16-18 July 2019
Chikhura Sachkhere – CS Fola Esch
Referee: Dragan Petrović (BIH, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Sreten Udovičić (BIH)
Assistant Referee 2: Damir Lazić (BIH)
Fourth Official: Zoran Grbić (BIH)
Referee Observer: Mark Whitby (WAL)
FC Banants – FK Čukarički
Referee: Ioánnis Papadópoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Chrysoúla Kourompýlia (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Ilías Alexéas (GRE)
Fourth Official: Vasílios Fotiás (GRE)
Referee Observer: Matteo Trefoloni (ITA)
KÍ Klaksvík – FK Riteriai
Referee: Yaroslav Kozyk (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Valentin Kutsev (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Volodymir Vysotskyy (UKR)
Fourth Official: Anatoli Abdula (UKR)
Referee Observer: Jan Wegereef (NED)
OFK Titograd – CSKA Sofia
Referee: Vasílis Dimitríou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Ioánnis Lazárou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Stélios Nikíta (CYP)
Fourth Official: Ioánnis Anastasíou (CYP)
Referee Observer: Karel Bohuněk (CZE)
Makedonija Skopje – Alashkert FC
Referee: Christophe Pires (LUX)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Da Costa (LUX)
Assistant Referee 2: David Santos (LUX)
Fourth Official: Jérémy Muller (LUX)
Referee Observer: Niklas Lídarenda (FRO)
Kayrat Almaty – Široki Brijeg
Referee: Denys Shurman (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Zhukov (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Viktor Matyash (UKR)
Fourth Official: Oleksandr Derdo (UKR)
Referee Observer: Andreas Schluchter (SUI)
KF Teuta – FK Ventspils
Referee: Erez Papir (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Matityahu Yakobov (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Valentyn Kuzhevski (ISR)
Fourth Official: Liran Liany (ISR)
Referee Observer: Michal Beneš (CZE)
Inter Turku – Brøndby IF
Referee: Keith Kennedy (NIR)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Donaldson (NIR)
Assistant Referee 2: Georgios Argyropoulos (NIR)
Fourth Official: Evan Boyce (NIR)
Referee Observer: Ferenc Székely (HUN)
Rīgas Futbola Skola – Olimpija Ljubljana
Referee: Peter Kjaersgaard (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Brixen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Victor Skytte (DEN)
Fourth Official: Jens Maae (DEN)
Referee Observer: Robert Małek (POL)
Levadia Tallinn – Stjarnan
Referee: Besfort Kasumi (KVX)
Assistant Referee 1: Edmond Zeqiri (KVX)
Assistant Referee 2: Fatmir Sekiraqa (KVX)
Fourth Official: Mervan Bejtullahu (KVX)
Referee Observer: Igor Șațchii (MDA)
RoPS Rovaniemi – Aberdeen FC
Referee: Ümit Öztürk (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: İbrahim Uyarcan (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Osman Bilir (TUR)
Fourth Official: Koray Gençerler (TUR)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Liba (CZE)
Universitatea Craiova – Sebail PFK
Referee: Helgi Jónasson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 1: Jóhann Gudmundsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 2: Bryngeir Valdimarsson (ISL)
Fourth Official: Ívar Kristjánsson (ISL)
Referee Observer: Murat Ilgaz (TUR)
Levski Sofia – MFK Ružomberok
Referee: Veaceslav Banari (MDA)
Assistant Referee 1: Victor Mardari (MDA)
Assistant Referee 2: Dumitru Ciobanu (MDA)
Fourth Official: Ghenadie Sidenco (MDA)
Referee Observer: Alon Yefet (ISR)
Dynama Minsk – FK Liepaja
Referee: Nicolas Walsh (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Alan Mulvanny (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Calum Spence (SCO)
Fourth Official: Gavin Duncan (SCO)
Referee Observer: Boško Jovanetić (SRB)
FC Vaduz – Breidablik
Referee: Genc Nuza (KVX)
Assistant Referee 1: Fatlum Berisha (KVX)
Assistant Referee 2: Bujar Selimaj (KVX)
Fourth Official: Dardan Çaka (KVX)
Referee Observer: Gevorg Hovhannisyan (ARM)
Torpedo Kutaisi – Ordabasy Shymkent
Referee: Aristotélis Diamantópoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Trýfon Petrópoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Iordánis Aptósoglou (GRE)
Fourth Official: Geórgios Tzováras (GRE)
Referee Observer: Martin Ingvarsson (SWE)
Milsami Orhei – FCSB
Referee: Timótheos Christofí (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pávlos Georgíou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Mários Kalogírou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Kyriákos Christodoúlou (CYP)
Referee Observer: Igor Pristovnik (CRO)
HŠK Zrinjski – Akademija Pandev
Referee: Ondřej Pechanec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Jiří Moláček (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Jakub Hrabovský (CZE)
Fourth Official: Ondřej Berka (CZE)
Referee Observer: Oğuz Sarvan (TUR)
Neftçi PF – Speranța Nisporeni
Referee: Julian Weinberger (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael Nemetz (AUT)
Fourth Official: Andreas Heiss (AUT)
Referee Observer: Albano Janku (ALB)
Žalgiris Vilnius – Budapest Honvéd
Referee: Rohit Saggi (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Morten Jensen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Geir Isaksen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Kristoffer Hagenes (NOR)
Referee Observer: Milan Karadžić (SRB)
Cracovia Kraków – Dunajská Streda
Referee: Athanásios Tzílos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Chasán Koúla (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Ráinhard Boúxbaoum (GRE)
Fourth Official: Ángelos Evangélou (GRE)
Referee Observer: Fritz Stuchlik (AUT)
Apóllon Limassol – Žalgiris Kaunas
Referee: Vladimir Moskalev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Yegor Bolkhovitin (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Vladimir Minevich (RUS)
Fourth Official: Vasiliy Kazartsev (RUS)
Referee Observer: Stefano Podeschi (SMR)
FK Haugesund – Cliftonville FC
Referee: Mario Zebec (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Borut Križarić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Jerko Crnčić (CRO)
Fourth Official: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)
Petrocub Hîncești – AEK Larnaca
Referee: Novak Simović (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Bojan Banović (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Miloš Miškeljin (SRB)
Fourth Official: Momčilo Marković (SRB)
Referee Observer: Michel Piraux (BEL)
Progrès Niederkorn – Cork City FC
Referee: Matthew De Gabriele (MLT)
Assistant Referee 1: Jurgen Spiteri (MLT)
Assistant Referee 2: Mitchell Scerri (MLT)
Fourth Official: Emanuel Grech (MLT)
Referee Observer: Vencel Tóth (HUN)
UE Engordany – Dinamo Tbilisi
Referee: Balázs Berke (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Péter Kóbor (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gergő Vígh-Tarsonyi (HUN)
Fourth Official: Csaba Pintér (HUN)
Referee Observer: Goran Mihaljević (MNE)
Hapoel Beer Sheva – KF Laçi
Referee: Tihomir Pejin (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Marjan Tomas (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Kruno Šarić (CRO)
Fourth Official: Dario Bel (CRO)
Referee Observer: Ladislav Gádoši (SVK)
Hajduk Split – Gżira United
Referee: Nikólas Neokléous (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Michális Sotiríou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Mários Dimitriádis (CYP)
Fourth Official: Chrysovalándis Theoúli (CYP)
Referee Observer: Martin Hansson (SWE)
NŠ Mura – Maccabi Haifa
Referee: Tomasz Musial (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Radoslaw Siejka (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Jakub Ślusarski (POL)
Fourth Official: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
Referee Observer: Plarent Kotherja (ALB)
FK Kukësi – Debreceni VSC
Referee: Stanislav Todorov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Georgi Doinov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleksandar Atanasov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Dragomir Draganov (BUL)
Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)
B36 Tórshavn – Crusaders FC
Referee: Milovan Milačić (MNE)
Assistant Referee 1: Milutin Djukić (MNE)
Assistant Referee 2: Vladan Todorović (MNE)
Fourth Official: Predrag Radovanović (MNE)
Referee Observer: Gylfi Orrason (ISL)
MOL Fehérvár – FK Zeta
Referee: Paul McLaughlin (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Robert Clarke (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Emmett Dynan (IRL)
Fourth Official: Graham Kelly (IRL)
Referee Observer: Sergei Zuev (RUS)
Hibernians FC – Šachcior Salihorsk
Referee: Furkat Atazhanov (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 1: Yevgeniy Belskiy (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 2: Denis Labashov (KAZ)
Fourth Official: Zhandos Abzhan (KAZ)
Referee Observer: Robert Sedlacek (AUT)
IFK Norrköping – Saint Patrick's FC
Referee: Dejan Jakimovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikola Karakolev (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Kuštrim Lika (MKD)
Fourth Official: Nikola Kostenčev (MKD)
Referee Observer: Asim Xudiyev (AZE)
FC Viciebsk – KuPS Kuopio
Referee: Hugo Miguel (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: António Godinho (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Alves (POR)
Fourth Official: Hélder Azevedo (POR)
Referee Observer: Raymond Ellingham (WAL)
FK Škupi – FC Pyunik
Referee: Vitali Romanov (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Andriy Skrypka (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ihor Alokhin (UKR)
Fourth Official: Viktor Kopiyevskyy (UKR)
Referee Observer: Dejan Filipović (SRB)
Ballymena United – Malmö FF
Referee: Kaarlo Hämäläinen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Peter Aravirta (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Sami Nykänen (FIN)
Fourth Official: Mattias Gestranius (FIN)
Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)
Kilmarnock FC – Connah's Quay Nomads
Referee: Ferenc Karakó (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: István Albert (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Balázs Buzás (HUN)
Fourth Official: Sándor Andó-Szabó (HUN)
Referee Observer: Luis Medina Cantalejo (ESP)
Radnički Niš – Flora Tallinn
Referee: Zbyněk Proske (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Petr Caletka (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Radek Kotík (CZE)
Fourth Official: Karel Hrubeš (CZE)
Referee Observer: Pjetur Sigurdsson (ISL)
Rangers FC – St. Joseph's FC
Referee: Christopher Jäger (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Markus Gutschi (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Kühr (AUT)
Fourth Official: Stefan Ebner (AUT)
Referee Observer: Manuel López Fernández (ESP)
Spartak Trnava – Radnik Bijeljina
Referee: Rahim Hasanov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Namiq Hüseynov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mübariz Haşımov (AZE)
Fourth Official: Elçin Masiyev (AZE)
Referee Observer: Paulius Malžinskas (LTU)
NK Domžale – Balzan FC
Referee: Marcel Bîrsan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Radu Ghinguleac (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Cristian Orbuleț (ROU)
Fourth Official: Radu Petrescu (ROU)
Referee Observer: Michális Argyroú (CYP)
Budućnost Podgorica – Narva Trans
Referee: Stefan Apostolov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Venev (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Miroslav Maksimov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Ivailo Stoyanov (BUL)
Referee Observer: Alfredo Trentalange (ITA)
Shamrock Rovers – SK Brann
Referee: Kári Jóannesarson (FRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Christiansen (FRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan Hermansen (FRO)
Fourth Official: Alex Troleis (FRO)
Referee Observer: Ján Fašung (SVK)
Legia Warszawa – Europa FC
Referee: Robert Jenkins (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Lewiss Edwards (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: Johnathon Bryant (WAL)
Fourth Official: David Morgan (WAL)
Referee Observer: Yuri Baskakov (RUS)
KR Reykjavík – Molde FK
Referee: Ian McNabb (NIR)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Bell (NIR)
Assistant Referee 2: David Anderson (NIR)
Fourth Official: Shane Andrews (NIR)
Referee Observer: Draženko Kovačić (CRO)
30 July – 1 August 2019
30-31 July 2019
Fluminense – Penarol
24 July 2019
23-24 July 2019
The organisation had announced, through its social media platforms, that South African referee Victor Gomes was to take charge of the final between Algeria’s Les Verts (The Greens) and Senegal’s Lions of Teranga. But CAF appeared to make a sudden volte-face and appointed Cameroonian Alioum Alioum. When CAF President Ahmad was asked, at Thursday’s press conference, why a sudden change was made to the referee for the final, the Malagasy did not give an understandable answer. However, Souleyman Waberi, chairman of CAF’s Referees’ Commission, told Insideworldfootball that Gomes was never appointed in the first place and that the announcement on CAF’s social media handles was never authorised by them. “The Referees Commission did not make any appointment of the referee for the final until after the 3rd place match, between Nigeria and Tunisia. I was very shocked, like anyone else, to see the announcement of Victor Gomes on CAF’s social media handles,” Waberi said. “The moment I saw it, I went to see Anthony Baffoe (CAF’s Deputy General Secretary – Football and Development) and asked him who gave the communications department the right to make such an announcement? He was also surprised about it. We then had to order that those announcements be taken off all CAF social media,” he continued. This type of mistake should never happen. But the announcement of Gomes never came from the Referees Commission. We must improve our communication as an organisation. What happened is not acceptable and people have the right to criticise us for this.” When InsideWorldFootball asked CAF’s Communications Department who ordered the publication of the Gomes appointment, two officials made it clear that their department had nothing to do with the error. “The social media platforms of CAF are not under the authority of the communications department. They are managed by our marketing department,” both people said. Abdel Bah, CAF’s head of marketing, told InsideWorldFootball that a third party organisation, responsible for CAF’s digital communication, during the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations, are responsible for the mistake. “We are using an external company for our social media offerings during this tournament. Unfortunately, those responsible got news, from outside CAF, that Victor Gomes was the referee. They thought that the information officially came from CAF, which they failed to crosscheck. As soon as the Referees’ Commission heard about this, they informed us that the information was not correct and it was taken down,” Bah said.
This is not the first time that there has been controversy over the appointment of referees at the ongoing Cup of Nations. CAF is yet to explain how Gehad Grisha, the Egyptian referee, was included on the Cup of Nations rota, even though he was serving a six-month suspension for “poor performance”, according to the body. Grisha was in charge of proceedings for the 3rd place match between Nigeria’s Super Eagles and Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles, which Nigeria won 1-0. He was originally suspended by CAF after his handling of the first leg of the controversial Champions League final between Morocco’s Wydad Athletic Club (WAC) and Esperance of Tunisia. The Egyptian referee denied, correctly – after a VAR review of both incidents – a penalty and goal to WAC in the course of the Casablanca match. Grisha’s suspension caused a lot of controversy within the African football community, as it was generally judged to be an unfair suspension. But the method of reversal of Grisha’s suspension, not the reversal in itself, is as controversial as the unfair sanctions that were imposed on the Egyptian. CAF, right up to the end of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament, has not issued a statement about why the suspension of Grisha was revoked. It was the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) that strangely announced the revocation, which, in the ordinary course of events, is a serious violation of protocol, as they are a member association of CAF that should wait for CAF’s clear pronouncements on such matters. Officials of CAF, approached by Insideworldfootball, for an explanation of the situation, declined to comment.
20 July 2019
17 July 2018
17 July 2019