLR)
Fourth Official: Ivan Bondar (UKR)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Tulinger (CZE)

FC Barcelona – Borussia Mönchengladbach
Referee: João Silva Pinheiro (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Nélson Cordeiro Moniz (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Campos Rodrigues (POR)
Fourth Official: David Medié Jiménez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)

Manchester City – Celtic
Referee: Alex de Albuquerque Troleis (FRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Hermansen (FRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Jørleif Djurhuus (FRO)
Fourth Official: Robert Jones (ENG)
Referee Observer: Matteo Trefoloni (ITA)

Bayern München – Atlético Madrid
Referee: Nikola Popov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Georgi Todorov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Deniz Sokolov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Daniel Schlager (GER)
Referee Observer: Hans Reijgwart (NED)

PSV Eindhoven – FC Rostov
Referee: Mohammed Al Hakim (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Hallberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Fredrik Klyver (SWE)
Fourth Official: Siemen Mulder (NED)
Referee Observer: Jan Wegereef (NED)

Bayer Leverkusen – AS Monaco
Referee: Nenad Djokić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Nemanja Petrović (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Uroš Stojković (SRB)
Fourth Official: Patrick Alt (GER)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

Tottenham Hotspur – CSKA Moskva
Referee: Tim Marshall (NIR)
Assistant Referee 1: David Andeson (NIR)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrew Nethery (NIR)
Fourth Official: John Busby (ENG)
Referee Observer: Raymond Ellingham (WAL)

Legia Warszawa – Sporting
Referee: Dennis Antamo (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jonas Turunen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Riku Vihreävuori (FIN)
Fourth Official: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
Referee Observer: Zbigniew Przesmycki (POL)

Real Madrid – Borussia Dortmund
Referee: Paul McLaughlin (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Allen Lynch (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wayne McDonnell (IRL)
Fourth Official: Valentín Pizarro Gómez (ESP)

Referee Observer: Bernardino González Vázquez (ESP)

Club Brugge – FC København
Referee: Kirill Levnikov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Vyacheslav Semenov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrej Vereteshkin (RUS)
Fourth Official: Kevin van Damme (BEL)
Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)

FC Porto – Leicester City
Referee: Laurent Kopriwa (LUX)
Assistant Referee 1: Joaquim Da Silva (LUX)
Assistant Referee 2: Tom Hansen (LUX)
Fourth Official: João Borlido Matos (POR)
Referee Observer: Michel Vautrot (FRA)

Juventus – Dinamo
Referee: Alain Duriex (LUX)
Assistant Referee 1: David Santos (LUX)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Da Costa (LUX)
Fourth Official: Gianluca Aureliano (ITA)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski POL)

Olympique Lyonnais – Sevilla FC
Referee: Georgios Kominis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Tryfon Petropoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexandros Grevenis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Floris Aubin (FRA)
Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)

FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Final 2016: Adamkova (CZE)

3 December 2016

Final
Korea DPR – France
Referee: Jana Adamkova (CZE, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Biljana Atanasovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Angela Kyriakou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Quetzalli Alvarado (MEX)
Reserve AR: Belinda Brem (SUI)

Match for Third Place
USA – Japan
Referee: Qin Liang (CHN)
Assistant Referee 1: Fang Yan (CHN)
Assistant Referee 2: Bao Mengxiao (CHN)
Fourth Official: Riem Hussein (GER)
Reserve AR: Kim Kyoung Min (KOR)

Referee Hategan awarded a penalty kick after only 9 seconds

Fans were barely in their seats at the Bucharest derby between Steaua and Dinamo when the referee awarded one of the fastest penalties ever in professional soccer after only nine seconds.

League leaders Steaua went ahead after referee Ovidiu Hategan (photo) pointed to the spot when Dinamo keeper Jaime Penedo clattered into Brazilian midfielder William De Amorim moments after kickoff on Wednesday. Romania's soccer statisticians said it was the quickest penalty ever awarded in the country's top flight. Another Brazilian midfielder, Fernando Boldrin, made no mistake from the spot, but Dinamo overcame the early setback to complete a 3-1 victory.

Source: Yahoo Sports