UEFA VAR Seminar 2018

Preparing the referees for the introduction of VAR in UEFA competitions, the first VAR seminar for took place at the KNVB Replay Center in Netherlands, from 8-11 October 2018. UEFA selected 7 instructors and 24 referees for this VAR seminar. "It's perfect for our training, the technology is really great and we would like to thank KNVB for the opportunity to be here. This is very important, not just for referees, but for all football; our goal is to eliminate obvious mistakes from football and this training will help us to speak a better technical language", said Roberto Rosetti, UEFA Chief Refereeing Officer.

VAR Instructors

1. David Elleray (ENG)

2. Jaap Uilenberg (NED)

3. Werner Helsen (BEL)

4. Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)

5. Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)

6. Murat Ilgaz (TUR)

7. Gianvito Piglionica (ITA)

Participants

- Referees with limited VAR experience:

1. Aliyar Aghayev (AZE)

2. Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)

3. Georgi Kabakov (BUL)

4. Mattias Gestranius (FIN)

5. Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE)

6. Orel Grinfeeld (ISR)

7. Gediminas Mazeika (LTU)

8. Andris Treimanis (LVA)

9. Ovidiu Hategan (ROU)

10. Istvan Kovacs (ROU)

11. William Collum (SCO)

12. Robert Madden (SCO)

13. Srdjan Jovanovic (SRB)

14. Ivan Kruzliak (SVK)

15. Matej Jug (SVN)

16. Slavco Vincic (SVN)

17. Andreas Ekberg (SWE)

- Referees with some VAR experience:

18. Craig Pawson (ENG)

19. Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)

20. Ruddy Buquet (FRA)

21. Tobias Stieler (GER)

22. Davide Massa (ITA)

23. Serdar Gozubuyuk (TUR)

24. Pawel Raczkowski (POL)

Source: KNVB/TFF

FIFA Futsal and Beach Soccer referee roles become gender neutral

The deadline to nominate international referees for the upcoming year was 1 October 2018. In the circular no. 1648 that was sent to the member associations on 5 September 2018, FIFA indicated, for the first time ever, that "the futsal and beach soccer referee roles are now gender neutral. Both men and women can be nominated to these roles since separate roles for women no longer exist in these categories. The futsal and beach soccer fitness test applies equally to both men and women.” 

Requirements for 2019 nominations:

1. The proposed referees shall be at least 25 years old (23 years old in the case of assistant referees) on 1 January of the year for which they have been nominated. For 2019, referees must be born no later than 31 December 1993 and assistant referees must be born no later than 31 December 1995 in order to ensure a minimum level of experience. FIFA reserves the right to require referees over the age of 45 (born in 1974 or before) to undergo additional technical assessments as well as specific medical examinations and fitness testing on a case-by-case basis. 

2. Each candidate must be ranked based on the marks obtained for officiating games at the national level during the 12 months prior to being nominated to the list of international referees; not in alphabetical order. 

3. At a minimum, all nominated referees must pass a FIFA-approved fitness test and a medical examination on or after 2 June 2018. 

The FIFA Referees Committee will carefully consider all nominations submitted by each member association before deciding who will be named on the upcoming international lists. 

Source: FIFA

UEFA U-21 Euro 2019 Qualifiers (Matchday 15)

11-12 October 2018

Israel – Ireland
Referee: Lawrence Visser (BEL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Karel De Rocker (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Rien Vanyzere (BEL)
Fourth Official: Wesley Alen (BEL)
Referee Observer: Laurent Duhamel (FRA)

Belarus – Czech Republic
Referee: Anders Poulsen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Nørgaard (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Elvis Boric (DEN)
Fourth Official: Mads-Kristoffer Kristoffersen (DEN)
Referee Observer: Vladimír Medved (SVK)

Liechtenstein – Portugal
Referee: Aleksey Matyunin (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Aleksey Vorontsov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Nikolay Yeremin (RUS)
Fourth Official: Yevgeniy Turbin (RUS)
Referee Observer: Jari Maisonlahti (FIN)

Iceland – Northern Ireland
Referee: Jens Maae (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Lars Hummelgaard (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Heine Sørensen (DEN)
Fourth Official: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Referee Observer: Robert Sedlacek (AUT)

Albania – Spain
Referee: João Pinheiro (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Rodrigues (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Álvaro Mesquita (POR)
Fourth Official: Vítor Ferreira (POR)
Referee Observer: Kostadin Gerginov (BUL)

England – Andorra
Referee: Urs Schnyder (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Raffael Zeder (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan Köbeli (SUI)
Fourth Official: Nikolaj Hänni (SUI)
Referee Observer: Michális Koukoulákis (GRE)

Montenegro – Luxembourg
Referee: Lionel Tschudi (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Stéphane Almeida (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Vital Jobin (SUI)
Fourth Official: Stefan Horisberger (SUI)
Referee Observer: Rodger Gifford (WAL)

Malta – Hungary
Referee: Eldorjan Hamiti (ALB)
Assistant Referee 1: Egin Doda (ALB)
Assistant Referee 2: Ilir Tartaraj (ALB)
Fourth Official: Olsid Ferataj (ALB)
Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN)

Finland – Georgia
Referee: Milovan Milačić (MNE)
Assistant Referee 1: Milutin Djukić (MNE)
Assistant Referee 2: Ivan Bogdanović (MNE)
Fourth Official: Miloš Novović (MNE)
Referee Observer: Kjell Alseth (NOR)

Croatia – Greece
Referee: José Sánchez Martínez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: José Gallego García (ESP)
Fourth Official: Eduardo Prieto Iglesias (ESP)
Referee Observer: László Vágner (HUN)

Faroe Islands – Lithuania
Referee: Rohit Saggi (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Morten Jensen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Isaak Bashevkin (NOR)
Fourth Official: Tore Hansen (NOR)
Referee Observer: Patrițiu Abrudan (ROU)

Denmark – Poland
Referee: Mete Kalkavan (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Esat Sancaktar (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Süleyman Özay (TUR)
Fourth Official: Serkan Çınar (TUR)
Referee Observer: Haim Jakov (ISR)

Ukraine – Scotland
Referee: Bojan Pandzic (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Allheim (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Ekman (SWE)
Fourth Official: Patrik Eriksson (SWE)
Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)

Serbia – Austria
Referee: Stuart Attwell (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Constantine Hatzidakis (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Cook (ENG)
Fourth Official: David Coote (ENG)
Referee Observer: Jan Wegereef (NED)

Russia – FYR Macedonia
Referee: Kristoffer Hagenes (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Reidar Gundersen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Geir Isaksen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Trygve Kjensli (NOR)
Referee Observer: Asim Khudiyev (AZE)

Romania – Wales
Referee: Boris Marhefka (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomáš Vorel (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrej Hrmo (SVK)
Fourth Official: Patrik Hrčka (SVK)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

Slovenia – Bulgaria
Referee: Ádám Farkas (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Zsolt Varga (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Oszkár Lémon (HUN)
Fourth Official: Balázs Berke (HUN)
Referee Observer: Ján Fašung (SVK)

Latvia – Netherlands
Referee: Nicolas Laforge (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Laurent Conotte (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Florian Lemaire (BEL)
Fourth Official: Wim Smet (BEL)
Referee Observer: Gerard Perry (IRL)

Germany – Norway
Referee: Kirill Levnikov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Viacheslav Semenov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrei Vereteshkin (RUS)
Fourth Official: Roman Galimov (RUS)
Referee Observer: Lucílio Batista (POR)

Slovakia – Estonia
Referee: Igor Pajač (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivica Modrić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Bojan Zobenica (CRO)
Fourth Official: Fran Jović (CRO)
Referee Observer: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)

Belgium: FIFA referees influenced by player agent

Top Belgian FIFA referees Sebastien Delferière and Bart Vertenten had close ties with player agent Dejan Veljkovic. The newspapers of the group Mediahuis learned on Thursday about these intimate relations and the gifts that ensued. Delferière and Vertenten have been suspended with immediate effect, said Johan Verbist, the boss of the Belgian referees.

The judicial investigation that triggered an earthquake in the Belgian football community, will determine whether it is corruption. But according to the newspapers, Dejan Veljkovic's telephone conversations indicate that the agent tried to influence matches in favor of FC Malines. The investigators listened to the conversations of agents Mogi Bayat and Dejan Veljkovic for several months, according to De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad. They discovered that Veljkovic frequently spoke with two high level referees. The Serbian agent let them know that he considered them the best by far. 

In particular, Sébastien Delferière, through Veljkovic, obtained a significant discount when he bought a car from a garage in Aalst. Veljkovic also provided him with an invitation to the gala Soulier d'Or via the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws who organized the event. The agent invested in the football school of Mr. Delferière, now charged with participation in a criminal organization through active and passive corruption, but released under certain conditions.

Referee Bart Vertenten, meanwhile, often joined the agent's table after the matches. Veljkovic calls him his "friend". The two matches that are suspected of falsification during the 2017-2018 season are Antwerp - Eupen and FC Malines - Waasland/Beveren for which there is evidence of private corruption to rescue Malines. The investigation indicates that Dejan Veljkovic, in consultation with 4 members of the board of directors of Malines, directly or through friendly contacts, would have influenced the results of these two matches, which seems to include agreements with referee Bart Vertenten and various members of the Waasland/Beveren Board of Directors. The match between Antwerp and Eupen of the second-last matchday was mentioned, refereed by Bart Vertenten. While the Eupen were competing against Malines to avoid relegation from the first division, the referee awarded a penalty kick to Antwerp although the fault had occurred outside the penalty area. A contentious decision that allowed Antwerp to win 2-0. A week later, on the final day of the championship, decisive for the maintenance, the match Malines – Waasland/Beveren would also have been falsified. Het Laatste Nieuws also points out the contact of the agent with sports editorials of the newspaper and Het Nieuwsblad, asking journalists to offer good marks to the two referees (his "friends") in their articles. The interview of two journalists by the investigators would fit into this context.
Belgian prosecutors charged 19 people, including two referees, player agents and the coach of champions Club Bruges, with fraud or match-fixing. The offences ranged from criminal organisation to money laundering and corruption, federal prosecutors said. Nine of the 19 remained in custody, including soccer agents Dejan Veljkovic and Mogi Bayat, charged with having set up schemes to hide fees paid to themselves and to players, and referee Bart Vertenten.

Source: La Libre

UEFA Nations League – Group Stage (Matchday 3)

11-13 October 2018

League A
Poland – Portugal 
Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Alonso Fernández (E)
Fourth Official: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Santiago Jaime Latre (ESP)
Referee Observer: Sergey Zuev (RUS)

Belgium – Switzerland
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devís (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)

Fourth Official: Diego Barbero Sevilla (ESP)

Additional AR 1: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP)
Additional AR 2: José González González (ESP)
Referee Observer: Karen Nalbandyan (ARM)

Croatia – England
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Fourth Official: Dominik Schaal (GER)
Additional AR 1: Marco Fritz (GER)
Additional AR 2: Harm Osmers (GER)
Referee Observer: Nuno Castro (POR)

Netherlands – Germany
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarık Ongun (TUR)
Fourth Official: Serkan Ok (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Halil Umut Meler (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Barış Şimşek (TUR)
Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)

League B
Russia – Sweden
Referee: Luca Banti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Filippo Meli (ITA)
Fourth Official: Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Marco Guida (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Daniele Doveri (ITA)
Referee Observer: Ilkka Koho (FIN)

Austria – Northern Ireland
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Margaritov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Diyan Valkov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Georgi Todorov (BUL)
Additional AR 1: Ivaylo Stoyanov (BUL)
Additional AR 2: Nikolay Yordanov (BUL)
Referee Observer: Juan Fernández Marín (ESP)

Slovakia – Czech Republic
Referee: Slavko Vinčič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaž Klančnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič (SVN)
Fourth Official: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Nejc Kajtazovič (SVN)
Additional AR 2: Roberto Ponis (SVN)
Referee Observer: Murat Ilgaz (TUR)

Ireland – Denmark
Referee: Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Aguilar Rodríguez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Teodoro Sobrino Magán (ESP)
Fourth Official: Íñigo Prieto López (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea (ESP)
Additional AR 2: José Munuera Montero (ESP)
Referee Observer: Sándor Piller (HUN)

League C
Israel – Scotland
Referee: Daniel Stefański (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcin Boniek (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Dawid Golis (POL)
Fourth Official: Krzysztof Myrmus (POL)
Additional AR 1: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
Additional AR 2: Zbigniew Dobrynin (POL)
Referee Observer: Marián Ružbarský (SVK)

Lithuania – Romania
Referee: François Letexier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cyril Mugnier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mehdi Rahmouni (FRA)
Fourth Official: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Amaury Delerue (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)
Referee Observer: Sokol Jareci (ALB)

Montenegro – Serbia
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Fourth Official: Alberto Tegoni (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Referee Observer: Bernardino González Vázquez (ESP)

Greece – Hungary
Referee: Tobias Stieler (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Foltyn (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Fourth Official: Christian Gittelmann (GER)
Additional AR 1: Christian Dingert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Patrick Ittrich (GER)
Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE)

Estonia – Finland
Referee: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Lee Betts (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ian Hussin (ENG)
Fourth Official: Edward Smart (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Jonathan Moss (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Christopher Kavanagh (ENG)
Referee Observer: Bertrand Layec (FRA)

Norway – Slovenia
Referee: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Seidel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduard Beitinger (GER)
Fourth Official: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Additional AR 1: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Additional AR 2: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
Referee Observer: Iain Robertson Brines (SCO)

Bulgaria – Cyprus
Referee: Srdjan Jovanović (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Uroš Stojković (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Milan Mihajlović (SRB)
Fourth Official: Dragan Bogićević (SRB)
Additional AR 1: Lazar Lukić (SRB)
Additional AR 2: Zoran Široki (SRB)
Referee Observer: Cyril Zimmermann (SUI)

League D
Kosovo – Malta
Referee: Tamás Bognár (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Balázs Buzás (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Theodoros Georgiou (HUN)
Fourth Official: Péter Kóbor (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Ferenc Karakó (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Péter Solymosi (HUN)
Referee Observer: Michális Argyroú (CYP)

Faroe Islands – Azerbaijan
Referee: Aleksey Eskov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitri Mosyakin (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Anton Averianov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Valeri Danchenko (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Mikhail Vilkov (RUS)
Referee Observer: Salustià Ciprés (AND)

Belarus – Luxembourg
Referee: Ali Palabıyık (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Serkan Olguncan (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Serkan Çimen (TUR)
Fourth Official: İbrahim Uyarcan (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Yaşar Uğurlu (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Serkan Tokat (TUR)
Referee Observer: Vadims Direktorenko (LVA)

Moldova – San Marino
Referee: Bryn Markham-Jones (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Beckett (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: Gareth Jones (WAL)
Fourth Official: Lewiss Edwards (WAL)
Additional AR 1: Huw Jones (WAL)
Additional AR 2: Nicholas Pratt (WAL)
Referee Observer: Dejan Filipović (SRB)

Georgia – Andorra
Referee: Leontios Trattou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Soteriou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Petros Petrou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Pavlos Georgiou (CYP)
Additional AR 1: Vasilis Dimitriou (CYP)
Additional AR 2: Nikolas Neokleous (CYP)
Referee Observer: Shmuel Shteif (ISR)

Latvia – Kazakhstan
Referee: Harald Lechner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Heidenreich (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Fourth Official: Andreas Staudinger (AUT)
Additional AR 1: Alexander Harkam (AUT)
Additional AR 2: Markus Hameter (AUT)
Referee Observer: Oğuz Sarvan (TUR)

Armenia – Gibraltar
Referee: Fedayi San (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Sladan Josipovic (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Zürcher (SUI)
Fourth Official: Bekim Zogaj (SUI)
Additional AR 1: Alain Bieri (SUI)
Additional AR 2: Lukas Fähndrich (SUI)
Referee Observer: Nicolae Grigorescu (ROU)

FYR Macedonia – Leichtenstein
Referee: Roi Reinshreiber (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Danny Krasikow (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: David Biton (ISR)
Fourth Official: Amihay Mozes (ISR)
Additional AR 1: Orel Grinfeld (ISR)
Additional AR 2: Ziv Adler (ISR)
Referee Observer: Pavel Saliy (KAZ)

Concacaf Women’s Championship 2018

USA, 4-17 October 2018

Referees 
1. Marie-Soleil Beaudoin (CAN, photo)
2. Melissa Borjas (HON)
3. Carol Anne Chenard (CAN)
4. Francia Gonzalez (MEX)
5. Tatiana Guzman (NCA)
6. Odette Hamilton (JAM)
7. Ekaterina Koroleva (USA)
8. Mirian Leon (SLV)
9. Crystal Sobers (TRI)
10. Lucila Venegas (MEX)

Assistant Referees
1. Chantal Boudreau (CAN)
2. Princess Brown (JAM)
3. Enedina Caudillo (MEX)
4. Mayte Chavez (MEX)
5. Felisha Mariscal (USA)
6. Kimberly Moreira (CRC)
7. Kathryn Nesbitt (USA)
8. Shirley Perello (HON)
9. Mijensa Rensch (SUR)
10. Stephanie Yee Sing (JAM)

FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 Qualifiers – UEFA Play-offs (Semi-finals)

First Leg, 5 October 2018

Netherlands – Denmark
Referee: Kateryna Monzul (UKR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Maryna Striletska (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Mihaela Tepusa (ROU)
Fourth Official: Lina Lehtovaara (FIN)

Belgium – Switzerland
Referee: Anastasia Pustovoitova (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Ekaterina Kurochkina (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Kylie McMullen (SCO)
Fourth Official: Monika Mularczyk (POL)

Second Leg, 9 October 2018

Denmark – Netherlands
Referee: Sara Persson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Julia Magnusson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Sandra Österberg (SWE)
Fourth Official: Pernilla Larsson (SWE)

Switzerland – Belgium
Referee: Jana Adamkova (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Lucie Ratajová (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Katalin Török (HUN)
Fourth Official: Katalin Kulcsár (HUN)

Top Belgian FIFA referees investigated in corruption scandal

Police carried out raids in seven countries on Wednesday as Belgian prosecutors targeted the country's biggest football clubs as part of an investigation into fraud and match-fixing. Top referees Sebastien Delferiere (photo) and Bart Vertenten are also speaking to police amid claims of match fixing, according to De Standaard. Belgian referee boss Johan Verbist follows the investigation of the federal prosecutor's office: "I am currently following everything through the media, so I cannot confirm the news", said Verbist. “I have not yet been able to contact the referees whose names are being circulated, and if they have actually been picked up, it is logical that they cannot answer any phone calls”.

A total of 220 police officers carried out 44 house searches across Belgium as well as in France, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia, Belgian prosecutors said. "A great number of persons have been deprived of their liberty and taken in for a thorough interrogation", said a statement from investigators. Federal prosecutors told AFP that the arrests included well-known football agent Mogi Bayat, the former manager of Sporting Charleroi, who had been arrested in his home. Bayat, a 44-year-old Belgian-Iranian, was the main target of the probe, Belgian media reports said, along with another agent, Dejan Veljkovic, and clubs with which they did business. Club Brugge coach Ivan Leko, whose team is playing in the Champions League, was also arrested on Wednesday. The headquarters of Club Brugge, Standard Liege, Anderlecht and KRC Genk, the current leader of the Belgian Premier League, were searched in the operation. "During the investigation there were indications of possible influencing of matches in the 2017-2018 season", the prosecutors said. Some of the house searches were carried out at the homes of club directors, soccer agents, referees, a former lawyer, a trainer, journalists and at an accounting office. The searches abroad were chiefly at offices and residences of people used to set up the suspect transactions, the prosecutors said. "I am asking for full transparency and cooperation from the football world to this investigation," said Philippe Muyters, Belgium's sports minister. "The athletes and especially the numerous supporters are entitled to a fair sport", he said.

Source: France24/Dhaka Tribune

International Friendly Matches

October 2018

Wales – Spain
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Child (ENG)
Fourth Official: Iwan Griffith (WAL)

Turkey – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Referee: Sergei Karasev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Igor Demeshko (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleksei Lunev (RUS)
Fourth Official: Halis Özkahya (TUR)

Saudi Arabia – Brazil
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Mario Diks (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Hessel Steegstra (NED)
Fourth Official: Dennis Higler (NED)
VAR: Jochem Kamphuis (NED)

Iraq – Argentina
Referee: Jarred Gillett (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Ashley Beecham (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Owen Goldrick (AUS)
Fourth Official: Peter Green (AUS)
VAR: Christopher Beath (AUS)

Brazil – Argentina
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Fourth Official: Marco Fritz (GER)
VAR: Günter Perl (GER)
AVAR: Robert Hartmann (GER)

Albania – Jordan
Referee: Genc Nuza (KVX)
Assistant Referee 1: Fatlum Berisha (KVX)
Assistant Referee 2: Bujar Selimaj (KVX)
Fourth Official: Juxhin Xhaja (ALB)

Italy – Ukraine
Referee: Rade Obrenovič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Manuel Vidali (SVN)
Fourth Official: Marco Di Bello (ITA)

Scotland – Portugal
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Debart (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Julien Pacelli (FRA)
Fourth Official: Clément Turpin (FRA)

Belgium – Netherlands
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Barbosa (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Tiago Martins (POR)

Croatia – Jordan
Referee: Sándor Andó-Szabó (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Zsolt Varga (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Oszkár Lémon (HUN)
Fourth Official: Fran Jović (CRO)

Sweden – Slovakia
Referee: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Brixen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Lars Hummelgaard (DEN)
Fourth Official: Anders Poulsen (DEN)

Denmark – Austria
Referee: Ola Hobber Nilsen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Tom Grønevik (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Geir Isaksen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Rohit Saggi (NOR)

France – Iceland
Referee: Tiago Martins (POR)

UAE – Honduras
Referee: Joao Capela (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Antonio Godinho (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)

Mexico – Costa Rica
Referee: Oscar Moncada (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Walter Lopez (HON)
Assistant Referee 2: Melvyn Cruz (HON)
Fourth Official: Roberto García (MEX)
Referee Assessor: Jorge Gasso (MEX)

USA – Colombia
Referee: John Pitti (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabriel Victoria (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Ramirez (HON)
Fourth Official: Hector Martinez (HON)

Peru – Chile
Referee: Armando Villarreal (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Adam Wienckowski (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Kyle Atkins (USA)
Fourth Official: Ted Unkel (USA)

Costa Rica – Colombia
Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Charles Morgante (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Wienckowski (USA)
Fourth Official: Ted Unkel (USA)

USA – Peru
Referee: Ivan Barton (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Geovany Garcia (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: David Moran (SLV)
Fourth Official: Ismael Cornejo (SLV)

Mexico – Chile
Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Zumba (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Douglas Bermudez (SLV)
Fourth Official: Francisco Chacon (MEX)
Referee Assessor: Julio Escobar (MEX)

Borjas: “I hope to once again represent Concacaf at the World Cup”

The 2018 Concacaf Women’s Championship is off and running with three teams looking to qualify directly for the 2018 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France. The tournament is also being used to evaluate the performances of referees, including Honduran Melissa Borjas, who was one of six female referees to represent Concacaf at the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada.

Borjas is happy to be back refereeing matches at the highest level in Concacaf and hopes to be selected to once again represent the region at a World Cup. “It’s always exciting to participate in all of the Concacaf World Cup qualifiers, above all in the senior team tournament, where not only teams can qualify for the World Cup but also referees,” said Borjas in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com. “My place at the 2019 World Cup in France is not assured but my preparation is being based on winning myself a place and once again representing Concacaf. It’s an arduous technical, physical and mental process day after day, month after month, but being at another World Cup is worth it,” added Borjas. Also serving as an incentive for Borjas was her time in Canada four years ago. There is no doubt that the experience served as an important lesson in her career. “To referee my first senior World Cup match was a great blessing and it allowed me to realize that what I was doing in my preparation was not sufficient to keep myself at that level and that I should work harder,” said Borjas. She also took a moment to praise the support that female referees have received from Concacaf, which has included the use of female referees in the Concacaf League and Concacaf Nations League. “I think more than an initiative, it’s a show of support for the arduous work that we do daily and above all it shows that women are capable of refereeing men’s matches,” said Borjas. Refereeing a men’s match is nothing new for Borjas, however. The 31-year-old has been on the whistle for matches in Honduran Liga Nacional, which she feels has improved her refereeing skills. “Refereeing men’s matches allows me to strengthen my personality and broaden my knowledge in regards to style of play or tactics of teams and preparing myself for each match. The truth is that calling men’s matches has a great physical demand but now it is no longer very different than women’s football because it has developed and advanced very quickly,” said Borjas. “FIFA is working very closely with each one of the confederations so that they support women’s referees on all levels. Kari Seitz has visited the most important tournaments or qualifiers of each confederation to get to know and follow up on referees and so that shows the direct support that FIFA has for women’s refereeing”, concluded Borjas.

Source: Concacaf