FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – CAF

11 November 2011

Seychelles – Kenya

Referee: Denis Batte (UGA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Ssonko (UGA)
Assistant Referee 2: Balikoowa Ngobi (UGA)
Fourth Official: Ali Kalyango (UGA)

Sao Tome e Principe – Congo
Referee: Sosthene Ngbokaye (CTA)
Assistant Referee 1: Narcisse Siaka (CTA)
Assistant Referee 2: Yvon Doumana (CTA)
Fourth Official: Arcy Dongombe (CTA)

Djibouti – Namibia
Referee: Tessema Bamlak (ETH)
Assistant Referee 1: Kindie Mussie (ETH)
Assistant Referee 2: Tesfaye Omega (ETH)
Fourth Official: Daniel Fekadu (ETH)

Comoros – Mozambique

Referee: David Jane (LES)
Assistant Referee 1: Osias Koto (LES)
Assistant Referee 2: Lesupi Puputla (LES)
Fourth Official: Sentso Mohau (LES)

Eritrea – Rwanda
Referee: Mahamadou Keita (MLI)
Assistant Referee 1: Balla Diarra (MLI)
Assistant Referee 2: Sambou Bagagah (MLI)
Fourth Official: Boubacar Sidibe (MLI)

Equatorial Guinea – Madagascar
Referee: Eric Otogo-Castane (GAB)
Assistant Referee 1: Theophile Vinga (GAB)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilfried Nziengui (GAB)
Fourth Official: Christian Mouity (GAB)

Chad – Tanzania
Referee: Bunmi Ogunkolade (NGA)
Assistant Referee 1: Tunde Abidoye (NGA)
Assistant Referee 2: Abel Baba (NGA)
Fourth Official: Abubakar Ago (NGA)

Guinea-Bissau – Togo
Referee: Malang Diedhiou (SEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Moussa Diakate (SEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Maguette Ndiaye (SEN)
Fourth Official: Ousseynou Kasse (SEN)

Swaziland – Congo DR
Referee: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Ernest Simwanza (ZAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Romeo Kasengele (ZAM)
Fourth Official: Bernard Chabala (ZAM)

Lesotho – Burundi
Referee: Rainhold Shikongo (NAM)
Assistant Referee 1: David Shaanika (NAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Hifitale Shahungu (NAM)
Fourth Official: Ananias Kangandi (NAM)

Somalia – Ethiopia
Referee: Mohamed Ourouke (DJI)
Assistant Referee 1: Hassan Yacin (DJI)
Assistant Referee 2: Aboubaker Said (DJI)
Fourth Official: Hassan Ali (DJI)

FIFA World Cup 2014 Qualifiers – AFC

11 November 2011

Tajikistan – Japan
Referee: Kim Dong Jin (KOR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jeong Hae Sang (KOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Lee Jungmin (KOR)
Fourth Official: Lee Dong Jun (KOR)

UAE – Korea Republic

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)
Fourth Official: Vladislav Tseytlin (UZB)

Iraq – China 
Referee: Peter Green (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Denis Silk (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohd Tumin (MAS)
Fourth Official: Chaiya Mahapab (THA)

Kuwait – Lebanon
Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Ilyasov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Mamur Saidkasimov (UZB)
Fourth Official: Vadim Agishev (UZB)

Jordan – Singapore
Referee: Benjamin Williams (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Ccream (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Hakan Anaz (AUS)
Fourth Official: Charymurat Kurbanov (TKM)

Uzbekistan – Korea DPR
Referee: Andre El Haddad (LIB)
Assistant Referee 1: Ali Adi (LIB)
Assistant Referee 2: Hadi El Kassar (LIB)
Fourth Official: Radwan Ghandour (LIB)

Oman – Australia
Referee: Ali Abdulnabi (BHR)
Assistant Referee 1: Sayed Mahfoodh (BHR)
Assistant Referee 2: Nawaf Moosa (BHR)
Fourth Official: Yousef Almarzouq (KUW)

Bahrain – Iran
Referee: Abdul Malik Bashir (SIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jeffrey Gek Pheng (SIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohd Mat Daud (MAS)
Fourth Official: Mohd Abdul Wahab (MAS)

Qatar – Indonesia
Referee: Muhsen Basma (SYR)
Assistant Referee 1: Mohammed Al Nahlawi (SYR)
Assistant Referee 2: Yaser Marad (KUW)
Fourth Official: Ali Sabbagh (LIB)

Saudi Arabia – Thailand
Referee: Liu Kwok Man (HKG)
Assistant Referee 1: Chan Shui Hung (HKG)
Assistant Referee 2: Chung Ming Sang (HKG)
Fourth Official: Ng Kai Lam (HKG)

Einwaller to retire from international refereeing

Austrian Thomas Einwaller, 34, has recently announced his early retirement from international refereeing. He is currently classified by UEFA in the Elite Development Category and has refereed at the UEFA European Championship 2006 in Luxembourg, Meridian Cup 2007 in Spain, Olympic Games 2000 in Beijing, as well as the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2009 in Egypt. He was the youngest European referee candidate pre-selected for the FIFA World Cup 2010, but did not make the final list for South Africa.

Thomas Einwaller motivated his early retirement by two reasons: the increased time required for training and also that both his ARs, Roland Heim and Norbert Schwab, will not be available next year due to retirement. However, the fact that another Austrian referee, Robert Schorgenhofer, recently became no. 1 in his country and got significantly more international appointments must have played an important role in Einwaller’s decision to retire at only 34. 

Within the last three years, some well-known World Cup referees shocked the international refereeing by their early retirement: Mark Shield (AUS, 35), Tammy Ogston (AUS, 38), Michael Hester (NZL, 39), Oscar Ruiz (COL, 42). All of them already had at least a World Cup under their belt and were age-eligible for one or more World Cups, but they all cited "other commitments" as the official reason for quitting refereeing so early.

European refereeing mourns death of Giulio Campanati

The world of football, and the refereeing community in particular, have been in mourning since Giulio Campanati, former international referee and member of FIFA’s and UEFA's Referees Committees, passed away at the age of 88.

Campanati took charge of his first Italian Serie A match in 1952 and went on to handle 166 top-flight games until he retired to become a referee administrator in 1966. He had been an international referee from 1956, officiating at the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final second leg between FC Barcelona and Valencia CF in 1962 as well as two European Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, in 1964 and 1966. He was also selected to referee at the Rome Olympic Games in 1960.
“It was with great sadness that I learned of the passing of former FIFA Referees Committee member Giulio Campanati, whom I had the privilege of knowing personally and spending time with on several occasions at meetings, seminars and other FIFA competitions,” said FIFA President Joseph Blatter in a letter of condolence to Giancarlo Abete, his counterpart at the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). “In the name of the wider international football family and on my own behalf, I offer my most heartfelt condolences.”
The Italian referee served on the refereeing bodies at FIFA and UEFA between 1968 and 1990. He officiated in 18 international matches between 1956 and 1966, and was also as President of the Italian Referees Association from 1972 to 1990. “I will always remember Giulio not only as a great referee, a competent and passionate administrator, and a respected match and referee inspector, but also as a man of authority and character who left his mark on Italian refereeing and contributed to the development of refereeing at European and global level,” added the FIFA President. “I would be very grateful if you could communicate all my sympathy and support to the family and friends of Giulio Campanati during this time of great sadness.”
Giulio Campanati was awarded the UEFA Order of Merit in Ruby in 2000.

Source: FIFA

Copa Sudamericana 2011 – Quarter-finals (Second Leg)

9 November 2011
Vasco da Gama – Universitario

Referee: Carlos Amarilla (PAR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Cesar Franco (PAR)
Fourth Official: Julio Quintana (PAR)

10 November 2011
Velez Sarsfield – Independiente Santa Fe

Referee: Enrique Osses (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Mondria (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
Fourth Official: Patricio Polic (CHI)

CAF Champions League Final 2011

First Leg, 6 November 2011
Wydad Casablanca – Esperance Tunis
Referee: Neant Alioum (CMR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Evarist Menkouande (CMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Yanoussa Moussa (CMR)

Second Leg, 13 November 2011
Esperance Tunis – Wydad Casablanca
Referee: Noumandiez Doue (CIV)
Assistant Referee 1: Songuifolo Yeo (CIV)
Assistant Referee 2: Djibril Camara (SEN)

AFC Champions League Final 2011

5 November 2011

Jeonbuk Hyundai – Al Sadd
Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB, photo)
Asistant Referee 1: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)

FIFA Club World Cup 2011

Japan, 8-18 December 2011

                                        AFC

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB, 1977)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdukhamidullo Rasulov (UZB, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Bahadyr Kochkarov (KGZ, 1970)

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (JPN, 1972, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Toru Sagara (JPN, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Toshiyuki Nagi (JPN, 1971)

                                               CAF

Referee: Noumandiez Doue (CIV, 1970)
Assistant Referee 1: Songuifolo Yeo (CIV, 1970)
Assistant Referee 2: Djibril Camara (SEN, 1983)

CONCACAF

Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV, 1975)
Assistant Referee 1: William Torres (SLV, 1975)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zumba (SLV, 1982)

CONMEBOL

Referee: Enrique Osses (CHI, 1974)
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Mondria (CHI, 1972)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Astroza (CHI, 1976)

OFC

Referee: Peter O'Leary (NZL, 1972)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Hintz (NZL, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Ravinesh Kumar (FIJ, 1982)

UEFA

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA, 1971)
Assistant Referee 1: Renato Faverani (ITA, 1969)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (ITA, 1969)

Romanian FIFA AR abusively removed from an UCL match

Cristian Nica, the best Romanian assistant referee for the last five years, revealed the incredible story of how he was removed from an international match to make room for the former vice-president of the Romanian Referees Committee's son, Sebastian Gheorghe. Recently, another top assistant referee, Adrian Vidan, broke the silence about the dicretionary methods used by the former Referees Committee to push their children onto the FIFA List. Three out of the 10 names proposed by the former committee for the 2012 FIFA AR List are sons of former committee members. If FIFA will allow it, the new Romanian Referees Committee would like to review the nominations for 2012.

- Is it true that you were replaced from an international match in order to make room for the son of the former vice-president of the committee?
- I know what you are referring to. It is true and I can tell you exactly what happened. In the summer of 2010, UEFA notified the Romanian Referees Committee that Cristian Balaj was appointed for a Champions League match, Milan – Auxerre. Under the procedure, Balaj chose his assistants, Zoltan Szekely and me, along with Sebastian Gheorghe, the vice-president’s son, as a back-up if one of us becomes unavailable.
- You did not end up going to that match. Why?
- Because of the former leaders of the committee. I was appointed to the first division match Medias – Timisoara, along with Hategan and Nagy. Guess who was the referee observer? Constantin Gheorghe, who wanted to put his son in the UCL match. A game without any problems for me turned into a tirade by the observer, who blamed me after the match for one hour and a half! I never saw the report of that game, although, according to the regulations, I should have received it. I found out later that I was marked 7.9 or 7.8, which means a low mark, which usually is awarded when there are significant errors, such as red cards not issued or goals mistakenly canceled.
- And what followed?
- After a few days, we had a meeting with all referees. Before entering the room, someone told me: "Be careful that they are very angry with you!" In the meeting, Vasile Avram, the former chairman of the committee said: "You should know that, even when you have a good match, you can receive low marks because of improper behaviour towards the observer. Do you understand, Nica?” At that point, it was clear that they wanted to chop me.
- Why?
- Well, the UCL match Milan – Auxerre was coming and they needed a reason to replace me with Gheorghe. It was the moment when they called referee Balaj and “suggested” him not to take me anymore, but to take instead the vice-president’s son.
- And what did Balaj do?
- He accepted. Later, he confirmed that it was “suggested” to take along Sebastian Gheorghe, as AR, because… I was not in a good shape. The message was clear and Balaj accepted in order to keep his good relations with the committee.
- Did you have other problems because of that?
- People reached their goal, but in the last round I did my first major error after 10 years in the first division. Vasile Avram, who was the chairman at that time, told me: "Mircea Sandu (president of the Romanian Soccer Federation) is very angry with you for what you did, he is really upset”.
- And why you did not go directly to Mircea Sandu?
- That is what I wanted to do, but when I told Avram about my intention, you know what he said? "Keep quiet, Cristian, I will solve that with Mircea Sandu, do not worry!"
- But at that time why you did not not ask for an explanation from the vice-president Constantin Gheorghe
- What could I have asked, "Why did you take me off and put your son in my place?" It would have jeopardized my entire career. I had just been released from an international match, was the message not clear?
- Did you talk to him after the committee was changed?
- No and I do not even want to deal anymore with such people who have suppressed all that is valuable in Romanian refereeing. Career advancement did not consider anymore the value of a referee or assistant, but everything was done to promote the nepotism. In September, a week before he was arrested, Avram and his committee submitted the proposals for the 2012 FIFA AR List. After 5 years at the top, they put me down to no. 4, while Gheorghe jr. was moved to no. 2, although he only got his international badge two years ago. That says everything about their “family business”.
- Did you complain to referee Balaj about his acceptance?
- No, but back then I was angry with him. Later, I forgave him.After Avram and Gheorghe were removed from the committee, I found again the pleasure and motivation to referee.

Source: Gazeta Sporturilor

UEFA Europa League – Group Stage (Matchday 4)

3 November 2011

Rubin – Tottenham

Referee: Florian Meyer (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Holger Henschel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Christoph Bornhorst (GER)
Additional AR 1: Peter Sippel (GER)
Additional AR 2: Markus Wingenbach (GER)
Fourth Official: Babak Rafati (GER)

Shamrock – PAOK

Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitri Zhuk (BLR)
Assistant Referee 2: Stanislau Savitski (BLR)
Additional AR 1: Valery Vialichka (BLR)
Additional AR 2: Sergei Tsinkevich (BLR)
Fourth Official: Dzianjs Shcharbakou (BLR)

Vorksla – Standard
Referee: Libor Kovarik (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Krystof Menkl (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Patrik Filipek (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Radek Prihoda (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Radek Matejek (CZE)
Fourth Official: Tomas Kokourek (CZE)

Kobenhavn – Hannover
Referee: Eric Braamhaar (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Angelo Boonman (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Rob Van de Ven (NED)
Additional AR 1: Serdar Gozobuyuk (NED)
Additional AR 2: Reinold Wiedemeijer (NED)
Fourth Official: Kamphuis Jochem (NED)

Legia – Rapid
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)

Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Sjoblom (SWE)

Additional AR 1: Michael Lerjeus (SWE)

Additional AR 2: Johan Hamlin (SWE)

Fourth Official: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)

PSV – Hapoel
Referee: Stuart Attwell (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Long (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Jones (ENG)

Vaslui – Sporting
Referee: Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 1: Sigurdur Thorleifsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 2: Gunnar Gunnarsson (ISL)
Additional AR 1: Magnus Thorisson (ISL)
Additional AR 2: Thorvaldur Hjaltalin (ISL)
Fourth Official: Erlendur Eiriksson (ISL)

Lazio – Zurich
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Dimitris Saraidaris (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Leonidas Vasileiadis (GRE)
Additional AR 1: Anastassios Kakos (GRE)
Additional AR 2: Stavros Tritsonis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE)

Maccabi Tel Aviv – Stoke
Referee: Duarte Gomes (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Joao Santos (POR)

Assistant Referee 2: Venancio Tome (POR)

Additional AR 1: Carlos Xistra (POR)

Additional AR 2: Paulo Batista (POR)

Fourth Official: Marco Ferreira (POR)

Besiktas – Dynamo Kyiv
Referee: Tommy Skjerven (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Geir Age Holen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Steinar Holvik (NOR)
Additional AR 1: Brage Sandmoen (NOR)
Additional AR 2: Anders Johansen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Trond Doyle (NOR)

Salzburg – Athletic
Referee: Stanislav Todorov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolai Angelov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Ventsislav Gavrilov (BUL)
Additional AR 1: Nikolai Yordanov (BUL)
Additional AR 2: Georgi Yordanov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Anton Genov (BUL)

PSG – Slovan
Referee: Marc Courtney (NIR)
Assistant Referee 1: Eamon Shanks (NIR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paul Munn (NIR)
Additional AR 1: Mervyn Smyth (NIR)
Additional AR 2: Raymond Crangle (NIR)
Fourth Official: Arnold Hunter (NIR)

Metalist – Malmo
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Zunic (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gregor Rojko (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Slavko Vincic (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Davor Drecnik (SVN)
Fourth Official: Mitja Zganec (SVN)

Austria Vienna – Alkmaar
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA)

Assistant Referee 2: Fredji Harchay (FRA)

Additional AR 1: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)

Additional AR 2: Wilfried Bien (FRA)

Fourth Official: Pascal Vileo (FRA)

Braga – Maribor
Referee: Leontios Trattou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Soteriou (CYP)

Assistant Referee 2: Charalambos Charalambos (CYP)

Additional AR 1: Marios Panayi (CYP)

Additional AR 2: Marios Stamatis (CYP)

Fourth Official: Marios Tsaggaris (CYP)

Birmingham – FC Brugge
Referee: Marcin Borski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafal Rostkowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Additional AR 1: Dawid Piasecki (POL)
Additional AR 2: Daniel Stefanski (POL)
Fourth Official: Tomasz Garbowski (POL)

Celtic – Rennes
Referee: Bruno Paixao (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Sergio Serrao (POR)
Additional AR 1: Bruno Esteves (POR)
Additional AR 2: Vasco Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Rui Silva (POR)

Atletico – Udinese
Referee: Istvan Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Zsolt Szpisjak (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Toth (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Sandor Ando-Szabo (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Adam Nemeth (HUN)
Fourth Official: Roland Veizer (HUN)

Schalke – Larnaca
Referee: Hannes Kaasik (EST)
Assistant Referee 1: Marco Leevand (EST)
Assistant Referee 2: Dmitri Vinogradov (EST)
Additional AR 1: Kristo Tohver (EST)
Additional AR 2: Jan Roos (EST)
Fourth Official: Roomer Tarajev (EST)

Steaua – Maccabi Haifa
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicky Siebert (NED)

Assistant Referee 2: Patrick Langkamp (NED)

Additional AR 1: Danny Makkelie (NED)

Additional AR 2: Ed Janssen (NED)

Fourth Official: Tom van Sichem (NED)

Twente – Odense
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Sovre (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduard Dumitrescu (ROU)
Additional AR1: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Robert Dumitru (ROU)
Fourth Official: Sebastian Coltescu (ROU)

Fulham – Wisla
Referee: Halis Ozkahya (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Baki Akkin (TUR)

Assistant Referee 2: Cem Satman (TUR)

Additional AR 1: Tolga Ozkalfa (TUR)

Additional AR 2: Baris Simsek (TUR)

Fourth Official: Koray Gencerler (TUR)

AEK – Lokomotiv
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Graham Chambers (SCO)

Assistant Referee 2: George Drummond (SCO)

Additional AR 1: Robert Madden (SCO)

Additional AR 2: Stephen O’Reilly (SCO)

Fourth Official: Allan Crawford (SCO)

Anderlecht – Sturm
Referee: Menashe Masiah (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Nissan Davidy (ISR)

Assistant Referee 2: Amihay Mozes (ISR)

Additional AR 1: Eli Hacmon (ISR)

Additional AR 2: Haim Jakov (ISR)

Fourth Official: Shay Shirit (ISR)