Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Knockout Stage

19 October 2011
Sao Paolo – Libertad

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (URU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Pastorino (URU)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Marques (BRA)

Flamengo – Universidad de Chile

Referee: Saul Laverni (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Ariel Bustos (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Fourth Official: Marcelo Henrique (BRA)

Arsenal – Olimpia
Referee: Dario Ubriaco (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Costa (URU)
Fourth Official: Juan Pompei (ARG)

20 October 2011
Velez Sarsfield – Universidad Catolica
Referee: Antonio Arias (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Cesar Franco (PAR)
Fourth Official: Gabriel Favale (ARG)

Universitario – Godoy Cruz
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Camargo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Rafel Rivas (COL)
Fourth Official: Henry Gambetta (PER)

Armenia protest to UEFA over red card in Euro 2012 qualifier

Armenia’s Football Association filed an official protest to UEFA over the refereeing in their Euro 2012 qualifying defeat to Ireland.

Armenia needed to win their final Group B qualifier to finish second and make the play-offs, but lost 2-1 on Tuesday after their goalkeeper Roman Berezovsky was sent off by the Spanish referee Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez after 26 minutes. Berezovsky was dismissed for handball outside his penalty area, but replays clearly showed he chested the ball clear. Replays also showed the referee allowed play to continue after it appeared the Ireland striker Simon Cox did handle the ball moments before Berezovsky was wrongly adjudged to have done so. Iturralde Gonzalez later sent off Ireland's Kevin Doyle after the striker received two yellow cards.

The FA head, Ruben Airapetyan, told reporters that the Armenians want UEFA to cancel Berezovsky's red card rather than punish the referee. Airapetyan dismissed the conspiracy theories of some Armenian fans who suggested UEFA was trying to give Ireland an advantage to balance out the infamous handball by France striker Thierry Henry that cost them the chance of reaching the 2010 World Cup finals. "Trust me, I would never think or believe that it would be possible for UEFA to give such instructions to the referee," Airapetyan said.

Source: The Guardian

De Santis accuses Inter of spying

Former Italian referee Massimo De Santis, who missed the 2006 FIFA World Cup because of the Calciopoli, accused Inter Milano for spying and asked for damages in a history dating back to 2003 called "Telecom Business" by the Italian press, said his lawyer, Paolo Gallinelli.

The claims against Inter were made by former referee Massimo De Santis, who said that in 2002 the club employed a firm to follow him, take photographs of him and tap his phone line.De Santis, according to Mr. Gallinelli, was the victim of a violation of privacy by illegal means, including investigation of his bank accounts ordered by the Inter president, Massimo Moratti, who denied allegations that his club paid a firm of private investigators to spy on one of the referees involved in the Serie A match-fixing scandal. "I can confirm that there have never been instructions to follow anyone", said Moratti. In the same case and for similar facts, former Inter striker Bobo Vieira asked for 21 million euros in damages. Justice has 60 days to convene the two parties for a possible reconciliation, said the lawyer.

For his involvement in Calciopoli, De Santis was removed from the 2006 World Cup list and banned for four years after being found guilty of conspiring to rig Serie A matches in the 2004-2005 season.

Source: Eurosport

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CONCACAF

11 October 2011

Suriname – Dominican Republic

Referee: Paul Ward (CAN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Joe Fletcher (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Darren Clark (CAN)
Fourth Official: Mauricio Navarro (CAN)

Trinidad & Tobago – Barbados
Referee: Raymond Bogle (JAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Morgan (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Garnet Page (JAM)
Fourth Official: Valdin Legister (JAM)

El Salvador – Cayman Islands
Referee: Hugo Cruz Alvarado (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Marvin Ramirez (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Osvaldo Luna (CRC)
Fourth Official: Walter Quesada (CRC)

Bermuda – Guyana
Referee: Rudolph Angela (ARU)
Assistant Referee 1: Egberth Paesch (ARU)
Assistant Referee 2: Oslin Kock (ARU)
Fourth Official: Kevin Morrison (JAM)

Panama – Nicaragua
Referee: Edenilson Ventura (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Hector Recinos (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Mangandi (SLV)
Fourth Official: Walter Lopez (GUA)

Canada – Puerto Rico
Referee: Stanley Lancaster (GUY)
Assistant Referee 1: Dion Inniss (GUY)
Assistant Referee 2: Venton Mars (GUY)
Fourth Official: Otis James (GUY)

St. Kitts & Nevis – Santa Lucia
Referee: Adrian Skeete (BRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Adrian Goddard (BRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Moses (BRB)
Fourth Official: Jeffrey Solis (CRC)

Guatemala – Belize
Referee: Jose Penaloza (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Victor Calderon (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Rangel (MEX)
Fourth Official: Paul Delgadillo (MEX)

Haiti – Curacao
Referee: Leon Clarke (LCA)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Philip (LCA)
Assistant Referee 2: Lewis Francis (LCA)
Fourth Official: Valman Bedeau (GRN)

Antigua & Barbuda – US Virgin Islands
Referee: James Matthew (SKN)
Assistant Referee 1: Graeme Browne (SKN)
Assistant Referee 2: Ike Inniss (SKN)
Fourth Official: Ignatius Baptiste (DMA)

Granada – St. Vincent & Grenadines
Referee: Bryan Willett (ATG)
Assistant Referee 1: Curtis Charles (ATG)
Assistant Referee 2: Audwin Walsh (ATG)
Fourth Official: Mark Young (GUY)

UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers

11 October 2011

Denmark – Portugal
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Luca Maggiani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Fourth Official: Andrea De Marco (ITA)

France – Bosnia
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Francis Andrews (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alan Muir (SCO)

Ireland – Armenia
Referee: Eduardo Iturralde Gonzalez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Perez Del Palomar (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jimenez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Cesar Muniz Fernandez (ESP)

Kazakhstan – Austria 
Referee: Hannes Kaasik (EST)
Assistant Referee 1: Hannes Reinvald (EST)
Assistant Referee 2: Marko Leevand (EST)
Fourth Official: Kristo Tohver (EST)

Germany – Belgium
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andas (NOR)
Fourth Official: Espen Berntsen (NOR)

Turkey – Azerbaijan 
Referee: Peter Rasmussen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Henrik Sonderby (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Niels Hog (DEN)
Fourth Official: Lars Christoffersen (DEN)

Russia – Andorra 
Referee: Eli Hacmon (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Abed Alramili (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Shabtai Nahmias (ISR)
Fourth Official: Menashe Masiah (ISR)

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

Italy – Northern Ireland
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Aguilar Rodriguez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Fernandez Miranda (ESP)
Fourth Official: Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP)

Slovenia – Serbia
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Hermans (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Walter Vromans (BEL)
Fourth Official: Serge Gumienny (BEL)

Albania – Romania
Referee: Gediminas Mazeika (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vytautas Simkus (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Arturas Pipiras (LTU)
Fourth Official: Sergejus Slyva (LTU)

Sweden – Netherlands
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Fourth Official: Huseyin Gocek (TUR)

Hungary – Finland
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Fermin Martinez Ibanez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)
Fourth Official: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)

Moldova – San Marino
Referee: Petur Reinert (FAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Regin Egholm (FAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan Lidarenda (FAR)
Fourth Official: Eiler Rasmussen (FAR)

Croatia – Latvia
Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Annonier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Cano (FRA)
Fourth Official: Said Ennjimi (FRA)

Georgia – Greece
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Fourth Official: Mauro Bergonzi (ITA)

Malta – Israel
Referee: Bruno Duarte Paixao (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Silva Cardinal (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Venancio Batista Tome (POR)
Fourth Official: Joao Lopes Ferreira (POR)

Bulgaria – Wales
Referee: Pawel Gil (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Piotr Sadczuk (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcin Borkowski (POL)
Fourth Official: Marcin Borski (POL)

Switzerland – Montenegro
Referee: Olegario Bartolo Benquerenca (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Cunha Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Joao Ferreira Dos Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Carlos Taborda Xistra (POR)

Norway – Cyprus
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Cryans (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graham Chambers (SCO)
Fourth Official: Robert Madden (SCO)

Spain – Scotland
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Sjoblom (SWE)
Fourth Official: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)

Lithuania – Czech Republic
Referee: David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Cabanero Martinez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – AFC

11 October 2011

Thailand – Saudi Arabia
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdukhamid Rasulov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)
Fourth Official Viktor Serazitdinov (UZB)

Korea DPR – Uzbekistan
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Rasoul Fouroughi (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Alireza Kahouri (IRN)
Fourth Official: Yadollah Jahanbazi (IRN)

Lebanon – Kuwait

Referee: Masaaki Toma (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: Toru Sagara (JPN)
Assistant Referee 2: Haruhiro Otsuka (JPN)
Fourth Official: Ryuji Sato (JPN)

Indonesia – Qatar
Referee: Abdul Malik Bashir (SIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jeffrey Gek Pheng (SIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tzu Lee (SIN)
Fourth Official: Thiam Leow (SIN)

Singapore – Jordan
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)

Australia – Oman
Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Ilyasov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Mamur Saidkasimov (UZB)
Fourth Official: Vladislav Tseytlin (UZB)

Iran – Bahrain
Referee: Peter Green (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Allen (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Hakan Anaz (AUS)
Fourth Official: Strebre Delovski (AUS)

Japan – Tajikistan
Referee: Benjamin Williams (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Cream (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Sabri Mat Daud (MAS)
Fourth Official: Minh Tri Vo (VIE)

Korea Republic – UAE
Referee: Tan Hai (CHN)
Assistant Referee 1: Mu Yuxin (CHN)
Assistant Referee 2: Su Jige (CHN)
Fourth official: Fan Qi (CHN)

China – Iraq
Referee: Saeid Mozaffari (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Hassan Kamranifar (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Davoud Rafatisajedi (IRN)
Fourth Official: Hedayat Mombini (IRN)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CONCACAF

7 October 2011

Cayman Islands – Suriname
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic (USA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Chris Strickland (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Anthony Vasoli (USA)
Fourth Official: Terry Vaughn (USA)

Bermuda – Trinidad & Tobago
Referee: Jeffrey Solis (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Osvaldo Luna (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Octavio Jara (CRC)
Fourth Official: Hector Rodriguez (HON)

Dominican Republic – El Salvador
Referee: Ricardo Cerdas (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Warner Castro (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: David Guzman (NCA)
Fourth Official: David Rubalcaba (CUB)

St. Vincent & Grenadines – Guatemala
Referee: Marcos Brea (CUB)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Rodriguez (CUB)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Castillo (CUB)
Fourth Official: Osiel Nunez (CUB)

Belize – Grenada
Referee: Franklin Jarquin (NCA)
Assistant Referee 1: Keytzel Corrales (NCA)
Assistant Referee 2: William Rocha (NCA)
Fourth Official: Jose Guerrero (NCA)

Barbados – Guyana
Referee: Alain Georges (HAI)
Assistant Referee 1: Patrick Claude (HAI)
Assistant Referee 2: Noel Gubonx (HAI)
Fourth Official: Guidner Edouard (HAI)

US Virgin Islands – Haiti
Referee: Kevile Holder (CAY)
Assistant Referee 1: Dwayne Ebanks (CAY)
Assistant Referee 2: Swason Owen (CAY)
Fourth Official: Kevin Thomas (JAM)

Dominica – Panama
Referee: Enrico Wijngaarde (SUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ramon Louisville (SUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Egbert Paesch (ARU)
Fourth Official: Rudolph Angela (ARU)

Santa Lucia – Canada
Referee: Rolando Vidal (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jaime Smith (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Baines (PAN)
Fourth Official: Roberto Moreno (PAN)

Puerto Rico – St. Kitts & Nevis
Referee: Neal Brizan (TRI)
Assistant Referee 1: Dion Neil (TRI)
Assistant Referee 2: Ainsley Rochard (TRI)
Fourth Official: Lewin Purser (JAM)

Curacao – Antigua & Barbuda
Referee: Oscar Reyna (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cesar Ruano (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Diaz (GUA)
Fourth Official: Otto Barrios (GUA)

UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifiers

7 October 2011

Greece – Croatia

Referee: Howard Webb (ENG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jake Collin (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Dean (ENG)

Slovakia – Russia
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Fourth Official: Markus Strombergsson (SWE)

Azerbaijan – Austria
Referee: Stephan Studer (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Manuel Navarro (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Sandro Pozzi (SUI)
Fourth Official: Alain Bieri (SUI)

Turkey – Germany
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Darren Cann (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Fourth Official: Stuart Attwell (ENG)

Belgium – Kazakhstan
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Radojcic (SRB)
Fourth Official: Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB)

Armenia – Macedonia
Referee: Robert Schorgenhofer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Alain Hoxha (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Roland Brandner (AUT)
Fourth Official: Gerhard Grobelnik (AUT)

Andorra – Ireland
Referee: Libor Kovarik (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Krystof Menkl (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Emil Ubias (CZE)
Fourth Official: Radek Prihoda (CZE)

Serbia – Italy
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 – Estonia
Referee: Manuel Grafe (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Markus Hacker (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Guido Kleve (GER)
Fourth Official: Babak Rafati (GER)

Romania – Belarus
Referee: Alan Kelly (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Damien MacGraith (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marc Douglas (IRL)
Fourth Official: David McKeon (IRL)

Bosnia – Luxembourg
Referee: Simon Lee Evans (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Edward King (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: Alun Boore (WAL)
Fourth Official: Huw Jones (WAL)

France – Albania
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Dimitrios Saraidaris (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Leonidas Vasileiadis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Anastasios Sidiripoulos (GRE)

Finland – Sweden
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Child (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Beck (ENG)
Fourth Official: Andre Marriner (ENG)

Netherlands – Moldova
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrej Kokolj (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Milan Kogej (SVN)
Fourth Official: Slavko Vincic (SVN)

Latvia – Malta
Referee: Richard Trutz (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Roman Slysko (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Erik Weiss (SVK)
Fourth Official: Mario Vlk (SVK)

Wales – Switzerland
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Fourth Official: Richard Liesveld (NED)

Montenegro – England
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER)
Fourth Official: Peter Sippel (GER)

Cyprus – Denmark
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Sinisa Premuzaj (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Zeljko Novosel (CRO)
Fourth Official: Igor Pristovnik (CRO)

Portugal – Iceland
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilco Lobbert (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Berry Simons (NED)
Fourth Official: Pol van Boekel (NED)

Czech Republic – Spain
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cristiano Copelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicola Nicoletti (ITA)
Fourth Official: Paolo Mazzoleni (ITA)

Liechtenstein – Scotland
Referee: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dag Roger Nebben (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Lundberg (NOR)
Fourth Official: Tommy Skjerven (NOR)

Craciunescu returns as Head of the Romanian referees

Former FIFA Referee Ion Craciunescu, 61, will be returning as the chairman of the Romanian Referees Committee for a second period, starting on 13 October 2011.

Craciunescu was voted the world’s second-best referee in 1995, when he refereed the UEFA Champions League Final, Ajax Amsterdam – AC Milan. After his retirement, he became an international referee observer and led the Romanian Referees Committee from 2003 to 2005. The last two chairmen of the committee, Gheorghe Constantin (ex-FIFA Referee) and Vasile Avram (ex-FIFA Assistant Referee) were both accused of corruption and they are currently on trial. They were also accused of nepotism when they put their children on the FIFA List, while leading the Romanian refereeing.

The new chairman, Ion Craciunescu, is considered the most qualified former Romanian international referee to lead the committee and his top priority will be to increase the refereeing budget in order to support various development programs.

Craciunescu was the last Romanian who refereed an European final (1995 UEFA Champions League, Ajax - Milan). In 1993, he had been assigned two Asian World Cup qualifiers, Iran – Iraq and Korea Republic – Korea DPR, with heavy political implications. Although he was trusted to do those matches and managed them without any incidents, he was not selected for the 1994 World Cup because FIFA usually only allocates one spot to Eastern European referees and that one went to Sandor Puhl (HUN), who will have been appointed for the final Brazil – Italy. In 1995, when Craciunescu refereed the third place match at the Confederations Cup, Puhl was rated first and Craciunescu second in the IFFHS ranking, the only time when the top two positions were occupied by Eastern European referees.

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Knockout Stage (First Leg)

5 October 2011

Aurora – Vasco da Gama
Referee: Georges Buckley (PER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Yupanqui (PER)
Fourth Official: Oscar Maldonado (BOL)

Universidad Catolica – Velez Sarsfield
Referee: Dario Ubriaco (URU) 

Assistant Referee 1: Pablo Fandino (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Costa (URU)
Fourth Official: Eduardo Gamboa (CHI)