Refereeing World

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Round 7

13 September 2011
Equidad – Libertad

Referee: Carlos Vera (ECU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Cedeno (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Luis Alvarado (ECU)
Fourth Official: Adrian Velez (COL)

Ligua de Quito – Trujillanos

Referee: Victor Carrillo (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Cesar Escano (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Fourth Official: Daniel Salazar (ECU)

Universidad de Chile – Nacional
Referee: Paulo Oliveira (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Altemir Hausmann (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Emerson Carvalho (BRA)
Fourth Official: Claudio Puga (CHI)

14 September 2011
Universitario – Anzoategui
Referee: Jose Buitrago (COL)
Assistant Referee 1:Abraham Gonzalez (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Fourth Official: Manuel Garay (PER)

Deportes Iquique – Universidad Catolica
Referee: Eduardo Gamboa (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Julio Diaz (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Sergio Roman (CHI)
Fourth Official: Jorge Osorio (CHI)

15 September 2011
Olimpia – Emelec
Referee: Roberto Silvera (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Pastorino (URU)
Fourth Official: Carlos Amarilla (PAR)

Santafe – Deportivo Cali
Referee: Adrian Velez (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Rivas (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilmar Navarro (COL)
Fourth Official: Wilmar Roldan (COL)

Blatter: Only professionals at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil

FIFA president Sepp Blatter believes referees should be full-time professionals if they want to work at the next World Cup. Blatter told The Associated Press that improving the quality of elite referees is his top priority for the game in the coming months and beyond. "We must do something for the top referees," he added, speaking at a tournament held in his honor by his family's home village in the Swiss Alps. "You can't have non-professional referees in professional football. Only professionals will be taken to Brazil in 2014". Blatter's call for change followed a series of high-profile errors by World Cup referees in South Africa, where just two of the 30 selected for FIFA duty listed refereeing as their full-time job.

"It's a new approach to refereeing at the highest level," Blatter said, adding that younger referees would be preferred. FIFA currently requires match officials to retire at 45. FIFA was already "doing well" in grassroots training, with $43 million budgeted for its global Refereeing Assistance Program before the next World Cup tournament kicks off. "This will go on, but we must do something for the top referees," Blatter said. He is a longtime supporter of referees being more dedicated and better paid, in order to raise standards and lower the risk of them being vulnerable to corruption. FIFA paid referees $50,000 to work in South Africa.
FIFA rewarded the two professionals at the World Cup by assigning Englishman Howard Webb to referee the final, and giving Japan's Yuichi Nishimura duty as fourth official for Spain's 1-0 extra-time victory over the Netherlands. Webb took extended leave from his job as a policeman because England's wealthy Premier League helps fund a roster of professional match officials.

Source: The Associated Press

Damkova, the new boss of Czech referees

Former top female referee Dagmar Damkova has been appointed to head the Czech referee’s committee in a surprise move announced by the national football association’s executive committee on Monday.

The committee cleared out the current members of the committee and tasked Damkova with picking her own team to staff the future committee, the Football Association of the Czech Republic (FACR) said in a statement. The executive committee did not explain the full reason for the red card being given to current committee members, but said Damkova’s new post was logical following her appointment to the UEFA referees’ committee. She became the first woman appointed to the referees’ committee of European football’s governing body (UEFA) in July. The honor followed a pioneering path in Czech football for the 36-year-old woman. She was the first female official to referee a Czech men’s top-flight soccer league game in 2003. The all-male executive committee, which includes former Manchester United midfield star Karel Poborsky, said in a statement that Damkova’s top post in European football had sparked the wholesale changes at home. “When Dagmar Damkova was selected for the UEFA referees’ committee, what’s more as a woman, the time has come for such changes. It is the practice in most countries that a high official in UEFA heads the relevant committee at home,” the deputy chairman of the executive committee, Jindrich Rajchl, explained.

Damkova, who retired from refereeing top games in August, announced on September 3 that she was no longer standing to be head of the Czech football association, on advice from European football’s governing body, UEFA. “The reason was pretty simple. According to the opinion of people in UEFA, a position on the prestigious international referees’ committee could not be combined with the highest post in the national association,” she said, according to the FACR statement. “Because I want to work on UEFA’s referees’ committee, which so far none of us [Czechs] has done, I have decided to withdraw my candidacy to be the chairman of the football association,” Damkova said. The vote for the top job in Czech football takes place at a special meeting of the association in Prague on September 16.

Source: Czech Position

UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers

6 September 2011

Denmark – Norway
Referee: Stephane Lannoy (FRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Eric Dansault (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Cano (FRA)
Fourth Official: Antony Gautier (FRA)

Russia – Ireland
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER)
Fourth Official: Babak Rafati (GER)

Austria – Turkey
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Fermin Martinez Ibanez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)
Fourth Official: David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP)

Macedonia – Andorra

Referee: Mark Whitby (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Philip Thomas (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: John Swindley (WAL)
Fourth Official: Huw Jones (WAL)

Azerbaijan – Kazakhstan
Referee: Anders Hermansen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jakob Bille (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Wulff (DEN)
Fourth Official: Kenn Hansen (DEN)

Slovakia – Armenia
Referee Marcin Borski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafal Rostkowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Fourth Official: Dawid Piasecki (POL)

Serbia – Faroe Islands

Referee: Arman Amirkhanyan (ARM)
Assistant Referee 1: Zaven Hovhannisyan (ARM)
Assistant Referee 2: Erik Arevshatyan (ARM)
Fourth Official: Suren Baliyan (ARM)

Estonia – Northern Ireland

Referee Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Magnus Sjoblom (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Warnmark (SWE)
Fourth Official: Martin Hansson (SWE)

Italy – Slovenia
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Frank Andas (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Kim Haglund (NOR)
Fourth Official: Tommy Skjerven (NOR)

Bosnia – Belarus
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Fourth Official: Andre Marriner (ENG)

Luxembourg – Albania
Referee: Petteri Kari (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Esa Vehvilainen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Jouko Ikonen (FIN)
Fourth Official: Mattias Gestranius (FIN)

Romania – France
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Darren Cann (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jake Collin (ENG)
Fourth Official: Stuart Attwell (ENG)

Finland – Netherlands
Referee: Manuel Grafe (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Markus Hacker (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Fourth Official: Peter Sippel (GER)

Moldova – Hungary
Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomislav Petrovic (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Miro Grgic (CRO)
Fourth Official: Domagoj Vuckov (CRO)

San Marino – Sweden
Referee: Steven McLean (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: William Conquer (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: George Drummond (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alan Muir (SCO)

Croatia – Israel

Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jimenez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)

Latvia – Greece
Referee: Stanislav Todorov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivan Valchev (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Ivo Kolev (BUL)
Fourth Official: Anton Genov (BUL)

Malta – Georgia

Referee: Pol Van Boekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Rob Van Den Ven (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Angelo Boonman (NED)
Fourth Official: Richard Liesveld (NED)

Switzerland – Bulgaria

Referee: Pavel Kralovec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Miroslav Zlamal (CZE)
Fourth Official: Libor Kovarik (CZE)

England – Wales
Referee: Robert Schorgenhofer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Alain Hoxha (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Klaus Strasser (AUT)
Fourth Official: Oliver Drachta (AUT)

Iceland – Cyprus
Referee: Bosko Jovanetic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Vladimir Jovanovic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Goran Kojic (SRB)
Fourth Official: Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB)

Scotland – Lithuania
Referee: Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 1: Johann Gudmundsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 2: Sigurdur Thorleifsson (ISL)
Fourth Official: Magnus Thorisson (ISL)

Spain – Liechtenstein
Referee: Harald Lechner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Norbert Schwab (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Roland Brandner (AUT)
Fourth Official: Rene Eisner (AUT)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CONCACAF

6 September 2011

Barbados – Trinidad & Tobago
Referee: Elmer Bonilla (SLV, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: William Torres (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zumba (SLV)
Fourth Official: Edenilson Ventura (SLV)

Guyana – Bermuda
Referee: Mark Geiger (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Hurd (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Joe Fletcher (CAN)
Fourth Official: Edvin Jurisevic (USA)

Puerto Rico – Canada
Referee: Enrico Wijngaarde (SUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Louisville (SUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Egberth Paesch (ARU)
Fourth Official: Rudolph Angela (ARU)

Dominican Republic – Suriname
Referee: Raul Castro (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Rodas (HON)
Assistant Referee 2: Rafael Beltran (HON)
Fourth Official: Hector Rodriguez (HON)

Cayman Islands – El Salvador
Referee: Elmar Rodas (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Gerson Lopez (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Ronaldo De la Cruz (GUA)
Fourth Official: Jose Molina (GUA)

Nicaragua – Panama
Referee: Oscar Reyna (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cesar Ruano (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Diaz (GUA)
Fourth Official: Otto Barrios (GUA)

St. Lucia – St. Kitts & Nevis
Referee: Kevin Thomas (JAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Keble Williams (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Garnet Page (JAM)
Fourth Official: Courtney Campbell (JAM)

Belize – Guatemala
Referee: Marlon Mejia (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Douglas Bermudez (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Mangandi (SLV)
Fourth Official: Ruben Medrano (SLV)

US Virgin Islands – Antigua & Barbuda
Referee: Stanley Lancaster (GUY)
Assistant Referee 1: Dion Inniss (GUY)
Assistant Referee 2: Venton Mars (GUY)
Fourth Official: Otis James (GUY)

18 September 2011

St. Vincent & Grenadines – Grenada
Referee: Paul Ward (CAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Hector Vergara (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Philippe Briere (CAN)
Fourth Official: David Gantar (CAN)

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Round 6

6 September 2011
Estudiantes – Arsenal
Referee: Pablo Lunati (ARG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Casas (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ernesto Uziga (ARG)
Fourth Official: Saul Laverni (ARG)

7 September 2011
Godoy Cruz – Lanus
Referee: Nestor Pitana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Gustavo Rossi (ARG)
Fourth Official: Diego Abal (ARG)

8 September 2011
Velez – Argentinos Juniors
Referee: Sergio Pezzotta (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Hernan Maidana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Diego Bonfa (ARG)
Fourth Official: Gabriel Favale (ARG)

Universidad Catolica – Deportes Iquique
Referee: Julio Bascunan (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Barraza (CHI)
Fourth Official: Claudio Puga (CHI)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – AFC

6 September 2011

Jordan – China
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdukhamid Rasulov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)
Fourth Official Vladislav Tseytlin (UZB)

Singapore – Iraq
Referee: Minoru Tojo (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: Haruhiro Otsuka (JPN)
Assistant Referee 2: Akane Yagi (JPN)
Fourth Official: Ryuji Sato (JPN)

Lebanon – UAE
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Rasoul Fouroughi (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Alireza Kahouri (IRN)
Fourth Official: Yadollah Jahanbazi (IRN)

Kuwait – Korea Republic
Referee: Mohsen Torky (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Hassan Kamranifar (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Reza Sokhandan (IRN)
Fourth Official: Hedayat Mombini (IRN)

Uzbekistan – Japan
Referee: Khalil Al-Ghamdi (KSA)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdulaziz Al-Kathiri (KSA)
Assistant Referee 2: Badr Al-Shumrani (KSA)
Fourth Official: Marai Al-Awaji (KSA)

Korea DPR – Tajikistan
Referee: Minh Tri Vo (VIE)
Assistant Referee 1: Ngoc Nguyen (VIE)
Assistant Referee 2: Hoang Nguyen (VIE)
Fourth Official: Mohd Wahab (MAS)

Thailand – Oman
Referee: Kim Dong Jin (KOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Jeong Hae Sang (KOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Lee Jungmin (KOR)
Fourth Official: Lee Dong Jun (KOR)

Saudi Arabia – Australia
Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: Toru Sagara (JPN)
Assistant Referee 2: Toshiyuki Nagi (JPN)
Fourth Official: Jumpei Iida (JPN)

Indonesia – Bahrain
Referee: Lee Min Hu (KOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Choi Min Byoung (KOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Kim Young Ha (KOR)
Fourth Official: Ko Hyungjin (KOR)

Qatar – Iran
Referee: Choi Myung Yong (KOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Jang Jun Mo (KOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Yang Byoung Eun (KOR)
Fourth Official: Kim Sang Woo (KOR)

Hester has blown his final whistle

Michael Hester, the first New Zealander to referee a match at the FIFA World Cup, has blown fulltime on his refereeing career. Hester has refereed at the World Cup, Confederations Cup, Club World Cup, Under-17 World Cup and Olympic Games as well many 'A' internationals. But the 39-year-old, whose partner is expecting their first child, has decided he can no longer balance the demands of refereeing and a fulltime career as a supply officer for the Royal New Zealand Navy.

"Refereeing is a hobby I've taken from council grounds to World Cup stadiums and it's been an amazing adventure," Hester said. "But the reality is that it's a hobby that you have to balance with your professional and personal demands. While I've been trying to find a way to stay involved and also work towards the next World Cup in Brazil, or certainly the campaign to be selected, some other challenges in my life mean it's no longer sustainable. I've had to prioritise and unfortunately refereeing has been the thing I've had to sacrifice."

Hester took up the whistle in 2001 and rose rapidly through the ranks before making the international list in 2007. Hester and O'Leary were selected among 30 referees for last year's World Cup, with fellow Kiwis Jan Hintz and Brent Best joining them as assistants in two Oceania trios. Hester refereed the Group B match between Korea Republic and Greece in Bloemfontein. While the memory of that match will live on for Hester, he also lists his initial selection for the Fifa list, refereeing the Wellington Phoenix's match against David Beckham's LA Galaxy, the South Pacific Games final between Fiji and New Caledonia and five games at the 2009 Under-17 World Cup as career highlights. But top of the list for Hester was a crucial 2009 Confederations Cup match between USA and Egypt, when Hester performed with distinction under intense pressure. "That match was probably the most exciting and exhilarating game I've ever been involved in," he said. "There was so much on the line for both teams. Italy were playing Brazil at the same time in the group and it came down to goal difference as to who was going to go through. Even though USA had a 3-0 lead in the last few minutes, one goal for Egypt would have put them through so that match was the most intense I've been involved in. We showed that despite coming from a relatively amateur part the world we could still deliver on the big stage." Hester acknowledges that the expanding use of technology could present a challenge for the Oceania region to keep pace.

Source: NZ Herald

UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers

2 September 2011

Bulgaria – England
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Hermans (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Simons (BEL)
Fourth Official: Christophe Dierick (BEL)

Germany – Austria
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cristiano Copelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Massimiliano Grilli (ITA)
Fourth Official: Mauro Bergonzi (ITA)

Azerbaijan – Belgium
Referee: Lee Probert (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Beck (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: David Richardson (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Dean (ENG)

Turkey – Kazakhstan
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Annonier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Laurent Stien (FRA)
Fourth Official: Olivier Thual (FRA)

Russia – Macedonia
Referee: Bulent Yildirim (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Erdinc Sezertam (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR)
Fourth Official: Tolga Ozkalfa (TUR)

Andorra – Armenia
Referee: Aleksander Kostadinov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Krum Stoilov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Divan Valkov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Angel Angelov (BUL)

Ireland – Slovakia
Referee: Pedro Proenca Oliveira (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Tiago Bolinhas Trigo (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Ferreira Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Joao Santos Capela (POR)

Northern Ireland – Serbia
Referee: Thomas Einwaller (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Fellinger (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Armin Eder (AUT)
Fourth Official: Gerhard Grobelnik (AUT)

Slovenia – Estonia
Referee: Stephan Studer (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Manuel Navarro (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Matthias Arnet (SUI)
Fourth Official: Sascha Kever (SUI)

Faroe Islands – Italy
Referee: Tamas Bognar (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Vencel Toth (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Oszkar Lemon (HUN)
Fourth Official: Istvan Vad (HUN)

Luxembourg – Romania
Referee: Sergey Karasev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolay Golubev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Dmitry Mosyakin (RUS)
Fourth Official: Maksim Layushkin (RUS)

Belarus – Bosnia
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabor Eros (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gyorgy Ring (HUN)
Fourth Official: Mihaly Fabian (HUN)

Albania – France
Referee: Alexei Nikolaev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Tikhon Kalugin (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Anton Averianov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Stanislav Sukhina (RUS)

Finland – Moldova
Referee: Anastasios Kakos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Dimitrios Saraidaris (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Christos Akrivos (GRE)
Fourth Official: Stavros Tritsonis (GRE)

Hungary – Sweden
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Primoz Arhar (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Marko Stancin (SVN)
Fourth Official: Matej Jug (SVN)

Netherlands – San Marino
Referee: Liran Liany (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Shabtai Nahmias (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: David Biton (ISR)
Fourth Official: Alon Yefet (ISR)

Israel – Greece
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Francis Andrews (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
Fourth Official: Steven McLean (SCO)

Georgia – Latvia
Referee: Leontios Trattou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Soteriou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Charalambos Charalambous (CYP)
Fourth Official: Stelios Trifonos (CYP)

Malta – Croatia
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fredji Harchay (FRA)
Fourth Official: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)

Wales – Montenegro
Referee: Luca Banti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Fourth Official: Paolo Valeri (ITA)

Norway – Iceland
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Cristian Nica (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Octavian Sovre (ROU)
Fourth Official: Cristian Balaj (ROU)

Cyprus – Portugal
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Luca Maggiani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
Fourth Official: Andrea De Marco (ITA)

Lithuania – Liechtenstein
Referee: Ken Henry Johnsen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Geir Age Holen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Svein Erik Midthjell (NOR)
Fourth Official: Espen Berntsen (NOR)

Scotland – Czech Republic
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilco Lobbert (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicky Siebert (NED)
Fourth Official: Bas Nijhuis (NED)

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