UEFA Europa League – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

18 September 2014
Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk – Internazionale
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Holger Henschel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Additional AR 1: Bastian Dankert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Fourth Official: Frank Willenborg (GER)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

FC Salzburg – Celtic FC
Referee: Artus Soares (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Tavares (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Alvaro Mesquita (POR)
Additional AR 1: Hugo Miguel (POR)
Additional AR 2: Cosme Machado (POR)
Fourth Official: Bruno Rodrigues (POR)
Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE)

Qarabağ FK – AS Saint-Étienne
Referee: Steven McLean (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Gavin Harris (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Francis Connor (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Brian Colvin (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Andrew Dallas (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
Referee Observer: Gylfi Orrason (ISL)

Borussia Mönchengladbach – Villarreal CF
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Ondrej Brendza (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomáš Vorel (SVK)
Additional AR 1: Vladimir Vnuk (SVK)
Additional AR 2: Jan Válášek (SVK)
Fourth Official: Michal Tomčík (SVK)
Referee Observer: Kaj Østergaard (DEN)

Apollon Limassol – FC Zürich
Referee: Simon Lee Evans (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Philip Thomas (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: Gareth Jones (WAL)
Additional AR 1: Mark Whitby (WAL)
Additional AR 2: Nick Pratt (WAL)
Fourth Official: John Roberts (WAL)
Referee Observer: Marian Ruzbarsky (SVK)

Club Brugge – Torino FC
Referee: Halis Özkahya (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Çem Satman (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Kemal Yilmaz (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Mete Kalkavan (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Tolga Özkalfa (TUR)
Fourth Official: Ekrem Kan (TUR)
Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)

FC København – HJK Helsinki
Referee: Yevhen Aranovskiy (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Korniyko (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Volodymyr Volodin (UKR)
Additional AR 1: Serhiy Boiko (UKR)
Additional AR 2: Anatoliy Abdula (UKR)
Fourth Official: Serhiy Bekker (UKR)
Referee Observer: Mike Riley (ENG)

FK Partizan – Tottenham Hotspur
Referee: Alon Yefet (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Amihay Mozes (ISR) 

Assistant Referee 2: Mahmud Mahagna (ISR)
Additional AR 1: Eli Hacmon (ISR)
Additional AR 2: Ziv Adler (ISR)
Fourth Official: Levy Haluba (ISR)
Referee Observer: Kostadin Gerginov (BUL)

Beşiktaş JK – Asteras Tripolis
Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Ondřej Pelikán (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Jiří Moláček (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Petr Ardeleanu (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Jan Jilek (CZE)
Fourth Official: Krystof Mencl (CZE)
Referee Observer: Matteo Trefoloni (ITA)

Dinamo Zagreb – Astra Giurgiu
Referee: Leontios Trattou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Soteriou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Athinodoros Ioannou (CYP)
Additional AR 1: Christos Nicolaides (CYP)
Additional AR 2: Demetris Masias (CYP)
Fourth Official: Sotiris Viktoros (CYP)
Referee Observer: Dani Koren (ISR)

PSV Eindhoven – Estoril Praia
Referee: Bobby Madden (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Graham Chambers (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Stevenson (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Kevin Clancy (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Donald Robertson (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alastair Mather (SCO)
Referee Observer: László Vagner (HUN)

Panathinaikos – Dinamo Moskva
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alessandro Giallatini (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Davide Massa (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Andrea Gervasoni (ITA)
Fourth Official: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

Standard Liège – HNK Rijeka
Referee: Cristian Balaj (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Ovidiu Artene (ROU)
Additional AR 1: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Ovidiu Haţegan (ROU)
Fourth Official: Octavian Șovre (ROU)
Referee Observer: Costas Kapitanis (CYP)

Sevilla FC – Feyenoord
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Debart (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Benoit Bastien (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Benoît Millot (FRA)
Fourth Official: Laurent Stien (FRA)
Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)

LOSC Lille – FC Krasnodar
Referee: Liran Liany (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Shabtai Nahmias (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Oren Borneshtain (ISR)
Additional AR 1: Orel Grinfeld (ISR)
Additional AR 2: Menashe Masiah (ISR)
Fourth Official: Moshe Bohbot (ISR)
Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU) 

Everton FC – VfL Wolfsburg

Referee: Luca Banti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Marco Guda (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Carmine Russo (ITA)
Fourth Official: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN)

BSC Young Boys – Slovan Bratislava
Referee: Artyom Kuchin (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 1: Evgeni Belski (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 2: Anatoli Hodin (KAZ)
Additional AR 1: Aleksandr Gauzer (KAZ)
Additional AR 2: Denis Izmaylov (KAZ)
Fourth Official: Sergei Vassyutin (KAZ)
Referee Observer: Alfredo Trentalange (ITA)

SSC Napoli – Sparta Praha
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Bas van Dongen (NED)
Additional AR 1: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Additional AR 2: Ed Janssen (NED)
Fourth Official: Mario Diks (NED)
Referee Observer: Sergey Zuev (RUS)

Steaua Bucureşti – Aalborg BK
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolai Golubev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Maksim Gavrilin (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Sergei Ivanov (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Mikhail Vilkov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Valeri Danchenko (RUS)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Vitkovic (CRO)

Rio Ave – Dinamo Kyiv
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mehmet Culum (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Andreas Ekberg (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)
Fourth Official: Magnus Sjöblom (SWE)
Referee Observer: Shmuel Shteif (ISR)

PAOK – Dinamo Minsk
Referee: Mattias Gestranius (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Peter Aravirta (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mikko Alakare (FIN)
Additional AR 1: Antti Munukka (FIN)
Additional AR 2: Dennis Antamo (FIN)
Fourth Official: Matti Heininen (FIN)
Referee Observer: Vasyl Melnychuk (UKR)

AC Fiorentina – EA Guingamp
Referee: Harald Lechner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Alain Hoxha (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Staudinger (AUT)
Additional AR 1: Rene Eisner (AUT)
Additional AR 2: Gerhard Grobelnik (AUT)
Fourth Official: Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Referee Observer: Paul Allaerts (BEL)

Metalist Kharkiv – Trabzonspor
Referee: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dag-Roger Nebben (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan Erik Engan (NOR)
Additional AR 1: Dag Vidar Hafsås (NOR)
Additional AR 2: Ola Hobber Nilsen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Magnus Lundberg (NOR)
Referee Observer: Stephen Bennett (ENG)

Legia Warszawa – KSC Lokeren
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Bennett (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Fourth Official: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Referee Observer: Murat Ilgaz (TUR)

UEFA forced to change referees due to visa problems

Initially appointed for the UEFA Champions League match Chelsea – Schalke, referee Milorad Mazic and his team had some problems in obtaining their British visas. The UK Embassy in Warsaw, in charge of the entire region, kept their passports a day longer, instead of sending the passports back to Serbia on Monday morning, they only did it in the evening, so the passports would not arrive on time. UEFA replaced the Serbian match officials (photo) with the Croatian Ivan Bebek along with his team, who were meant to be on Europa League duty this Thursday. They were also replaced by a Czech referee team led by Ivan Kruzliak. (Source: Daily Mail / bportal.ba)

Last year, a French referee team had problems with their passports, but they managed to sort them out on time. "The CFA, after reviewing the documents, including emails from the Technical Refereeing Department regarding the procedure for obtaining Russian visas, after hearing Nicolas Danos by conference call in his explanations, given the neglect observed in this case not to have sent the passport but simply copying it, considering the consequences of this administrative failure that could have prevented the visa without the intervention of diplomatic authorities, nevertheless that Nicolas Danos tried to limit the effect by providing immediate passport on the first flight and the travel of the French referee quartet finally took place normally. According to Article 39 section 6 of the referee regulations, decided unanimously to suspend Nicolas Danos for 15 days, starting on 3 September 2013." (Source: The Third Team)

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 Qualifiers

17 September 2014

Norway – Netherlands
Referee: Cristina Dorcioman (ROU, photo)

Montenegro – England
Referee: Petra Chudá (SVK)

Turkey – Belarus
Referee: Marianne Svendsen (DEN)

Sweden – Scotland
Referee: Teodora Albon (ROU)

Bulgaria – Hungary
Referee: Sofia Karagiorgi (CYP)

Italy – Macedonia
Referee: Sandra Bastos (POR)

Czech Republic – Spain
Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (FRA)

Romania – Estonia
Referee: Aneliya Sinabova (BUL)

Greece – Albania
Referee: Sabine Bonnin (FRA)

Slovenia – Slovakia
Referee: Dilan Gökçek (TUR)

Ukraine – Wales
Referee: Esther Staubli (SUI)

Malta – Switzerland
Referee: Gordana Kuzmanović (SRB)

Germany – Ireland
Referee: Kateryna Monzul (UKR)

France – Finland
Referee: Karolina Radzik-Johan (POL)

Austria – Kazakhstan
Referee: Mihaela Gurdon-Basimamović (CRO)

Croatia – Russia
Referee: Monika Mularczyk (POL)

Poland – Bosnia
Referee: Amy Rayner (ENG)

Denmark – Israel
Referee: Anastasia Pustovoitova (RUS)

Iceland – Serbia
Referee: Efthalia Mitsi (GRE)

Portugal – Belgium
Referee: Sara Persson (SWE)

Northern Ireland – Faroe Islands
Referee: Lilach Asulin (ISR)

CONCACAF Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 4)

16 September 2014
Portland Timbers – CD Olimpia
Referee: John Pitti (PAN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabriel Victoria (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Baines (PAN)
Fourth Official: Ameth Sanchez (PAN)
Referee Observer: Ronald Gutierrez (CRC)

Waterhouse FC – DC United
Referee: Adrian Skeete (BRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Osvaldo Luna (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Venton Mars (GUY)
Fourth Official: Enrico Wijngaarde (SUR)
Referee Observer: Mirna Guerra (SLV)

Cruz Azul FC – Chorrillo FC
Referee Marlon Mejia (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Douglas Bermudez (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Geovany Garcia (SLV)
Fourth Official: Joel Aguilar (SLV)

Referee Observer: Donald Campos (NCA)

17 September 2014

CSD Municipal – Real Espana

Referee: Valdin Legister (JAM)

Assistant Referee 1: Garnet Page (JAM)

Assistant Referee 2: Caleb Wales (TRI)

Fourth Official: David Gantar (CAN)

Puerto Rico Bayamon – Club America

Referee: Sandy Vazquez (DOM)

Assistant Referee 1: Ronaldo De La Cruz (GUA)

Assistant Referee 2: Rene Ochoa (GUA)

Fourth Official: Erick Andino (HON)

Montreal Impact – New York Red Bulls

Referee: Neal Brizan (TRI)

Assistant Referee 1: Ainsley Rochard (TRI)

Assistant Referee 2: Clifton Games (BRB)

Fourth Official: Javier Santos (PUR)

18 September 2014
Isidro Metapan – Herediano
Referee: Jafeth Perea (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: David Barria (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Lemus (GUA)
Fourth Official: Mario Escobar (GUA)

Sporting Kansas City – Saprissa
Referee: Fernando Guerrero (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Alejandro Ayala (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Hector Delgadillo (MEX)
Fourth Official: Paul Delgadillo (MEX)

Copa Sudamericana – Group Stage (Matchday 5)

16 September 2014
Estudiantes – Gimnasia Esgrima
Referee: Néstor Pitana (ARG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Ernesto Uziga (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Cristian Navarro (ARG)
Fourth Official: Patricio Loustau (ARG)
Referee Observer: Ruben Padilla (ARG)

Independiente de Valle – Cerro Porteño
Referee: José Buitrago (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilson Berrio (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexander Guzman (COL)
Fourth Official: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
Referee Observer: Miguel Erazo (ECU)

Deportivo Capiatá – Caracas
Referee: José Jordan (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilson Arellano (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Javier Bustillos (BOL)
Fourth Official: Ulises Mereles (PAR)
Referee Observer: Manuel Bernal (PAR)

Peñarol – Deportivo Cali
Referee: Roddy Zambrano (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Herrera (ECU)
Fourth Official: Fernando Falce (URU)
Referee Observer: Gustavo Lopez (URU)

17 September 2014
Huachipato – Universidad Católica
Referee: Andrés Cunha (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolás Tarán (URU)
Fourth Official: Roberto Tobar (CHI)
Referee Observer: Iván Guerrero (CHI)

Universitario – César Vallejo
Referee: Pericles Cortez (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Rocha (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabio Pereira (BRA)
Fourth Official: Johnny Cuellar (BOL)
Referee Observer: Óscar Ortubé (BOL)

Libertad – Barcelona
Referee: Marcelo Henrique (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodrigo Pereira (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabricio Vilarinho (BRA)
Fourth Official: Enrique Cáceres (BOL)
Referee Observer: Juan Bernabe (BOL)

River Plate – Godoy Cruz
Referee: Saúl Laverni (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Ariel Scime (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ezequiel Brailovsky (ARG)
Fourth Official: Mauro Vigliano (ARG)
Referee Observer: Luis Pasturenzi (ARG)

18 September 2014
Boca Juniors – Rosario Central
Referee: Diego Abal (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Hernán Maidana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Fourth Official: Silvio Trucco (ARG)
Referee Observer: Juan Crespi (ARG)

Emelec – River Plate
Referee: Julio Bascuñán (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Schiemann (CHI)
Fourth Official: Diego Lara (ECU)
Referee Observer: Juan Cedeño (ECU)

UEFA Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

16 September 2014
Borussia Dortmund – Arsenal FC
Referee: Olegário Benquerença (POR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Nuno Pereira (POR)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Taborda (POR)
Additional AR 2: Marco Ferreira (POR)
Fourth Official: Nélson Moniz (POR)
Referee Observer: Christos Skapoullis (CYP) 

Liverpool FC – Ludogorets
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Bojan Ul (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Mitja Žganec (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Dejan Balažić (SVN)
Fourth Official: Gregor Rojko (SVN)
Referee Observer: Guy Goethals (BEL) 

Olympiacos – Atlético Madrid
Referee: Pedro Proença (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Santos (POR)
Additional AR 1: Manuel De Sousa (POR)
Additional AR 2: João Capela (POR)
Fourth Official: António Godinho (POR)
Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX) 

Juventus Turin – Malmö FF
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Paweł Sokolnicki (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Additional AR 1: Pawel Raczkowski (POL)
Additional AR 2: Tomasz Musial (POL)
Fourth Official: Radoslaw Siejka (POL)
Referee Observer: Stefan Messner (AUT) 

Real Madrid – FC Basel
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Vukan (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Roberto Ponis (SVN)
Fourth Official: Manuel Vidali (SVN)
Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER) 

AS Monaco – Bayer Leverkusen
Referee: Pavel Královec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Roman Slyško (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Radek Příhoda (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Michal Patak (CZE)
Fourth Official: Antonin Kordula (CZE)
Referee Observer: Peter Jones (ENG) 

SL Benfica – Zenit St. Petersburg
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andås (NOR)
Additional AR 1: Ken Henry Johnsen (NOR)
Additional AR 2: Svein-Erik Edvartsen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Sven Erik Midthjell (NOR)
Referee Observer: Manuel Díaz Vega (ESP) 

Galatasaray – RSC Anderlecht
Referee: István Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: István Albert (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Berretyán (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Sandor Ando-Szabo (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Zsolt Szabó (HUN)
Fourth Official: László Viszokai (HUN)
Referee Observer: Alan Snoddy (NIR)  

17 September 2014
FC Bayern München – Manchester City
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jimenez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Javier Estrada Fernandez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Pau Cebrian Devis (ESP)
Referee Observer: Oguz Sarvan (TUR) 

FC Barcelona – Apoel
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Markus Häcker (GER)
Additional AR 1: Christian Dingert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Robert Hartmann (GER)
Fourth Official: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Referee Observer: Alain Hamer (LUX) 

AS Roma – CSKA Moskva
Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabanero Martínez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Fourth Official: José Manuel Miranda (ESP)
Referee Observer: Hans Reijgwaart (NED) 

Ajax Amsterdam – Paris SG
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mike Pickel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Additional AR 1: Manuel Gräfe (GER)
Additional AR 2: Marco Fritz (GER)
Fourth Official: Mark Borsch (GER)
Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT) 

Chelsea – Schalke
Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomislav Petrović (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Miro Grgić (CRO)
Additional AR 1: Ante Vučemilović (CRO)
Additional AR 2: Goran Gabrilo (CRO)
Fourth Official: Dalibor Conjar (CRO)
Referee Observer: Athanassios Briakos (GRE)  

NK Maribor – Sporting
Referee: Clément Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Frédéric Cano (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)
Fourth Official: Michael Annonier (FRA)
Referee Observer: Zbigniew Przesmycki (POL) 

FC Porto – Bate Borisov
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Rob van de Ven (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Schaap (NED)
Additional AR 1: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED)
Additional AR 2: Dennis Higler (NED)
Fourth Official: Davie Goossens (NED)
Referee Observer: Rodger Gifford (WAL) 

Athletic Bilbao – Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Damianos Efthimiadis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Polychronis Kostaras (GRE)
Additional AR 1: Ilias Spathas (GRE)
Additional AR 2: Stavros Tritsonis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Christos Akrivos (GRE)
Referee Observer: Jørn West Larsen (DEN)

Copa Centroamericana Final 2014: Moreno (PAN)

14 September 2014

Final
Costa Rica – Guatemala
Referee: Roberto Moreno (PAN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Williamson (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Keytzel Corrales (NCA)
Fourth Official: Roberto Garcia (MEX)
Reserve AR: Oscar Velasquez (HON)

Match for Third Place
El Salvador – Panama
Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Adam Garner (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Gerson Lopez (GUA)
Fourth Official: Hector Rodriguez (HON)

Match for Fifth Place
Honduras – Nicaragua
Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Zumba (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Leonel Leal (CRC)
Fourth Official: Walter Lopez (GUA)

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 Qualifiers

13 September 2014

Russia – Germany
Referee: Pernilla Larsson (SWE, photo)

Albania – Norway
Referee: Morag Pirie (SCO)

Denmark – Malta
Referee: Ella Martinez (ESP)

Croatia – Slovenia
Referee: Monica Larsen (NOR)

Slovakia – Ireland
Referee: Simona Ghisletta (SUI)

Sweden – Bosnia
Referee: Zuzana Kováčová (SVK)

Romania – Spain
Referee: Linn Andersson (SWE)

Poland – Northern Ireland
Referee: Sharon Sluyts (BEL)

Belgium – Greece
Referee: Yuliya Medvedeva-Keldyusheva (KAZ)

Ukraine – Turkey
Referee: Riem Hussein (GER)

Austria – Hungary
Referee: Olga Zadinová (CZE)

Finland – France
Referee: Bibiana Steinhaus (GER)

Scotland – Faroe Islands
Referee: Séverine Zinck (FRA)

Iceland – Israel
Referee: Gyöngyi Gaál (HUN)

Netherlands – Portugal
Referee: Jana Adámková (CZE)

Italy – Estonia
Referee: Katalin Kulcsár (HUN)

Kelly aiming for World Cup spot

Irish referee Alan Kelly planned to use his experience in the MLS in America to try and secure a FIFA appointment to the next World Cup tournament in Russia in 2018. Former FIFA and UEFA ranked Kelly took up a new and exciting challenge as a referee and development training officer based in Boston and admits it was a job offer he just could not refuse.

“Basically it’s a two-fold role – one is the actual refereeing in the MLS and the other is a coaching/training and development role for younger referees. The refereeing side of it is the main part and the coaching is a bit of a side issue but, at the same time, it’s important and it’s really interesting,” said Kelly. “The way things have panned out I will be refereeing in the MLS virtually straight away with pre-season games and then I will have a few MLS reserve division games and get involved as the fourth official just to get familiar with the league, the players and the culture,” he explained. “I am well prepared and ready to step into the MLS set up and I am looking forward to it now. My FIFA badge and ranking is recognised in America too and I’d hope to get a few more international fixtures down the road“, said Kelly whose new job commands a salary in the region of £130,000 per annum. Kelly added: “My plan is to go out and referee in the first season – set a standard and establish myself – and hopefully then when it comes to the international side of it that they see enough in me to nominate me again for a FIFA badge and I can go again. “That will open up more doors for me in terms of international football on that side of the world and I have to admit that I have half an eye on the World Cup finals in Russia. I think if I can establish myself in America, I will have a better opportunity of getting to Russia in 2018 than I probably would have in Ireland with UEFA”, he added. “That’s the long-term goal to officiate at World Cup finals. I am 38 now and with the retirement age set at 45 that could be my swan song”, he said.

Source: Evening Echo

Boyce against Blatter's plan to allow challenges to referee decisions

FIFA vice-president and Chairman of the Referees Committee, Jim Boyce does not agree with Sepp Blatter's plan to allow video replays for managers to challenge refereeing decisions during a game. Blatter, president of world football’s governing body, revealed that a TV replay system may be trialled at next year's FIFA U-20 World Cup that would allow managers and coaches to challenge an official's decisions, but only when a stoppage in play had occurred. He says the 'call system' would not work like the third umpire does in cricket, with the power to overturn a decision still remaining with the referee on the pitch.

Boyce (photo) told Sky Sports News: “I’m totally against it. Who am I to challenge the president of FIFA, but I have got my own ideas on this. In fact, one of the things I would really like to see is a fourth officially being in an enclosed box - not where managers or coaches can interfere with them. We now have many cameras at grounds and we have to get the decisions right for the good of football, but if that fourth official sees an incident that he clearly feels has a detrimental effect on the game from a decision made by the referee, he could call the referee over immediately and say ‘take a look at that’. At the end of the day, the final decision will be with the referee. But for me, we have enough officials on the pitch and I certainly do not agree with challenges by managers. The most important thing is you have officials on the pitch in charge of the game of football”. 

Source: Sky Sports