Two-time World Cup referee Agnolin has died

Luigi Agnolin, one of the most famous referees in the 80s in Italy, has died at the age of 75. He was appointed to two World Cups, 1986 and 1990, and two European finals: the 1987 Cup Winners' Cup and the 1988 Champions Cup. After his retirement as a referee, Agnolin began his career as a sports director: Rome in 1994, Venice and Verona between 1999 and 2001. In 2006, he was the AIA Special Commissioner for a few months after the outbreak of Calciopoli and the resignation of Lanese. Luigi Agnolin was inducted into the Italian Football Association's Hall of Fame in 2012.

Agnolin was one of the best Italian and international referees, with a great personality and great charisma on the field. He refereed a total of 226 Serie A matches, representing Italy at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. He also refereed the Champions Cup Final, in 1987-88, between PSV and Benfica. He became famous for the episode of Turin-Juventus 1980, when he told Bettega, who was protesting, “vi faccio un c**o così!” that cost him a four-month suspension. 

He stopped his refereeing career in 1990 and became designator for Serie C, but in 1992 he was not re-appointed by the federal president Antonio Matarrese. He then became general manager of Rome, managing director of Venice and Verona, and in 2006 he was the Special Commissioner of the AIA, chosen by Guido Rossi to lead the Italian Referees Association after the outbreak of the Calciopoli scandal. Until August 2007 he was president of the FIGC youth and education sector, from 2011 to June 2013 general manager of Perugia. Retired to private life, he had been sick for a long time.
Speaking about the death of Luigi Agnolin, the chairman of FIFA’s Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina said: “Gigi was an example and an inspiration for all of us referees and as a young referee I have looked at him as a model. He was a man with a great personality and charisma on the pitch and was always regarded as a decisive and firm referee. His many colleagues in FIFA and throughout the global football community will remember him fondly and with much admiration and affection”.

Source: SportMediaset

CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores – Quarter-finals (Second Leg)

2-4 October 2018

Independiente – River Plate
Referee: Anderson Daronco (BRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcelo Van Gasse (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Danilo Manis (BRA)
Fourth Official: Luiz Oliveira (BRA)
VAR 1: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
VAR 2: Rodolpho Toski (BRA)
AVAR: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Pablo Silva (ARG)
VAR Assessor: Francisco Mondria (CHI)

Gremio – Atletico Tucuman
Referee: Roberto Tobar (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Schiemann (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Claudio Rios (CHI)
Fourth Official: Piero Maza (CHI)
VAR 1: Julio Bascunan (CHI)
VAR 2: Victor Carrillo (CHI)
AVAR: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Referee Assessor: Dario Ubriaco (URU)
VAR Assessor: Ubaldo Aquino (PAR)

Palmeiras – Colo Colo
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Cristian De La Cruz (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexander Guzman (COL)
Fourth Official: Gustavo Murillo (COL)
VAR 1: Patricio Loustau (ARG)
VAR 2: Fernando Rapallini (ARG)
AVAR: Hernan Maidana (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Alberto Tejada (PER)
VAR Assessor: Martin Vazquez (URU)

Cruzeiro – Boca Juniors
Referee: Andres Cunha (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Taran (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Fourth Official: Jonathan Fuentes (URU)
VAR 1: Leodan Gonzalez (URU)
VAR 2: Esteban Ostojich (URU)
AVAR: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Referee Assessor: Jose Buitrago (COL)
VAR Assessor: Carlos Torres (PAR)

CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana – Round of 16 (Matchday 4)

2-4 October 2018

Millionarios – Santa Fe
Referee: Raphael Claus (BRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Fabricio Villarinho (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alessandro Rocha (BRA)
Fourth Official: Wagner Magalhaes (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Imer Machado (COL)

Botafogo – Bahia
Referee: German Delfino (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gustavo Rossi (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ezequiel Brailovsky (ARG)
Fourth Official: Dario Herrera (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Nilson Moncao (BRA)

Atletico Paranaense – Caracas
Referee: Michael Espinoza (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Coty Carrera (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael Orue (PER)
Fourth Official: Joel Alarcon (PER)
Referee Assessor: Juan Cardellino (URU)

Fluminense – Deportivo Cuenca
Referee: Andres Rojas (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Alexander Leon (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Fourth Official: Nicolas Gallo (COL)
Referee Assessor: Claudio Puga (CHI)

Colon – Junior
Referee: Diego Haro (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Victor Raez (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Raul Lopez (PER)
Fourth Official: Miguel Santivanez (PER)
Referee Assessor: Roberto Silvera (URU)

VAR to be used in UEFA competitions

Video Assistant Referees (VAR) will be used for the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League, as well as for a number of other UEFA competitions. The decision was taken at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee at the House of European Football in Nyon on Thursday morning.

VAR will be introduced from the play-off stage of next season's UEFA Champions League. It will be used additionally for the 2019 UEFA Super Cup in Istanbul, as well as for UEFA Euro 2020. UEFA subsequently plans to introduce it in the UEFA Europa League from the group stage of the 2020/21 edition, with the system also set to be in place for the 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said: "We are confident that introducing Video Assistant Referees in August 2019 will give us enough time to put in place a robust system and to train match officials to ensure an efficient and successful implementation of VAR in the UEFA Champions League, the world's flagship club competition".

Source: UEFA

UEFA Women’s Champions League – Round of 32 (Second Leg)

26-27 September 2018

Brøndby – Juventus
Referee: Florence Guillemin (FRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Élodie Coppola (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Manuela Nicolosi (FRA)
Fourth Official: Maïka Vanderstichel (FRA)
Referee Observer: Miroslava Migalová (SVK)

VfL Wolfsburg – Thór
Referee: Amy Fearn (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Lisa Rashid (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Helen Byrne (ENG)
Fourth Official: Stacey Pearson (ENG)
Referee Observer: Lilach Asulin (ISR)

Sparta Praha – AFC Ajax
Referee: Sílvia Domingos (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Andreia Sousa (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Olga Almeida (POR)
Fourth Official: Cátia Tavares (POR)
Referee Observer: Silvia Spinelli (ITA)

FC Barcelona – BIIK Kazygurt
Referee: Justina Lavrenovaitė (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vaiva Skipitienė (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Irina Pozdejeva (LTU)
Fourth Official: Jurgita Mačikunytė (LTU)
Referee Observer: Hilda McDermott (IRL)

Linköping – Kharkiv
Referee: Ivana Projkovska (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Biljana Atanasovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Elena Soklevska-Ilievski (MKD)
Fourth Official: Irena Velevačkoska (MKD)
Referee Observer: Nelly Viennot (FRA)

Fortuna Hjørring – Fiorentina WFC
Referee: Désirée Grundbacher (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Susanne Küng (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Linda Schmid (SUI)
Fourth Official: Esther Staubli (SUI)
Referee Observer: Kirsi Heikkinen (FIN)

FC Rosengård – Ryazan VDV
Referee: Karolina Tokarska (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Aleksandra Ulanowska (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Anna Dąbrowska (POL)
Fourth Official: Michalina Diakow (POL)
Referee Observer: Sjoukje de Jong (NED)

Bayern München – Spartak Subotica
Referee: Elvira Nurmustafina (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 1: Yelena Alistratova (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 2: Dinara Idrisova (KAZ)
Fourth Official: Tatyana Sorokopudova (KAZ)
Referee Observer: Ilonka Dzhaleva (BUL)

Manchester City WFC – Atlético de Madrid
Referee: Lina Lehtovaara (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Tonja Paavola (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Heini Hyvönen (FIN)
Fourth Official: Minna Mäenpää (FIN)
Referee Observer: Christine Frai (GER)

Chelsea FCW – SFK Sarajevo
Referee: Simona Ghisletta (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Belinda Pierre (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Émilie Aubry (SUI)
Fourth Official: Deborah Anex (SUI)
Referee Observer: Cristina Babadac (ROU)

Olympique Lyonnais – Avaldsnes Idrettslag
Referee: Petra Pavlíková (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Mária Súkeníková (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Katarína Smolíková (SVK)
Fourth Official: Zuzana Valentová (SVK)
Referee Observer: Irina Mîrț (ROU)

Slavia Praha – Gintra Universitetas
Referee: Paula Brady (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Michelle O'Neill (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Olivia Sneyd (IRL)
Fourth Official: Hannah McLean (SCO)
Referee Observer: Carolina De Boeck (BEL)

WFC Zvezda – LSK Kvinner
Referee: Angelika Söder (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Ines Appelmann (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marina Wozniak (GER)
Fourth Official: Melissa Joos (GER)
Referee Observer: Snježana Fočić (CRO)

Zürich Frauen – Honka Espoo
Referee: Eléni Antoníou (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Chrysoúla Kourompýlia (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Georgía Komisopoúlou (GRE)
Fourth Official: Andromáchi Tsioflíki (GRE)
Referee Observer: Anja Kunick (GER)

Paris St. Germain – St. Pölten Frauen
Referee: Ewa Augustyn (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Kinga Seniuk-Mikulska (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulina Baranowska (POL)
Fourth Official: Anna Adamska (POL)
Referee Observer: Dilan Gökçek İşcan (TUR)

Glasgow City – Somatío Barcelona
Referee: Ifeoma Kulmala (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jenni Mahlamäki (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Nina Hammarberg (FIN)
Fourth Official: Sini Hakala (FIN)
Referee Observer: Maria Persson (SWE)

CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana – Round of 16 (Matchday 3)

25-26 September 2018

Nacional – San Lorenzo
Referee: Wilmar Roldán (COL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilmar Navarro (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Dionisio Ruiz (COL)
Fourth Official: Andrés Rojas (COL)
Referee Assessor: Ana Pérez (PER)

Atletico Junior – Colon
Referee: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Byron Romero (ECU)
Fourth Official: Juan Albarracín (ECU)
Referee Assessor: Miguel Buitrago (VEN)

Banfield – Defensa y Justicia
Referee: Esteban Ostojich (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Popovits (URU)
Fourth Official: Gustavo Tejera (URU)
Referee Assessor: Ana Oliveira (BRA)

UEFA Europa League – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

20 September 2018

Villarreal – Rangers
Referee: István Kovács (ROU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mihai Artene (ROU)
Fourth Official: Alexandru Cerei (ROU)
Additional AR 1: Marius Avram (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Horațiu Feșnic (ROU)
Referee Observer: Marián Ružbarský (SVK)

Rapid Wien – Spartak Moskva
Referee: Sandro Schärer (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Stéphane Almeida (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Bekim Zogaj (SUI)
Fourth Official: Raffael Zeder (SUI)
Additional AR 1: Alain Bieri (SUI)
Additional AR 2: Lukas Fähndrich (SUI)
Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)

Olympique de Marseille – Eintracht Frankfurt
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Manuel Vidali (SVN)
Fourth Official: Tomislav Pospeh (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Nejc Kajtazovič (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Dejan Balažič (SVN)
Referee Observer: Oğuz Sarvan (TUR)

Lazio – Apóllon Limassol
Referee: Aliyar Agayev (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Rza Mammadov (AZE)
Fourth Official: Mübariz Haşımov (AZE)
Additional AR 1: Rahim Hasanov (AZE)
Additional AR 2: Orxan Mammadov (AZE)
Referee Observer: Robert Sedlacek (AUT)

Beşiktaş – Sarpsborg
Referee: Tamás Bognár (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Balázs Buzás (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Péter Kóbor (HUN)
Fourth Official: Theodoros Georgiou (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Ádám Farkas (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Péter Solymosi (HUN)
Referee Observer: Leslie Irvine (NIR)

KRC Genk – Malmö FF
Referee: Aleksey Eskov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitri Mosyakin (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Anton Averyanov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Igor Demeshko (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Kirill Levnikov (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Mikhail Vilkov (RUS)
Referee Observer: Dragutin Poljak (CRO)

Sevilla FC – Standard de Liège
Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vytautas Šimkus (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vytenis Kazlauskas (LTU)
Fourth Official: Dovydas Sužiedėlis (LTU)
Additional AR 1: Donatas Rumšas (LTU)
Additional AR 2: Manfredas Lukjančukas (LTU)
Referee Observer: Petteri Kari (FIN)

Akhisarspor – Krasnodar
Referee: Ville Nevalainen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Peter Aravirta (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mika Lamppu (FIN)
Fourth Official: Sami Nykänen (FIN)
Additional AR 1: Petri Viljanen (FIN)
Additional AR 2: Dennis Antamo (FIN)
Referee Observer: Kevin Azzopardi (MLT)

Stade Rennais – FK Jablonec
Referee: Ola Hobber Nilsen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Tom Harald Grønevik (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Geir Oskar Isaksen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Øystein Simon Ytterland (NOR)
Additional AR 1: Espen Andreas Eskås (NOR)
Additional AR 2: Kai Erik Steen (NOR)
Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)

Dynamo Kyiv – FC Astana
Referee: Halis Özkahya (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ceyhun Sesigüzel (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Hakan Yemişken (TUR)
Fourth Official: Kerem Ersoy (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Ali Palabıyık (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Alper Ulusoy (TUR)
Referee Observer: Jens Larsen (DEN)

PAOK – Chelsea
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Íñigo Prieto López (ESP)
Fourth Official: Javier Aguilar Rodríguez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: José Sánchez Martínez (ESP)
Additional AR 2: José González González (ESP)
Referee Observer: Laurent Duhamel (FRA)

Mol Vidi – Bate Borisov
Referee: Mads-Kristoffer Kristoffersen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Dennis Rasmussen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Victor Skytte (DEN)
Fourth Official: Niels Høg (DEN)
Additional AR 1: Jørgen Burchardt (DEN)
Additional AR 2: Morten Krogh (DEN)
Referee Observer: Stávros Tritsónis (GRE)

AEK Larnaca – FC Zürich
Referee: Jonathan Lardot (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Frédéric Godelaine (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Florian Lemaire (BEL)
Fourth Official: Laurent Conotte (BEL)
Additional AR 1: Nicolas Laforge (BEL)
Additional AR 2: Alexandre Boucaut (BEL)
Referee Observer: Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL)

PFC Ludogorets – Bayer Leverkusen
Referee: Paolo Mazzoleni (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni (ITA)
Fourth Official: Stefano Del Giovane (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Marco Di Bello (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Piero Giacomelli (ITA)
Referee Observer: Paulius Malžinskas (LTU)

RB Leipzig – Red Bull Salzburg
Referee: Andreas Ekberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mehmet Cullum (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Hallberg (SWE)
Fourth Official: Fredrik Klyver (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Kristoffer Karlsson (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Glenn Nyberg (SWE)
Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)

Celtic – Rosenborg
Referee: Pawel Gil (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Konrad Sapela (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcin Borkowski (POL)
Fourth Official: Adam Kupsik (POL)
Additional AR 1: Krzysztof Jakubik (POL)
Additional AR 2: Piotr Lasyk (POL)
Referee Observer: Jan Carlsen (DEN)

FC København – FC Zenit
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Margaritov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Diyan Valkov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Georgi Todorov (BUL)
Additional AR 1: Nikola Popov (BUL)
Additional AR 2: Stanislav Todorov (BUL)
Referee Observer: Vadims Direktorenko (LVA)

Slavia Praha – Girondins de Bordeaux
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Rob van de Ven (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Schaap (NED)
Fourth Official: Bas van Dongen (NED)
Additional AR 1: Jeroen Manschot (NED)
Additional AR 2: Siemen Mulder (NED)
Referee Observer: Michael Ross (NIR)

Spartak Trnava – RSC Anderlecht
Referee: Kevin Clancy (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Douglas Ross (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Sean Carr (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alastair Mather (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Steven McLean (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Alan Muir (SCO)
Referee Observer: Peter Sippel (GER)

GNK Dinamo – Fenerbahçe SK
Referee: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Lee Betts (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ian Hussin (ENG)
Fourth Official: Harry Lennard (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Jonathan Moss (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Christopher Kavanagh (ENG)
Referee Observer: Vladimír Medved (SVK)

Sporting CP – Qarabağ FK
Referee: François Letexier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cyril Mugnier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mehdi Rahmouni (FRA)
Fourth Official: Bertrand Jouannaud (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Frank Schneider (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Karim Abed (FRA)
Referee Observer: Elmir Pilav (BIH)

Arsenal FC – Vorskla Poltava
Referee: Bart Vertenten (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Rien Vanyzere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Thibaud Nijssen (BEL)
Fourth Official: Yves De Neve (BEL)
Additional AR 1: Lawrence Visser (BEL)
Additional AR 2: Bram Van Driessche (BEL)
Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE)

F91 Dudelange – AC Milan
Referee: Srdjan Jovanović (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Uroš Stojković (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Milan Mihajlović (SRB)
Fourth Official: Dragan Bogićević (SRB)
Additional AR 1: Lazar Lukić (SRB)
Additional AR 2: Zoran Široki (SRB)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

Olympiakós FC – Real Betis
Referee: Daniel Stefański (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcin Boniek (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Dawid Golis (POL)
Fourth Official: Krzysztof Myrmus (POL)
Additional AR 1: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
Additional AR 2: Zbigniew Dobrynin (POL)
Referee Observer: Goran Mihaljević (MNE)

UEFA Youth League – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

18 September 2018
AS Monaco – Atlético de Madrid
Referee: Stephan Klossner (SUI, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Marco Zürcher (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Efe Kurnazca (SUI)
Fourth Official: Faouzi Benchabane (FRA)
Referee Observer: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)

FC Barcelona – PSV Eindhoven
Referee: Jérôme Brisard (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Benjamin Pagès (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: François Boudikian (FRA)
Fourth Official: Rubén Ávalos Barrera (ESP)
Referee Observer: Luis Medina Cantalejo (ESP)

Inter Milano – Tottenham Hotspur
Referee: Antti Munukka (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jouni Lemmettinen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Turkka Joonas Valjakka (FIN)
Fourth Official: Lorenzo Illuzzi (ITA)
Referee Observer: Alfredo Trentalange (ITA)

Club Brugge – Borussia Dortmund
Referee: Nikola Dabanović (MNE)
Assistant Referee 1: Vladan Todorović (MNE)
Assistant Referee 2: Marjan Paunović (MNE)
Fourth Official: Jasper Vergoote (BEL)
Referee Observer: Michel Piraux (BEL)

Liverpool FC – Paris St. Germain
Referee: Alexander Harkam (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Staudinger (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Höfler (AUT)
Fourth Official: Peter Wright (ENG)
Referee Observer: Peter Jones (ENG)

Crvena Zvezda – SSC Napoli
Referee: Adrien Jaccottet (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Vital Jobin (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Carmine Sangiovanni (SUI)
Fourth Official: Ivan Stamenković (SRB)
Referee Observer: Zoran Petrović (SRB)

Galatasaray – Lokomotiv Moskva
Referee: Enea Jorgji (ALB)
Assistant Referee 1: Emigers Gançi (ALB)
Assistant Referee 2: Dojando Myftari (ALB)
Fourth Official: Can Cengiz (TUR)
Referee Observer: Murat Ilgaz (TUR)

FC Schalke – FC Porto
Referee: Kristo Tohver (EST)
Assistant Referee 1: Silver Kõiv (EST)
Assistant Referee 2: Karolin Kaivoja (EST)
Fourth Official: Thorben Siewer (GER)
Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)

19 September 2018
Shakhtar Donetsk – TSG Hoffenheim
Referee: Irfan Peljto (BIH)
Assistant Referee 1: Davor Beljo (BIH)
Assistant Referee 2: Amer Macić (BIH)
Fourth Official: Dmytro Panchyshyn (UKR)
Referee Observer: Volodymyr Petrov (UKR)

Viktoria Plzeň – CSKA Moskva
Referee: Peter Královič (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Miroslav Benko (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Erik Weiss (SVK)
Fourth Official: Vojtěch Severýn (CZE)
Referee Observer: Karel Bohuněk (CZE)

AFC Ajax – AEK Athens
Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Magnus Sjöblom (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mikael Hallin (SWE)
Fourth Official: Martin van den Kerkhof (NED)
Referee Observer: Hans Reijgwart (NED)

SL Benfica – Bayern München
Referee: Stuart Attwell (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Constantine Hatzidakis (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Neil Davies (ENG)
Fourth Official: Rui Piteira Rodrigues (POR)
Referee Observer: Bernardino González Vázquez (ESP)

Manchester City – Olympique Lyonnais
Referee: Petr Ardeleánu (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomáš Mokrusch (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Petr Caletka (CZE)
Fourth Official: Martin Coy (ENG)
Referee Observer: Iain Robertson Brines (SCO)

Valencia – Juventus
Referee: Radu Petrescu (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Radu Ghinguleac (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mircea Grigoriu (ROU)
Fourth Official: Saúl Ais Reig (ESP)
Referee Observer: Manuel López Fernández (ESP)

Real Madrid – AS Roma
Referee: Fábio Veríssimo (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Paulo Soares (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Nuno Pereira (POR)
Fourth Official: Valentín Pizarro Gómez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Manuel Díaz Vega (ESP)

Young Boys – Manchester United
Referee: Fran Jović (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivica Modrić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Hrvoje Radić (CRO)
Fourth Official: David Schärli (SUI)
Referee Observer: Cyril Zimmermann (SUI)

CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana – Round of 16 (Matchday 2)

18-20 September 2018

Santa Fe – Millonarios
Referee: Fernando Rapallini (ARG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Bonfa (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Navarro (ARG)
Fourth Official: Fernando Espinoza (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Imer Machado (COL)

Caracas – Atletico Paranaense
Referee: Andres Rojas (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Humberto Clavijo (COL)
Fourth Official: Carlos Betancur (COL)
Referee Assessor: Carlos Herrera (ECU)

Deportivo Cali – LDU Quito
Referee: Diego Haro (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Victor Raez (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Coty Carrera (PER)
Fourth Official: Michael Espinoza (PER)
Referee Assessor: Sergio Cristiano (BRA)

Deportivo Cuenca – Fluminense
Referee: Alexis Herrera (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Lopez (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Urrego (VEN)
Fourth Official: Juan Soto (VEN)
Referee Assessor: Claudio Puga (CHI)

Bahia – Botafogo
Referee: Piero Maza (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Schiemann (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Claudio Rios (CHI)
Fourth Official: Eduardo Gamboa (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Nilson Moncao (BRA)

CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

18-20 September 2018

Atlético Tucuman – Gremio
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Cristian De La Cruz (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexander Leon (COL)
Fourth Official: Gustavo Murillo (COL)
VAR 1: Julio Bascuñan (CHI)
VAR 2: Roberto Tobar (CHI)
AVAR: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Carlos Torres (PAR)

Independiente – River Plate
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Rodrigo Correa (BRA)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Marques (BRA)
VAR 1: Raphael Claus (BRA)
VAR 2: Anderson Daronco (BRA)
AVAR: Emerson de Carvalho (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Francisco Mondria (CHI)

Boca Juniors – Cruzeiro
Referee: Eber Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zorrilla (PAR)
Fourth Official: Arnaldo Samaniego (PAR)
VAR 1: Mario Diaz de Vivar (PAR)
VAR 2: Gery Vargas (BOL)
AVAR: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Referee Assessor: Martin Vazquez (URU)

Colo Colo – Palmeiras
Referee: Andres Cunha (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Taran (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Fourth Official: Leodan Gonzalez (URU)
VAR 1: Mauro Vigliano (ARG)
VAR 2: Patricio Loustau (ARG)
AVAR: Hernan Maidana (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Ubaldo Aquino (PAR)

UEFA Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

18 September 2018
FC Barcelona – PSV Eindhoven
Referee: Anastásios Sidirópoulos (GRE, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Polychrónis Kostarás (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Lázaros Dimitriádis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Damianós Efthymiádis (GRE)
Additional AR 1: Anastásios Papapétrou (GRE)
Additional AR 2: Ioánnis Papadópoulos (GRE)
Referee Observer: Michael Riley (ENG)

Inter Milano – Tottenham Hotspur
Referee: Clément Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Fourth Official: Guillaume Debart (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)
Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)

Club Brugge – Borussia Dortmund
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Mario Diks (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Hessel Steegstra (NED)
Fourth Official: Jan de Vries (NED)
Additional AR 1: Kevin Blom (NED)
Additional AR 2: Jochem Kamphuis (NED)
Referee Observer: Levan Paniashvili (GEO)

AS Monaco – Atlético de Madrid
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graeme Stewart (SCO)
Fourth Official: Douglas Potter (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Andrew Dallas (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Nicolas Walsh (SCO)
Referee Observer: Kaj Østergaard (DEN)

Liverpool FC – Paris St. Germain
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarık Ongun (TUR)
Fourth Official: Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Barış Şimşek (TUR)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Liba (CZE)

Crvena Zvezda – SSC Napoli
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Paweł Sokolnicki (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Fourth Official: Radosław Siejka (POL)
Additional AR 1: Paweł Raczkowski (POL)
Additional AR 2: Tomasz Musiał (POL)
Referee Observer: Sándor Piller (HUN)

Galatasaray – Lokomotiv Moskva
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Filippo Meli (ITA)
Fourth Official: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Luca Banti (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Referee Observer: Vladimir Antonov (MDA)

FC Schalke – FC Porto
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Diego Barbero Sevilla (ESP)
Fourth Official: Javier Martínez Nicolás (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (ESP)
Additional AR 2: José Munuera Montero (ESP)
Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)

19 September 2018
AFC Ajax – AEK Athens
Referee: Carlos del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Carlos Yusté Jiménez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP)
Fourth Official: Abrahám Álvarez Cantón (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Santiago Jaime Latre (ESP)
Referee Observer: Luciano Luci (ITA)

Shakhtar Donetsk – TSG Hoffenheim
Referee: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Lars Hummelgaard (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Heine Sørensen (DEN)
Fourth Official: Niels Brixen (DEN)
Additional AR 1: Michael Tykgaard (DEN)
Additional AR 2: Jens Maae (DEN)
Referee Observer: Bertrand Layec (FRA)

SL Benfica – Bayern München
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devís (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Teodoro Sobrino Magán (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Xavier Estrada Fernández (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP)
Referee Observer: Emil Božinovski (MKD)

Manchester City – Olympique Lyonnais
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabiano Preti (ITA)
Fourth Official: Giorgio Peretti (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Marco Guida (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Daniele Doveri (ITA)
Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR)

Real Madrid – AS Roma
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Fourth Official: Joost van Zuilen (NED)
Additional AR 1: Dennis Higler (NED)
Additional AR 2: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Referee Observer: Marcel Vanelshocht (BEL)

Viktoria Plzeň – CSKA Moskva
Referee: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frédéric Haquette (FRA)
Fourth Official: Julien Pacelli (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Benoît Millot (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Jérôme Miguelgorry (FRA)
Referee Observer: Eugen Strigel (GER)

BSC Young Boys – Manchester United
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduard Beitinger (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Rafael Foltyn (GER)
Fourth Official: Dominik Schaal (GER)
Additional AR 1: Tobias Welz (GER)
Additional AR 2: Benjamin Cortus (GER)
Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN)

Valencia – Juventus
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Fourth Official: Markus Häcker (GER)
Additional AR 1: Bastian Dankert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Marco Fritz (GER)
Referee Observer: Francesco Bianchi (SUI)

CAF has suspended 15 more referees

The videos have already been made available to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and individual countries Football Associations. This time including referees from West, Central and Southern African Countries. The videos are being released as part of Tiger Eye PIs mantra of naming, shaming and jailing of corrupt people in society. It is also to deepen CAF president’s commitment to fight against corruption in African football. It will be recalled that following the showing of Number12 and betraying the Game by BBC World Service, Ahmad Ahmad told the BBC “We have started to fight corruption and have changed many rules”.

Madagascar. In the huge island nation off the southeast coast of Africa, FIFA referee Hamada Nampiandraza (photo) took $2,800 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the CAF 2018 Champions League in Ghana.

Sierra Leone. FIFA and CAF certified Sierra Leonean referee, Billy Konneh took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament.

Côte d’Ivoire. In Ivory Coast, four FIFA referees were caught; Dennis Dembélé, Tan Marius Donatien, Bi Vélère Gouho and Coulibally Abu engaging in corruption and conflict of interest contrary to FIFA and CAF code of ethics. The four were amongst the officials who took part in the CAF 2018 Champions League in Ghana. The four took $800 each from journalists pretending as football agents to officiate in favour of their team. Dennis Dembele has been banned for 6 years from all football related activities by CAF and the rest banned for 2 years.

Senegal. Senegalese referee David Daouda Gueye took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament. He has already been suspended by CAF awaiting outcome of investigations.

Togo. In the case of Togolese referee Bebou Yanissou, he took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament.

DR Congo. In Congo, four referees were caught engaging in bribery and corruption as well as conflict of interest. They are Fitial Charel Just Kokolo, Blaise Boutamba, Yamba Armand Gildas and Messie Jessie Oved Nkounkou Mvoutou. The four took $800 each from journalists pretending as football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the in the CAF 2018 Champions League in Ghana.

Niger. Assistant referee Maman Raja Abba Malan Ouseini took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament. CAF in July handed him a 5-year ban from all CAF related football activities.

Liberia. FIFA referee Jerry Yekeh took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament. He has provisionally be banned by CAF and the Liberian Football Referees Association pending investigations.

Gambia. Gambian referee Ebrima Jallow also took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament. (CAF) has since banned him Gambian for 10 years after concluding with investigations.

Mauritania. Mauritanian assistant referee Boubou Cheikhna Demba also took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament. Demba Boubou has been banned for 5 years by CAF.

Benin. Referee Aboudou Razak Bello from Benin took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament. He has been provisionally suspended pending their appearance in front of the next meeting of the Disciplinary Board of CAF.

Burkina Faso. Referee Boukari Ouedraogo took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament. He has been banned by CAF for 5 years.

Guinea Bissau. Referee Adento Maria Barbosa da Silva of Guinea Bissau also took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament contrary to FIFA/CAF code of ethics on corruption and conflict of interest.

Mali. Assistant referee Moriba Diakite took $500 from fake football agents to officiate in favour of their team in the 2017 West African Football Union (WAFU) tournament contrary to FIFA/CAF code of ethics on corruption and conflict of interest. He has already been banned.

Source: FootballLive

Futsal player arrested after a brutal attack that left a referee with a fractured skull

Alcione Marcelino headbutted the official and kicked him in the face as he lay on the ground after he objected to a decision. The ace is facing charges of grievous bodily harm over the terrifying incident, with referee Marcos Nogueira allegedly suffering potentially life-threatening injuries. 

Fluminense da Bahia and Atletico Brasileense's Acreano Futsal Championship match in Rio Branco, north Brazil, was nearly over when the attack was captured. Nogueira was kept in hospital overnight for observation and the following day underwent a series of examinations and tests by the Institute of Legal Medicine. IML experts will submit their findings to criminal investigators who have opened a case against the Atletico Brasileense midfielder, 34. The referee’s lawyer Fabio Santos said: “According to Marcos, Alcione complained about a foul as Fluminense da Bahia scored their sixth goal. "Marcos told the player his decision was correct, and he should play on. He didn’t expect the footballer’s reaction. You can see things happened suddenly. Alcione appears to run up to my client who stands still on the spot. Marcos never expected anything like this to happen, so he didn’t react when the player came towards him. He was surprised by the player’s aggressive attitude. Before he knew it, he was head-butted and kicked in the face as he fell to the ground”.

The cup final, which ended with a 6 to 4 win to Fluminense da Bahia, was stopped 16 minutes into the second half as anxious colleagues rushed to tend to the injured ref. Santos added: “Marcos has suffered extremely serious head injuries and x-rays show a crack in his skull. He was hospitalized to avoid trauma and there is a real risk this injury could develop with more serious and life-threatening consequences. We are talking about a serious bodily injury and my client is in a great deal of pain. Depending on the intensity of the injury this could lead to grievous bodily harm charges. We will wait for the investigation to be completed in 30 days before reaching a decision. In the meantime, I just hope the health of my client doesn’t deteriorate”. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 26 September at a Special Criminal Court, which is a body that promotes conciliation and adjudication. But Santos intends to push for the case to be transferred to a criminal court.

Source: The Sun

Geiger: Key takeaways from the 2018 FIFA World Cup

Soccer players aren’t the only ones who spend their life dreaming of emerging from the tunnel at the World Cup. Referees devote just as much time and energy to the grind of qualifying for the world’s biggest stage. Despite an award-laden career full of officiating some of the world’s most illustrious tournaments, Mark Geiger is still buzzing from his experience in Russia, even though it wasn’t his first rodeo. “My favorite memories will be meeting, collaborating with and working with the best referees from each continent,” Geiger recently told ussoccer.com. “I will also always remember the excitement of walking out of the tunnel and leading the teams out onto the pitch to the sounds of the incredible crowd and the anthem playing in the stadium.”

Geiger became an MLS referee at the age of 30 in 2004. Following his arrival at the top of the American game, the New Jersey native quickly ascended to new heights, obtaining his FIFA badge in 2008. In 2011, Geiger was awarded MLS Referee of the year. He repeated that feet in 2014, capping off an impressive season where he also oversaw three matches at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In Brazil, Geiger became the first American to officiate a knock-out round match when he took charge of France-Nigeria in the Round of 16. In 2017, Geiger was back refereeing on the world stage, taking the reins of Australia vs. Germany and New Zealand vs. Portugal at the FIFA Confederations Cup. Based on his success at the World Cup’s dress rehearsal and his consistently excellent performances in MLS, Geiger was invited back to Russia by FIFA for the 2018 World Cup. According to the FIFA press release, the appointment of the 36 referees and 63 assistant referees “selected to officiate at the 2018 FIFA World Cup was based on each referee’s skills and personality, as well as his level of understanding of football and ability to read both the game and the various tactics employed by teams.” Yet, the calls Geiger received to go to Russia for the Confederations Cup and subsequent World Cup were not out of the blue. The release on FIFA’s website also stated that “Over the last three years, preparatory seminars have taken place for referees and assistant referees focusing on fair play, protecting players and the image of the game, as well as consistency and uniformity.” Geiger not only needed to be a top performer in the classroom at these events, but he had to consistently translate those principals into match settings on both the domestic and international stage. It was this consistency that allowed him to join Jair Marrufo, Corey Rockwell and Frank Anderson as the American officials that were tasked with keeping order in Russia. “We are always learning as a referee,” Geiger noted of these seminars. “We learn about player and team tactics, we learn how to effectively manage players and the game, we learn how to apply the Laws of the Game to both standard and non-routine situations. The referees never have all the answers and it is through the preparation, debriefs and collaboration with others that we continue to grow and make ourselves better.” 

Geiger was a busy man at the 2018 World Cup. In addition to being the center referee for Portugal vs. Morocco and South Korea vs. Germany in the group stage as well as for England vs. Colombia in the Round of 16, Geiger also served as the head Video Assistant Referee for five matches, including the third-place match between Belgium and England. Adding the two matches where the former math teacher held the Assistant Video Assistant Referee #3 position, Geiger helped oversee 10 matches at the world’s most prestigious tournament. After just over a year and a half in existence, the Video Assistant Referee was used for the first time in a World Cup. Due to his heavy involvement with VAR in MLS, Geiger was always in line to play a crucial role in Russia. “Even though we use it here in the United States and it is used in a few other countries around the world, all the referees and VARs were learning how to best utilize this tool,” Geiger reflected. “The line of intervention, the situations in which it would be most beneficial to the game, and more importantly, the communication that is most effective between the referee and the VAR were things that were constantly evaluated and practiced leading up to and throughout the entire World Cup.” Despite VAR being relatively new, Geiger believed it was used to great effect in Russia. “The VARs understood when they should intervene and open up communication with the referee, and a very high bar was maintained throughout the tournament so only clear and obvious errors were corrected. The successful implementation of the VAR has taken the big controversial decisions or scandals out of the game,” Geiger continued. “There will always be discussions about whether a 50/50 referee decision is correct or not. However, the decisions that are clearly wrong, where virtually 100% of the population agrees, are gone.” 

Source: USSF

International Friendly Matches

September 2018

Scotland – Belgium
Referee: Luca Banti (ITA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Fourth Official: Marco Di Bello (ITA)

Austria – Sweden
Referee: Paweł Gil (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Konrad Sapela (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcin Borkowski (POL)
Fourth Official: Paweł Raczkowski (POL)

Slovakia – Denmark
Referee: Julian Weinberger (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Heidenreich (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Fourth Official: Boris Marhefka (SVK)

Netherlands – Peru
Referee: Tobias Stieler (GER)

Japan – Chile 
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN)

Portugal – Croatia
Referee: Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Aguilar Rodríguez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Teodoro Sobrino Magán (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP)
Additional AR 2: José Munuera Montero (ESP)
Fourth Official: Francisco Martín García (ESP)

Germany – Peru
Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Staudinger (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Kühr (AUT)
Fourth Official: Christopher Jäger (AUT)

Russia – Czech Republic
Referee: Aliyar Agayev (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Rza Mammadov (AZE)

Saudi Arabia – Bolivia
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devís (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Javier Aguilar Rodríguez (ESP)

England – Switzerland
Referee: Clément Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Fourth Official: Jérôme Brisard (FRA)

Northern Ireland – Israel
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Rob van de Ven (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Joost van Zuilen (NED)

Ecuador – Jamaica
Referee: Ted Unkel (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Adam Wienckowski (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Morgante (USA)
Fourth Official: Mark Geiger (USA)

USA – Brazil
Referee 1: Fernando Guerrero (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Alberto Morin (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Andres Hernandez (MEX)
Fourth Official: Ivan Barton (SLV)

Colombia – Argentina
Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Charles Morgante (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Wienckowski (USA)
Fourth Official: Ted Unkel (USA)

Brazil – El Salvador
Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Corey Rockwell (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Corey Parker (USA)
Fourth Official: Mark Geiger (USA)

USA – Mexico
Referee: Ricardo Montero (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Mora (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Gerson Lopez (GUA)
Fourth Official: Juan Calderon (CRC)

UEFA Nations League – Group Stage (Matchday 2)

9-11 September 2018

League A
France – Netherlands
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernández
Assistant Referee 2: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Additional AR 2: José Sánchez Martínez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Diego Barbero Sevilla (ESP)
Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin (SVN)

Portugal – Italy
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graeme Stewart (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Andrew Dallas (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Nicolas Walsh (SCO)
Fourth Official: Stuart Stevenson (SCO)
Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)

Iceland – Belgium
Referee: Sergey Karasev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Igor Demeshko (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleksey Lunev (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Sergey Ivanov (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Vladimir Moskalev (RUS)
Fourth Official: Aleksey Vorontsov (RUS)
Referee Observer: Jouni Hyytiä (FIN)

Spain – Croatia
Referee: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frédéric Haquette (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Benoît Millot (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Jérôme Miguelgorry (FRA)
Fourth Official: Philippe Jeanne (FRA)
Referee Observer: Vladimir Šajn (SVN)

League B
Ukraine – Slovakia
Referee: Anastásios Sidirópoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Polychrónis Kostarás (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Lázaros Dimitriádis (GRE)
Additional AR 1: Ioánnis Papadópoulos (GRE)
Additional AR 2: Athanásios Tzílos (GRE)
Fourth Official: Damianós Efthymiádis (GRE)
Referee Observer: Michel Piraux (BEL)

Denmark – Wales
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduard Beitinger (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Rafael Foltyn (GER)
Additional AR 1: Tobias Welz (GER)
Additional AR 2: Harm Osmers (GER)
Fourth Official: Dominik Schaal (GER)
Referee Observer: Levan Paniashvili (GEO)

Sweden – Turkey
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Carlos del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (ESP)
Fourth Official: Prieto López de Ceraín (ESP)
Referee Observer: Herbert Fandel (GER)

Bosnia and Herzegovina – Austria
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Debart (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Julien Pacelli (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Amaury Delerue (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Frank Schneider (FRA)
Fourth Official: Bertrand Jouannaud (FRA)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

League C
Bulgaria – Norway
Referee: Daniel Stefański (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcin Boniek (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Dawid Golis (POL)
Additional AR 1: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
Additional AR 2: Zbigniew Dobrynin (POL)
Fourth Official: Krzysztof Myrmus (POL)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Liba (CZE)

Cyprus – Slovenia
Referee: Andris Treimanis (LVA)
Assistant Referee 1: Haralds Gudermanis (LVA)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleksejs Spasjonņikovs (LVA)
Additional AR 1: Aleksandrs Golubevs (LVA)
Additional AR 2: Edgars Maļcevs (LVA)
Fourth Official: Raimonds Tatriks (LVA)
Referee Observer: Geórgios Bíkas (GRE)

Scotland – Albania
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Rade Obrenović (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Roberto Ponis (SVN)
Fourth Official: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE)

Montenegro – Lithuania
Referee: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Heine Sørensen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Brixen (DEN)
Additional AR 1: Jens Maae (DEN)
Additional AR 2: Peter Kjaersgaard (DEN)
Fourth Official: Lars Hummelgaard (DEN)
Referee Observer: Costas Kapitanis (CYP)

Serbia – Romania
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Valeri Danchenko (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Maksim Gavrilin (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Aleksei Eskov (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Kirill Levnikov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Dmitri Mosiakin (RUS)
Referee Observer: Dušan Krchňák (SVK)

Hungary – Greece
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakou (BLR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitrj Žuk (BLR)
Assistant Referee 2: Alieh Maslianka (BLR)
Additional AR 1: Dzianis Ščarbakou (BLR)
Additional AR 2: Dmitrj Dmitryjeu (BLR)
Fourth Official: Jurj Chomčanka (BLR)
Referee Observer: Draženko Kovačić (CRO)

Finland – Estonia
Referee: Orel Grinfeld (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dvir Shimon (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Roi Hassan (ISR)
Additional AR 1: Erez Papir (ISR)
Additional AR 2: Ziv Adler (ISR)
Fourth Official: Idan Yarkoni (ISR)
Referee Observer: Michael Riley (ENG)

League D
Georgia – Latvia
Referee: Anastásios Papapétrou (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Trýfon Petrópoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Iordánis Aptósoglou (GRE)
Additional AR 1: Ángelos Evangélou (GRE)
Additional AR 2: Praxitélis Zachariádis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Ilías Alexéas (GRE)
Referee Observer: Jens Larsen (DEN)

FYR Macedonia – Armenia
Referee: Manuel Schüttengruber (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Roland Brandner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Roland Riedel (AUT)
Additional AR 1: René Eisner (AUT)
Additional AR 2: Dieter Muckenhammer (AUT)
Fourth Official: Markus Gutschi (AUT)
Referee Observer: Francesco Bianchi (SUI)

Liechtenstein – Gibraltar
Referee: Alan Mario Sant (MLT)
Assistant Referee 1: Edward Spiteri (MLT)
Assistant Referee 2: Jurgen Spiteri (MLT)
Additional AR 1: Fyodor Zammit (MLT)
Additional AR 2: Trustin Farrugia Cann (MLT)
Fourth Official: Duncan Sultana (MLT)
Referee Observer: Lassin Isaksen (FRO)

Andorra – Kazakhstan
Referee: Vilhjálmur Thórarinsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 1: Gunnar Gudmundsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 2: Birkir Sigurdarson (ISL)
Additional AR 1: Thóroddur Hjaltalín (ISL)
Additional AR 2: Ívar Kristjánsson (ISL)
Fourth Official: Frosti Gunnarsson (ISL)
Referee Observer: Carmel Agius (MLT)

Kosovo – Faroe Islands
Referee: Bart Vertenten (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Rien Vanyzere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Thibaud Nijssen (BEL)
Additional AR 1: Lawrence Visser (BEL)
Additional AR 2: Bram Van Driessche (BEL)
Fourth Official: Yves De Neve (BEL)
Referee Observer: Leslie Irvine (NIR)

Malta – Azerbaijan
Referee: Nikola Dabanović (MNE)
Assistant Referee 1: Milutin Djukić (MNE)
Assistant Referee 2: Jovica Tatar (MNE)
Additional AR 1: Milovan Milačić (MNE)
Additional AR 2: Miloš Bošković (MNE)
Fourth Official: Aleksandar Djikanović (MNE)
Referee Observer: Luc Wilmes (LUX)

San Marino – Luxembourg
Referee: Filip Glova (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: František Ferenc (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Kováč (SVK)
Additional AR 1: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Additional AR 2: Michal Očenáš (SVK)
Fourth Official: Ján Pozor (SVK)
Referee Observer: Kevin Azzopardi (MLT)

Moldova – Belarus
Referee: Mario Zebec (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Borut Križarić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Jerko Crnčić (CRO)
Additional AR 1: Fran Jović (CRO)
Additional AR 2: Igor Pajač (CRO)
Fourth Official: Ivica Modrić (CRO)
Referee Observer: Muharrem Aksoy (TUR)

UEFA U-21 Euro 2019 Qualifiers (Matchday 15)

11 September 2018

Ireland – Germany
Referee: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Teodoro Sobrino Magán (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: José Naranjo Pérez (ESP)
Fourth Official: José Munuera Montero (ESP)
Referee Observer: Ján Fašung (SVK)

Russia – Serbia
Referee: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alfonso Marrazzo (ITA)
Fourth Official: Fabio Maresca (ITA)
Referee Observer: Gevorg Hovhannisyan (ARM)

FYR Macedonia – Armenia
Referee: Alex Troleis (FRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Christiansen (FRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan Hermansen (FRO)
Fourth Official: Dagfinn Olsen (FRO)
Referee Observer: Kostadin Gerginov (BUL)

Latvia – England
Referee: Peter Královič (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Miroslav Benko (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Erik Weiss (SVK)
Fourth Official: Pavol Chmura (SVK)
Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold (NOR)

Slovenia – Kazakhstan
Referee: Donatas Rumšas (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Aleksandr Radiuš (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Gevork Arakelian (LTU)
Fourth Official: Donatas Šimėnas (LTU)
Referee Observer: Vítor Melo Pereira (POR)

Iceland – Slovakia
Referee: Alexander Harkam (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Witschnigg (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Steinacher (AUT)
Fourth Official: Christian Ciochirca (AUT)
Referee Observer: Raymond Ellingham (WAL)

Finland – Poland
Referee: Stephan Klossner (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Marco Zürcher (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Jean-Yves Wicht (SUI)
Fourth Official: Urs Schnyder (SUI)
Referee Observer: Stefano Podeschi (SMR)

Lithuania – Denmark
Referee: Timótheos Christofí (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Charálambos Charalámbous (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Nikólas Englézou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Ioánnis Anastasíou (CYP)
Referee Observer: Aleksandr Gvardis (RUS)

Ukraine – Andorra
Referee: Suren Baliyan (ARM)
Assistant Referee 1: Mesrop Ghazaryan (ARM)
Assistant Referee 2: Vanik Simonyan (ARM)
Fourth Official: Zaven Hovhannisyan (ARM)
Referee Observer: Eyjólfur Ólafsson (ISL)

Azerbaijan – Norway
Referee: Luca Barbeno (SMR)
Assistant Referee 1: Francesco Lunardon (SMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Salvatore Tuttifrutti (SMR)
Fourth Official: Michele Scarpino (SMR)
Referee Observer: Marcel Vanelshocht (BEL)

Hungary – Belgium
Referee: Tiago Martins (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Luís Campos (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Pedro Almeida (POR)
Fourth Official: Hugo Miguel (POR)
Referee Observer: Jan Wegereef (NED)

Romania – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Referee: François Letexier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cyril Mugnier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mehdi Rahmouni (FRA)
Fourth Official: Thomas Léonard (FRA)
Referee Observer: Leif Sundell (SWE)

Netherlands – Scotland
Referee: Antti Munukka (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jukka Honkanen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Olli Jantunen (FIN)
Fourth Official: Oskari Hämäläinen (FIN)
Referee Observer: Rusmir Mrković (BIH)

Sweden – Turkey
Referee: Sergey Lapochkin (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Anton Averyanov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleksey Shiryayev (RUS)
Fourth Official: Vitaliy Meshkov (RUS)
Referee Observer: Stephen Lodge (ENG)

Switzerland – Liechtenstein
Referee: Yaroslav Kozyk (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Zhukov (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Valentyn Kutsev (UKR)
Fourth Official: Oleksandr Derdo (UKR)
Referee Observer: Niklas Lídarenda (FRO)

Spain – Northern Ireland
Referee: Jonathan Lardot (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Frédéric Godelaine (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Florian Lemaire (BEL)
Fourth Official: Jan Boterberg (BEL)
Referee Observer: Fritz Stuchlik (AUT)

Wales – Portugal
Referee: Mykola Balakin (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Andriy Skrypka (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Serhiy Prystupa (UKR)
Fourth Official: Denys Shurman (UKR)
Referee Observer: Igor Pristovnik (CRO)

Gibraltar – Austria
Referee: Luís Godinho (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Teixeira (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Pedro Ribeiro (POR)
Fourth Official: João Capela (POR)
Referee Observer: Michális Argyroú (CYP)

Montenegro – Bulgaria
Referee: Pavel Orel (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Petr Blažej (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Jiří Kříž (CZE)
Fourth Official: Zbyněk Proske (CZE)
Referee Observer: Ladislav Gádoši (SVK)

France – Luxembourg
Referee: Genc Nuza (KOS)
Assistant Referee 1: Fatlum Berisha (KOS)
Assistant Referee 2: Bujar Selimaj (KOS)
Fourth Official: Visar Kastrati (KOS)
Referee Observer: Vencel Tóth (HUN)

FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2018

Uruguay, 13 November - 1 December 2018

AFC
Referee: Casey Reibelt (AUS, 1988, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Lee Seul Gi (KOR, 1980)
Assistant Referee 2: Troung Thi (VIE, 1984)

Referee: Yoshimi Yamashita (JPN, 1986)
Assistant Referee 1: Naomi Teshirogi (JPN, 1980)
Assistant Referee 2: Makoto Bozono (JPN, 1980)

CAF
Referee: Salima Mukansanga (RWA, 1988)
Assistant Referee 1: Fanta Kone (MLI, 1990)
Assistant Referee 2: Bielignin Some (BFA, 1987)

CONCACAF
Referee: Marie-Soleil Beaudoin (CAN, 1982)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephanie Yee Sing (JAM, 1988)
Assistant Referee 2: Princess Brown (JAM, 1986)

Referee: Ekaterina Koroleva (USA, 1987)
Assistant Referee 1: Felisha Mariscal (USA, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Deleana Quan (USA, 1984)

Referee: Lucila Venegas (MEX, 1981)
Assistant Referee 1: Mayte Chavez (MEX, 1979)
Assistant Referee 2: Enedina Caudillo (MEX, 1984)

CONMEBOL
Referee: Maria Carvajal (CHI, 1983)
Assistant Referee 1: Leslie Vasquez (CHI, 1987)
Assistant Referee 2: Loreto Toloza (CHI, 1984)

Referee: Laura Fortunato (ARG, 1985)
Assistant Referee 1: Mariana Almeida (ARG, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Maria Rocco (ARG, 1979)

Referee: Olga Miranda (PAR, 1982)
Assistant Referee 1: Nilda Gamarra (PAR, 1977)
Assistant Referee 2: Mary Blanco (COL, 1984)

OFC
Referee: Finau Vulivuli (FIJ, 1982)
Assistant Referee: Sarah Jones (NZL, 1990)

UEFA
Referee: Riem Hussein (GER, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Kylie Cockburn (SCO, 1988)
Assistant Referee 2: Mihaela Tepusa (ROU, 1983)

Referee: Katalin Kulcsar (HUN, 1984)
Assistant Referee 1: Katalin Torok (HUN, 1985)
Assistant Referee 2: Lucie Ratajova (CZE, 1979)

Referee: Monika Mularczyk (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolet Bakker (NED, 1984)
Assistant Referee 2: Lisa Rashid (ENG, 1987)

Referee: Sara Persson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Julia Magnusson (SWE, 1985)
Assistant Referee 2: Maria Sukenikova (SVK, 1975)

Referee: Anastasia Pustovoitova (RUS, 1981)
Assistant Referee 1: Ekaterina Kurochkina (RUS, 1986)
Assistant Referee 2: Oleksandra Ardasheva (UKR, 1987)

Assistant Referee: Rocio Puente Pino (ESP, 1983)

Referee Espinoza received death threats in Peru

"They told me that I will not escape alive if Comerciantes Unidos will lose the game", confessed referee Michael Espinoza, who suspended the match between Comerciantes Unidos and Ayacucho FC.

Details of the aggression suffered by Michael Espinoza that forced him to suspend the game between Comerciantes Unidos and Ayacucho FC were revealed. The referee told RPP that he was threatened with death by two individuals who faced him in the dressing rooms of the Carlos Olivares de Guadalupe stadium. "It was the first time it happened to me. While going out from the dressing room to start the second half, a person approached me, blocked my way and threatened me. He told me that I will not escape alive if Comerciantes Unidos will lose the game”, said Espinoza. The referee pointed out that the match commissioner, Alberto Castillo, as well as the president of Comerciantes Unidos, Aníbal Pedraza, asked him to continue with the match despite what happened: "The president of the local club came to my dressing room to ask that the game be resumed. Then, within minutes, the match commissioner tried to persuade me to continue, but physically and psychologically I did not feel well. Nor were the conditions for my referee team to return to the field". Finally, Michael Espinoza said he regrets what happened as "it is an unfortunate event for our football and its image around the world".

The Discipline Committee of the FPF has not yet ruled on the outcome of the match or on the sanctions that will be applied. The Head of the National Referees Committee (CONAR), Henry Gambetta, said: "Michael told me that when he left the dressing room to go to the field and start the second half, a person blocked him by stopping in front of him and did not let him pass, while another person assaulted him from behind, so he had to take refuge in the dressing room. The first person showed him the handle of a gun", said Gambetta, which complicates the situation by adding the ingredient of a firearm. He also blamed the organizers of the event, Comerciantes Unidos, for the unfortunate event. "What is strange is that it was a game behind closed doors and these things happened; the people in charge are the organizers, in this case Comerciantes Unidos", he said. "The only people authorized to be in the stadium were the players, managers, referees, the match commissioner and the press. Definitely the people who have attacked the referee have a connection with the team”, he added. On the other hand, the president of the Association of Professional Referees, Miguel Santiváñez, did not remain aloof from the situation and informed that one of the aggressors have already been identified. "It has been possible to investigate the information and the name of the person has been found. I do not know if he is linked to Comerciantes Unidos, but I have been told that he has been followed-up through social networks", Santiváñez said. At the time when this event occurred, Comerciantes Unidos was losing 2-0 against Ayacucho FC. Both teams are in the relegation zone. 

Source: RPP, La Republica

UEFA Nations League – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

6-8 September 2018

League A
Germany – France
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabiano Preti (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Marco Guida (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Daniele Doveri (ITA)
Fourth Official: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)

Italy – Poland
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Additional AR 1: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
Fourth Official: Markus Häcker (GER)
Referee Observer: Stefan Messner (AUT)

Switzerland – Iceland
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Bennett (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Fourth Official: Stephen Child (ENG)
Referee Observer: Nikolai Levnikov (RUS)

England – Spain
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Mario Diks (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Hessel Steegstra (NED)
Additional AR 1: Kevin Blom (NED)
Additional AR 2: Jochem Kamphuis (NED)
Fourth Official: Rob van de Ven (NED)
Referee Observer: Ichko Lozev (BUL)

League B
Czech Republic – Ukraine
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Nunn (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Paul Tierney (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Fourth Official: Lee Betts (ENG)
Referee Observer: Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE)

Wales – Ireland
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: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)
Fourth Official: Hicham Zakrani (FRA)
Referee Observer: Hans Reijgwart (NED)

Turkey – Russia
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Tavares (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Santos (POR)
Additional AR 1: Tiago Martins (POR)
Additional AR 2: João Pinheiro (POR)
Fourth Official: Bruno Campos (POR)
Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)

Northern Ireland – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Referee: Pavel Královec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivo Nádvorník (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Kamil Hájek (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Karel Hrubeš (CZE)
Fourth Official: Jakub Hrabovský (CZE)
Referee Observer: Manuel Díaz Vega (ESP)

League C
Slovenia – Bulgaria
Referee: Davide Massa (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Filippo Meli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Tegoni (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Michael Fabbri (ITA)
Fourth Official: Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)
Referee Observer: Emil Božinovski (MKD)

Norway – Cyprus
Referee: István Kovács (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Ovidiu Artene (ROU)
Additional AR 1: Marius Avram (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Horatiu Fesnic (ROU)
Fourth Official: Alexandru Cerei (ROU)
Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)

Albania – Israel
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: György Ring (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Tóth (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Tamás Bognár (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Sándor Andó-Szabó (HUN)
Fourth Official: Péter Berettyán (HUN)
Referee Observer: Rodger Gifford (WAL)

Romania – Montenegro
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomáš Somoláni (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Branislav Hancko (SVK)
Additional AR 1: Filip Glova (SVK)
Additional AR 2: Michal Očenáš (SVK)
Fourth Official: Tomáš Mókoš (SVK)
Referee Observer: Matteo Trefoloni (ITA)

Lithuania – Serbia
Referee: Robert Madden (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Douglas Ross (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Francis Connor (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Donald Robertson (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Steven McLean (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alastair Mather (SCO)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

Finland – Hungary
Referee: Gediminas Mažeika (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vytautas Šimkus (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vytenis Kazlauskas (LTU)
Additional AR 1: Manfredas Lukjančukas (LTU)
Additional AR 2: Robertas Valikonis (LTU)
Fourth Official: Vytis Snarskis (LTU)
Referee Observer: Domenico Messina (ITA)

Estonia – Greece
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Davie Goossens (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Schaap (NED)
Additional AR 1: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Additional AR 2: Jeroen Manschot (NED)
Fourth Official: Jan de Vries (NED)
Referee Observer: Haim Jakov (ISR)

League D
Kazakhstan – Georgia
Referee: Halil Umut Meler (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Cevdet Komurcuoglu (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Barış Şimşek (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Ümit Öztürk (TUR)
Fourth Official: Ceyhun Sesigüzel (TUR)
Referee Observer: Patrick Kelly (IRL)

Armenia – Liechtenstein
Referee: Enea Jorgji (ALB)
Assistant Referee 1: Ridiger Çokaj (ALB)
Assistant Referee 2: Ermal Barushi (ALB)
Additional AR 1: Juxhin Xhaja (ALB)
Additional AR 2: Kridens Meta (ALB)
Fourth Official: Denis Rexha (ALB)
Referee Observer: Alieh Čykun (BLR)

Latvia – Andorra
Referee: Keith Kennedy (NIR)
Assistant Referee 1: Paul Robinson (NIR)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Donaldson (NIR)
Additional AR 1: Ian McNabb (NIR)
Additional AR 2: Tim Marshall (NIR)
Fourth Official: Stephen Bell (NIR)
Referee Observer: Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL)

Gibraltar – FYR Macedonia
Referee: Jens Maae (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Lars Hummelgaard (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesper Dahl (DEN)
Additional AR 1: Jørgen Burchardt (DEN)
Additional AR 2: Morten Krogh (DEN)
Fourth Official: Niels Hoeg (DEN)
Referee Observer: Thomas Einwaller (AUT)

Azerbaijan – Kosovo
Referee: Ola Hobber Nilsen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Tom Harald Grønevik (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Geir Oskar Isaksen (NOR)
Additional AR 1: Espen Andreas Eskås (NOR)
Additional AR 2: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Øystein Simon Ytterland (NOR)
Referee Observer: Lucílio Batista (POR)

Faroe Islands – Malta
Referee: Ville Nevalainen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Peter Aravirta (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mika Lamppu (FIN)
Additional AR 1: Petri Viljanen (FIN)
Additional AR 2: Dennis Antamo (FIN)
Fourth Official: Jukka Honkanen (FIN)
Referee Observer: Johan Verbist (BEL)

Belarus – San Marino
Referee: Sandro Schärer (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Stéphane De Almeida (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Bekim Zogaj (SUI)
Additional AR 1: Alain Bieri (SUI)
Additional AR 2: Lukas Fähndrich (SUI)
Fourth Official: Raffael Zeder (SUI)
Referee Observer: Milan Karadžić (SRB)

Luxembourg – Moldova
Referee: Robert Harvey (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Robert Clarke (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wayne McDonnell (IRL)
Additional AR 1: Neil Doyle (IRL)
Additional AR 2: Paul McLaughlin (IRL)
Fourth Official: Allen Lynch (IRL)
Referee Observer: Erol Ersoy (TUR)

Referees suspended in Greece

The Greek Referees Committee evaluated the performance of the referees of the first two matchdays of the Super League played between 25 August and 3 September 2018. In addition to the positive performances, unfortunately there have been some inadequate performance levels that caused the extreme disappointment of the Central Referees Committee.

There have been serious efforts and investments by KED and the Hellenic Football Federation during the pre-season seminar for the referees and assistant referees of the Super League, including theoretical and practical sessions, fitness tests and many other specialized know-how parameters, directly related to the demand for top level refereeing. Performance that is not responsive to this high level preparation is not acceptable and will not be tolerated by the Referees Committee. In this spirit, various measures have been taken concerning match officials. An assistant referee has been removed from the appointments and the decision is immediately applicable until further evaluation, while the duration of the suspension of three other referees will be evaluated within days. Other strictly internal measures are also taken.

The Hellenic Football Federation will never change their strategy and will never stop reforming the refereeing, serving the interest of football in Greece. Of course, the results cannot be achieved in a short time, but the HFF has the full support of FIFA and UEFA for the continuation of the whole process. In this climate, the detrimental comments, beyond any limit, by some representatives of certain clubs that interfere with the absolute autonomy and independence of refereeing are unacceptable. Under these circumstances, the Referees Committee asked the Hellenic Football Federation to take further action to stop unnecessary tensions and protect football.

Source: EPO

UEFA Futsal Champions League – Preliminary Round

28 August – 2 September 2018

Group A, Mostar (BIH)
1. Viktor Bugenko (MDA)
2. Michalis Christofides (CYP)
3. Ramil Namazov (AZE)
4. Norbert Szilágyi (HUN)

Group B, Wiener Neustadt (AUT)
1. Antonios Adamopoulos (GRE)
2. Vedran Babic (CRO)
3. Gordon McCabe (SCO)
4. Peter Nurse (ENG, photo)

Group C, Udevalla (SWE)
1. Kaloyan Kirilov (BUL)
2. Talgat Kosmukhambetov (KAZ)
3. Jan Kresta (CZE)
4. David Urdanoz (ESP)

Group D, Hohenstein (GER)
1. Ruben Guerreiro (POR)
2. Igor Puzović (BIH)
3. Omar Rafiq (NOR)
4. Slawomir Steczko (POL)

Group E, Skopje (MKD)
1. Alem Bajrovic (BIH)
2. Besar Beqiri (KOS)
3. Fredric Nilholt (SWE)
4. Dejan Veselic (SVN)

Group F, Jonava (LTU)
1. Ovidiu Curta (ROU)
2. Hennadiy Hora (UKR)
3. Grigori Ošomkov (EST)
4. Marco Rothenfluh (SUI)

Group G, Bielsko Biala (POL)
1. Shota Kukhilava (GEO)
2. Daniel Matkovic (SUI)
3. Sarunas Tamulynas (LTU)
4. Aurélien Uzan (FRA)

Group H, Timisoara (ROU)
1. Ingo Heemsoth (GER)
2. Dario Pezzuto (ITA)
3. Lars Van Leeuwen (NED)

Group I, Ciorescu (MDA)
1. Raafat Al Hamola (ISR)
2. Daniele D'Adamo (SMR)
3. Kirill Naishouler (FIN)