Copa Libertadores – Group Stage (Matchday 2)

13-15 March 2018

Atlético Tucuman – Libertad
Referee: Raphael Claus (BRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Danilo Manis (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alessandro Rocha (BRA)
Fourth Official: Luis Oliveira (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Dario Ubriaco (URU)

Cerro Porteño – Defensor Sporting
Referee: Roddy Zambrano (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Byron Romero (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Macias (ECU)
Fourth Official: Guillermo Guerrero (ECU)
Referee Assessor: Saul Laverni (ARG)

Vasco da Gama – Universidad de Chile
Referee: Daniel Fedorczuk (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Pastorino (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Popovits (URU)
Fourth Official: Jonathan Fuentes (URU)
Referee Assessor: Imer Machado (COL)

Bolívar – Colo Colo
Referee: Dario Herrera (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Ezequiel Brailovsky (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Chade (ARG)
Fourth Official: Fernando Echenique (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Carlos Herrera (ECU)

Estudiantes – Real Garcilaso
Referee: Alexis Herrera (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Murillo (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Urrego (VEN)
Fourth Official: Marlon Escalante (VEN)
Referee Assessor: Francisco Mondria (CHI)

Emelec – Flamengo
Referee: Mario Díaz de Vivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Fourth Official: Julio Quintana (PAR)
Referee Assessor: Martin Vazquez (URU)

Atletico Nacional – Delfin
Referee: Diego Haro (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Raul Lopez (PER)
Fourth Official: Michael Espinoza (PER)
Referee Assessor: Sergio Cristiano (BRA)

Corinthians – Deportivo Lara
Referee: Raul Orosco (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Edward Saavedra (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Reluy Vallejos (BOL)
Fourth Official: Ivo Mendez (BOL)
Referee Assessor: Ricardo Casas (ARG)

The Strongest – Peñarol
Referee: Anderson Daronco (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabricio Vilarinho (BRA)
Fourth Official: Wagner Magalhaes (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Cesar Escano (PER)

Santos – Nacional
Referee: Ulises Mereles (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dario Gaona (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Cáceres (PAR)
Fourth Official: Arnaldo Samaniego (PAR)
Referee Assessor: Rodolfo Otero (ARG)

Independiente – Millonarios
Referee: Leodan Gonzalez (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Fourth Official: Gustavo Tejera (URU)
Referee Assessor: Carlos Torres (PAR)

Busacca: Clear laws for everyone

Ensuring consistency and the uniform application of criteria, keeping mistakes to a minimum and, most importantly of all, upholding fair play: these were just some of the areas that FIFA Director of Refereeing Massimo Busacca discussed with the 32 delegations present at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Team Workshop. “We are looking for uniformity and consistency for the future and of course during the World Cup, this is key for us,” said Busacca.

The refereeing session in Sochi provided Busacca with an opportunity to brief all of the participating teams on the preparations match officials have been making over the last four years, while also offering clarification on a range of disciplinary decisions and on the incidents that can arise in matches. “With the coaches in Sochi we have discussed several key topics such as handball, challenges etc. Now, they have three months’ time to get back to their players and prepare for the World Cup. We started working on this tournament as soon as the 2014 final between Argentina and Germany finished,” said Busacca, who refereed at Germany 2006 and South Africa 2010. “It’s our job to prepare ourselves properly for a competition of this scale. That is why the referee has to prepare himself in the best possible way in all areas. First, he has to understand different football mentalities; he has to know the way the teams he is officiating are playing. Knowing the different football cultures will help him in his performances.” Some of the key components of the preparation are match control, protecting players and the image of football. Busacca stresses that this area is a key point going into Russia 2018. “We need respect in accepting the referees’ decisions and avoiding any unsporting behaviour like mass confrontations. It’s one of the most important messages we have to give to the coaches,” he said. Busacca acknowledges that several areas of refereeing can be enhanced, and he says FIFA are working hard to that end. “Reading the game and the tactical approach can be enhanced,” he said. “Of course we cannot possibly eliminate all mistakes, but we can do everything possible to reduce them. We are human and as such, we will always make mistakes. What we are doing here is providing a tactical approach, concentrating on positioning, and giving a clear message to the players and coaches that, with the help of fair play, we can reduce the quantity of errors, which is our aim.” That is why the session ended with a detailed explanation of how the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is used. “VAR is a big help for the referee to eliminate clear mistakes. We have seen important progress in using the technology. The aim is to have a maximum benefit with minimum interference: VAR is not affecting the game. However, it is also clear that the referee will continue always to take the first and the final decision." In the open discussion about VAR with the coaches and the team delegates present in Sochi, a general consensus could be noted for the implementation of the technology.

Source: FIFA

UEFA Europa League – Round of 16 (First Leg)

8 March 2018

AC Milan – Arsenal
Referee: Clément Turpin (FRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)
Fourth Official: Hicham Zakrani (FRA)
Referee Observer: Patrick Kelly (IRL)

Borussia Dortmund – FC Salzburg
Referee: Slavko Vinčič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Rade Obrenovič (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Roberto Ponis (SVN)
Fourth Official: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

CSKA Moskva – Olympique Lyonnais
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devís (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP)
Fourth Official: Teodoro Sobrino Magán (ESP)
Referee Observer: Domenico Messina (ITA)

Atlético de Madrid – Lokomotiv Moskva
Referee: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Lars Hummelgaard (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Heine Sørensen (DEN)
Additional AR 1: Michael Tykgaard (DEN)
Additional AR 2: Jens Maae (DEN)
Fourth Official: Christian Brixen (DEN)
Referee Observer: Matteo Trefoloni (ITA

Sporting – Viktoria Plzeň
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitri Zhuk (BLR)
Assistant Referee 2: Oleg Maslyanko (BLR)
Additional AR 1: Denis Scherbakov (BLR)
Additional AR 2: Dmitri Dmitrieu (BLR)
Fourth Official: Yuri Khomchenko (BLR)
Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN)

Olympique de Marseille – Athletic Club
Referee: Manuel de Sousa (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Nuno Pereira (POR)
Additional AR 1: Fabio Veríssimo (POR)
Additional AR 2: Luis Godinho (POR)
Fourth Official: Rui Teixeira (POR)
Referee Observer: Karen Nalbandyan (ARM)

RB Leipzig – FC Zenit
Referee: Ovidiu Haţegan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Șovre (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU)
Additional AR 1: István Kovács (ROU)
Additional AR 2: Sebastian Colţescu (ROU)
Fourth Official: Radu Ghinguleac (ROU)
Referee Observer: Emil Bozinovski (MKD)

Lazio – Dynamo Kyiv
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaš Somolani (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Branislav Hancko (SVK)
Additional AR 1: Peter Kralović (SVK)
Additional AR 2: Filip Glova (SVK)
Fourth Official: Tomaš Mokoš (SVK)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

CONCACAF Champions League – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

6 March 2018
Club America – Tauro FC
Referee: Armando Villarreal (USA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Ian Anderson (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Mariscal (USA)
Fourth Official: David Gantar (CAN)

Club Tijuana – New York Red Bulls
Referee: Kimbell Ward (SKN)
Assistant Referee 1: Graeme Browne (SKN)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicholas Anderson (JAM)
Fourth Official: Daneon Parchment (JAM)

7 March 2018
Toronto FC – Tigres UANL
Referee: Ricardo Montero (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Mora (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Ainsley Rochard (TRI)
Fourth Official: Henry Bejarano (CRC)

Seattle Sounders – Chivas Guadalajara
Referee: Mario Escobar (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Osvaldo Luna (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Alejandro Camarena (PAN)
Fourth Official: Jose Kellys (PAN)

World Cup referees will be announced at the end of March

In a few days, a referee seminar will be held in Dubai and will decide the final list of referees and their role at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Massimo Busacca, Head of the FIFA Refereeing Department, said: "We have not yet defined how many trios will be selected, but their numbers will not be very different from the last World Cup in Brazil, where 25 trios had been selected". Published five months before the 2014 World Cup, the final list of referees for the 2018 edition has been postponed pending the decision of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in relation to the introduction of the video assistance (VAR). It's done since last Saturday. "The requirements for the referees have changed and we need to make sure that the referees are able to take part in the most watched sports event on the planet", added Massimo Busacca. The last seminar will take place in Florence in April. The referees will arrive in Russia on 3 June 2018. 

Asked about the presence of a Russian referee at the World Cup, Massimo Busacca explained that Sergey Kasarev "has the same chances as the other preselected; we choose the referees only based on their performance and not on political criteria". In recent days, the Russian Football Federation is putting pressure on FIFA with strong arguments. In 1998, Marc Batta represented the host country at the World Cup in France. He was not supposed to take part in the World Cup following a qualifying match between Germany and Portugal when he sent off Rui Costa. Joseph Blatter, then FIFA President, did not want Batta at the World Cup. But, thanks to lobbying by Michel Vautrot and Joël Quiniou, the leaders of the French refereeing at the time, Batta went to the World Cup, much to the dismay of Gilles Veissière. Second argument, Clément Turpin's presence at Euro 2016 was due to the fact that the competition was taking place in France, the French referee having been promoted to the Elite category at UEFA only five months before the publication of the list of referees for the European Championship. The last Russian referee selected for the World Cup was Valentin Ivanov in 2006, in Germany. 

Source: Arbitrage57

UEFA Champions League – Round of 16 (Second Leg, I)

6 March 2018
Paris St. Germain – Real Madrid
Referee: Felix Brych (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Additional AR 1: Bastian Dankert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Marco Fritz (GER)
Fourth Official: Markus Häcker (GER)
Referee Observer: Kyros Vassaras (GRE)

Liverpool – FC Porto
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Additional AR 1: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
Fourth Official: Rafael Foltyn (GER) 
Referee Observer: Terje Hauge (NOR)

7 March 2018
Manchester City – FC Basel
Referee: Pavel Královec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Roman Slyško (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Ivo Nádvorník (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Petr Ardeleánu (CZE)
Additional AR 2: Karel Hrubeš (CZE)
Fourth Official: Jiří Moláček (CZE)
Referee Observer: László Vágner (HUN)

Tottenham Hotspur – Juventus
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Pawel 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: Jaap Uilenberg (NED)

Owen: “Collina told me 'you have to go down to win the penalty'”

Michael Owen was a diver and he's happy to admit it now. Former Liverpool star Owen went down under a pretty non-existent foul from then-Argentina defender Mauricio Pochettino during England's 2002 World Cup campaign.

Italian referee Pierluigi Collina was fooled as he pointed to the spot - with David Beckham thrashing in the penalty to complete his redemption from France 1998. And hit man Owen has now come clean over his dirty deed, but insists he only dived because he was told to by Collina. "Pochettino actually did touch me, clipped my knee. It wasn't enough to put me down, but the only reason I went down was because earlier in the game someone fouled me. "Collina was the referee, one of the most famous referees of all time, and I said 'referee it’s a penalty' and he said 'Michael to know you have to go down to win the penalty.' He told me you have to go down, so I thought next time I get touched I'll go down and I did and he gave me a penalty". 

Source: Mirror

VAR: Maximum benefit with minimum interference

The International Football Association Board (The IFAB) unanimously approved the use of video assistant referees (VARs) at its 132nd Annual General Meeting (AGM) that took place at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich today. This landmark meeting, chaired by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, represents a new era for football with video assistance for referees helping to increase integrity and fairness in the game. Prior to taking its decision, the members of The IFAB (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as FIFA, representing all other national football associations) were presented with the results of the independent analysis of the use of VARs conducted by Belgian university KU Leuven since the beginning of the VAR experiment in March 2016.

The philosophy of VARs is ‘minimum interference – maximum benefit’ which aims to reduce unfairness caused by ‘clear and obvious errors’ or ‘serious missed incidents’ in relation to:

- Goal / no goal

- Penalty / no penalty

- Direct red card (not 2nd yellow card/caution) 

- Mistaken identity (when the referee cautions or sends off the wrong player of the offending team).

The principles of a VAR Implementation Assistance and Approval Programme (IAAP), to be overseen by The IFAB in conjunction with FIFA, was also approved to ensure consistency and quality in competitions that want to use VARs. The IFAB members approved a draft VAR Handbook containing compulsory protocol, principles and requirements, as well as advice on the implementation of VARs, to enable competitions to complete the rigorous mandatory approval process.

Additional decisions taken at the AGM included allowing the option of an “additional” substitute to be used in extra time, following a two-year experiment conducted in over a dozen competitions around the world, as well as approving the use of electronic and communication equipment in the technical area (small handheld mobile devices), strictly for tactical/coaching purposes and player safety.

Members were also updated on the FIFA Quality Programme for electronic performance and tracking systems (EPTS), and confirmed the revised wordings on `denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO)` and `stopping a promising attack (SPA)` which have addressed the so-called “triple punishment” of sending off, penalty and suspension. 

Finally the AGM agreed to extend the testing of some of the Play Fair! initiatives following consultation with stakeholders and the Football Advisory and the Technical Advisory Panels of The IFAB.

Source: IFAB

Copa Sudamericana – Round 1 (Second Leg, I)

6-8 March 2018

Caracas – Everton
Referee: Raphael Claus (BRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodrigo Correa (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Pires (BRA)
Fourth Official: Dewson Freitas (BRA)
Referee Assessor: José Buitrago (COL)

San José – El Nacional
Referee: José Argote (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos López (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Lubin Torrealba (VEN)
Fourth Official: Marlon Escalante (VEN)
Referee Assessor: Rodolfo Otero (ARG)

Colón – Zamora
Referee: Jonathan Fuentes (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Pastorino (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Barreiro (URU)
Fourth Official: Gustavo Tejera (URU)
Referee Assessor: Joel Ruiz (PAR)

Atlético Cerro – Sport Rosario
Referee: Eber Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dario Gaona (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Fourth Official: José Méndez (PAR)
Referee Assessor: Roberto Perassi (BRA)

General Díaz – Barcelona
Referee: Patricio Loustau (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Julio Fernández (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Maximiliano Del Yesso (ARG)
Fourth Official: Silvio Trucco (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Roberto Silvera (URU)

Sporting Cristal – Lanús
Referee: Anderson Daronco (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Kleber Gil (BRA)
Fourth Official: Rodolpho Toski (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Carlos Torres (PAR)

Deportivo Cuenca – Sportivo Luqueño
Referee: Gustavo Murillo (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Humberto Clavijo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Dionisio Ruiz (COL)
Fourth Official: Nicolás Gallo (COL)
Referee Assessor: Víctor Rivera (PER)

Mineros – Nacional
Referee: Ricardo Marques (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Rocha (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Guilherme Camilo (BRA)
Fourth Official: Wagner Magalhaes (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Miguel Buitrago (VEN)

Rampla Jr. – UT Cajamarca
Referee: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Vera (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Baren (ECU)
Fourth Official: Juan Allbarracín (ECU)
Referee Assessor: Roberto Perassi (BRA)

Sport Huancayo – Unión Española
Referee: Jesús Valenzuela (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Tulio Moreno (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Franchescoly Chacón (VEN)
Fourth Official: Alexis Herrera (VEN)
Referee Assessor: Martín Vázquez (URU)

América de Cali - Defensa y Justicia
Referee: Ulises Mereles (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Cañete (PAR)
Fourth Official: Julio Quintana (PAR)
Referee Assessor: Nilson Moncao (BRA)

Cyprus Women’s Cup 2018

26 February - 8 March 2018

Referee: Lina Lehtovaara (FIN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Heini Hyvönen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tonja Paavola (FIN)

Referee: Florence Guillemin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Elodie Coppola (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Solenne Bartnik (FRA)

Referee: María Martínez Madrona (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Silvia Fernández Pérez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrada Alomán (ESP)

Referee: Petra Pavlikova (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Jana Zaplatilová (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Katarína Smolíková (SVK)

Referee: Anastasiya Romanyuk (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Svitlana Hrushko (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Oleksandra Vdovina (UKR)

Referee Assessors
1. Michalis Argyrou (CYP)
2. Costas Kapitanis (CYP)
3. Charalambos Skapoullis (CYP)