UEFA has selected Mallorca to host the 28th Advanced Course for Top Referees in January 2020. The annual course will see the top male and female referees from across Europe perform physical and theoretical tests for five days of intensive training. Held at the end of January, the event takes place just weeks before the playoffs for the Champions and Europa League. During the new edition of the advanced course, there will be a strong focus on Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology, which aims to assist referees in their determination on whether there is an infringement in goals scored. Encouraging referees to maintain their consistently high standards, the course also serves as an introduction for those that have recently obtained their international accreditation. Representatives of UEFA have also revealed their intentions to hold the course at the Ciudad Deportiva Antonio Asensio, the training ground and academy base of Real Mallorca football club. This is the second time in recent years that UEFA has chosen Spain as the destination for the annual course, which was hosted in Malaga in 2017. “It’s a very important season for our referees, especially in view of the run-up to the Euro 2020”, explained UEFA Referees Chairman, Roberto Rosetti, adding that the course is “centred on ensuring that there is consistency and uniformity in referees’ decision-making in UEFA’s competitions”. (Source: EuroWeeklyNews)
Men Elite
Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR), Pavel Kralovec (CZE), Michael Oliver (ENG), Anthony Taylor (ENG), Orel Grinfeeld (ISR), Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP), Jesus Gil Manzano (ESP), Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP), Benoit Bastien (FRA), Clement Turpin (FRA), Deniz Aytekin (GER), Felix Brych (GER), Felix Zwayer (GER), Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE), Daniele Orsato (ITA), Björn Kuipers (NED), Danny Makkelie (NED), Szymon Marciniak (POL), Artur Soares Dias (POR), Ovidiu Hategan (ROU), Istvan Kovacs (ROU), Sergei Karasev (RUS), William Collum (SCO), Ivan Kruzliak (SVK), Damir Skomina (SVN), Slavko Vincic (SVN), Cüneyt Cakir (TUR).
Women Elite
Ivana Martincic (CRO), Jana Adamkova (CZE), Olga Zadinova (CZE), Lina Lehtovaara (FIN), Stephanie Frappart (FRA), Florence Guillemin (FRA), Riem Hussein (GER), Bibiana Steinhaus (GER), Katalin Kulcsar (HUN), Sandra Braz Bastos (POR), Anastasia Pustovoitova (RUS), Lorraine Watson (SCO), Esther Staubli (SUI), Pernilla Larsson (SWE), Sara Persson (SWE), Kateryna Monzul (UKR).
Men First Category
Georgi Kabakov (BUL), Xavier Estrada Fernández (ESP), José Sánchez Martínez (ESP), Mattias Gestranius (FIN), Ruddy Buquet (FRA), Daniel Siebert (GER), Tobias Stieler (GER), Marco Guida (ITA), Davide Massa (ITA), Gediminas Mažeika (ITA), Andris Treimanis (ITA), Serdar Gözübüyük (NED), Robert Madden (SCO), Srdjan Jovanović (SRB), Andreas Ekberg (SWE), Ali Palabiyik (TUR).
Women First Category
Rebecca Welch (ENG), Eleni Antoniou (GRE), Eszter Urbán (HUN), Elvira Nurmustafina (KAZ), Ivana Projkovska (MKD), Ewa Augustyn (POL), Monika Mularczyk (POL), Silvia Rosa Domingos (POR), Petra Pavlikova (SVK), Marta Frias Acedo (ESP), Marta Huerta de Aza (ESP), Tess Olofsson (SWE), Melis Özçiğdem (TUR), Cheryl Foster (WAL).
Video Assistant Referees
Stuart Attwell (ENG), Christopher Kavanagh (ENG), Craig Pawson (ENG), Paul Tierney (ENG), Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea (ESP), Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP), Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP), Jérôme Brisard (FRA), François Letexier (FRA), Benoît Millot (FRA), Bastian Dankert (GER), Christian Dingert (GER), Sascha Stegemann (GER), Anastasios Papapetrou (GRE), Roi Reinshreiber (ISR), Marco Di Bello (ITA), Michael Fabbri (ITA), Massimiliano Irrati (ITA), Paolo Valeri (ITA), Dennis Higler (NED), Kevin Blom (NED, former FIFA), Bas Nijhuis (NED), Pol van Boekel (NED, former FIFA), Bartosz Frankowski (POL), Pawel Gil (POL), Luis Godinho (POR), Tiago Martins (POR), Joao Pinheiro (POR), Vitali Meshkov (RUS), Mete Kalkavan (TUR).