UEFA Europa League – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

11 April 2019

Arsenal FC – SSC Napoli
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Cabanero Martinez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Inigo Prieto Lopez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Diego Barbero Sevilla (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Xavier Estrada Fernandez (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Jose Munuera Montero (ESP)
Referee Observer: Stefan Messner (AUT)

Villarreal – Valencia
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Bennett (ENG)
Fourth Official: Constantine Hatzidakis (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)

SL Benfica – Eintracht Frankfurt
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Nunn (ENG)
Fourth Official: Lee Betts (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Stuart Attwell (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Referee Observer: Terje Hauge (NOR)

Slavia Praha – Chelsea FC
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Fourth Official: Eduard Beitinger (GER)
Additional AR 1: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
Referee Observer: Haim Jakov (ISR)

Concacaf Champions League – Semi-finals (Second Leg)

10-11 April 2019

Santos Laguna – Tigres UANL
Referee: Marco Ortiz (MEX, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Paredes (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Martinez (MEX)
Fourth Official: Ivan Barton (SLV)
Referee Assessor: Omario Contreras (BLZ)

Sporting Kansas City – CF Monterrey
Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Zumba (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Mora (CRC)
Fourth Official: Hector Martinez (HON)

UEFA U-17 Euro 2019

Ireland, 3-19 May 2019

Referees
1. Jorgen Burchardt (DEN, 1982)
2. Manfredas Lukjančukas (LTU, 1991)
3. Trustin Farrugia Cann (MLT, 1985)
4. Espen Eskas (NOR, 1988)
5. Krzysztof Jakubik (POL, 1983, photo)
6. Donald Robertson (SCO, 1987)
7. Rade Obrenović (SVN, 1990)
8. Mykola Balakin (UKR, 1989)

Assistant Referees
1. Ilir Tartaraj (ALB, 1987)
2. Yauheni Ramanau (BLR, 1984)
3. Deniz Sokolov (BUL, 1988)
4. Jan Hermansen (FRO, 1982)
5. Riku Vihreävuori (FIN, 1985)
6. Gylfi Sigurdsson (ISL, 1987)
7. Fatlum Berisha (KVX, 1981)
8. Sergey Vassyutin (KAZ, 1986)
9. Raimonds Tatriks (LVA, 1984)
10. Joaquim Da Silva (LUX, 1989)
11. Frantisek Ferenc (SVK, 1986)
12. Lewiss Edwards (WAL, 1990)

Fourth Officials
1. Kaarlo Hämäläinen (FIN, 1993)
2. Petri Viljanen (FIN, 1987)
3. Paul McLaughlin (IRL, 1979)
4. Iwan Griffith (WAL, 1988)

Referee Observers
1. Marc Batta (FRA)
2. Bo Karlsson (SWE)
3. Manuel Lopez Fernandez (ESP)
4. Dejan Filipović (SRB)
5. Gerard Perry (IRL)
6. Stavros Tritsonis (GRE)

CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores – Group Stage (Matchday 4)

9-11 April 2019

Olimpia – Godoy Cruz
Referee: Anderson Daronco (BRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Rocha (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Marques (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Martin Vazquez (URU)

Atletico Paranaense – Deportes Tolima
Referee: Jesus Valenzuela (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Murillo (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Lopez (VEN)
Fourth Official: Jose Argote (VEN)
Referee Assessor: Manuel Bernal (PAR)

Internacional – Palestino
Referee: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Byron Romero (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Edwin Bravo (ECU)
Fourth Official: Franklin Congo (ECU)
Referee Assessor: Joel Ruiz (PAR)

San Lorenzo – Melgar
Referee: Eber Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Fourth Official: Derlis Lopez (PAR)
Referee Assessor: Francisco Mondria (CHI)

Peñarol – LDU Quito
Referee: Alexis Herrera (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jorge Urrego (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tulio Moreno (VEN)
Fourth Official: Marlon Escalante (VEN)
Referee Assessor: Angel Sanchez (ARG)

Sporting Cristal – Universidad Concepción
Referee: Leodan Gonzalez (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Fourth Official: Andres Matonte (URU)
Referee Assessor: Ubaldo Aquino (PAR)

Cruzeiro – Huracan
Referee: Julio Bascunan (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Alejandro Molina (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Claudio Urrutia (CHI)
Fourth Official: Eduardo Gamboa (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Ana Perez (PER)

Nacional – Zamora
Referee: Fernando Espinoza (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Maximiliano Del Yesso (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Pablo Gonzalez (ARG)
Fourth Official: German Delfino (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Jorge Osorio (CHI)

Cerro Porteño – Atlético Mineiro
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Alexander Guzman (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Dionisio Ruiz (COL)
Fourth Official: Bismark Santiago (COL)
Referee Assessor: Rodolfo Otero (ARG)

Gremio – Rosario Central
Referee: Andres Rojas (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilmar Navarro (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexander Leon (COL)
Fourth Official: Gustavo Murillo (COL)
Referee Assessor: Dario Ubriaco (URU)

Palmeiras – Junior
Referee: Roberto Tobar (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Orellana (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Edson Cisternas (CHI)
Fourth Official: Cristian Garay (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)

Universidad Catolica – Libertad
Referee: Gery Vargas (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Antelo (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Edwar Saavedra (BOL)
Fourth Official: Raul Orosco (BOL)
Referee Assessor: Jose Carpio (ECU)

Boca Juniors – Jorge Wilstermann
Referee: Diego Haro (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Coty Carrera (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Sanchez (PER)
Fourth Official: Kevin Ortega (PER)
Referee Assessor: Juan Cardellino (URU)

River Plate – Alianza Lima
Referee: Mario Diaz de Vivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Dario Gaona (PAR)
Fourth Official: Arnaldo Samaniego (PAR)
Referee Assessor: Jose Buitrago (COL)

Flamengo – San Jose
Referee: Piero Maza (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Schiemann (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Claudio Rios (CHI)
Fourth Official: Cesar Deischler (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Ricardo Casas (ARG)

Emelec – Deportivo Lara
Referee: Esteban Ostojich (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Taran (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Soppi (URU)
Fourth Official: Christian Ferreyra (URU)
Referee Assessor: Wilson Lamouroux (COL)

UEFA Champions League – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

9-10 April 2019

Liverpool – FC Porto
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devís (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Ovidiu Hațegan (ROU)
VAR: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
AVAR: José Sánchez Martínez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Eugen Strigel (GER)

Tottenham Hotspur – Manchester City
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Fourth Official: William Collum (SCO)
VAR: Danny Makkelie (NED)
AVAR: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Referee Observer: Jørn West Larsen (DEN)

AFC Ajax – Juventus
Referee: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP)
Fourth Official: Anastásios Sidirópoulos (GRE)
VAR: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP)
AVAR: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)

Manchester United – FC Barcelona
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Filippo Meli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Fourth Official: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
VAR: Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
AVAR: Marco Guida (ITA)
Referee Observer: Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE)

CAF Champions League – Quarter-finals

First Leg, 6 April 2019

CS Constantinois – ES Tunis
Referee: Ghead Grisha (EGY, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Waleed Aḥmed (SDN)
Assistant Referee 2: Abo El Sadat (EGY)

Simba SC – TP Mazembe
Referee: Muṣṭafa Ghorbal (ALG)
Assistant Referee 1: Maḥmoud Regal (EGY)
Assistant Referee 2: Mokrane Gourari (ALG)

Mamelodi Sundowns – Al Ahly
Referee: Maguette Ndiaye (SEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Elvis Noupue (CMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Seydou Tiama (BFA)

Horoya AC – Wydad AC
Referee: Eric Otogo Castane (GAB)
Assistant Referee 1: Issa Yaya (CHA)
Assistant Referee 2: Moussounda Montel (GAB)

Second Leg, 13 April 2019

Al Ahly – Mamelodi Sundowns
Referee: Bakary Gassama (GMB)
Assistant Referee 1: Djibril Camara (SEN)
Assistant Referee 2: El Hadji Samba (SEN)

TP Mazembe – Simba SC
Referee: Bamlak Tessema (ETH)
Assistant Referee 1: Temesgin Atango (ETH)
Assistant Referee 2: Gilbert Cheruiyot (KEN)

Wydad AC – Horoya AC
Referee: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Berhe O'Michael (ERI)
Assistant Referee 2: Romeo Kasengele (ZAM)

ES Tunis – CS Constantinois
Referee: Noureddine El-Jaafari (MAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Abbou (MAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Yahya Nouali (MAR)

OFC Champions League – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

6-7 April 2019

Auckland City FC – Lae City Dwellers
Referee: Mederic Lacour (NCL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertrand Brial (NCL)
Assistant Referee 2: Jeremy Garae (VAN)
Fourth Official: Joel Hopken (VAN)

Hienghene Sport – Ba FC
Referee: Campbell-Kirk Waugh (NZL)
Assistant Referee 1: Isaac Trevis (NZL)
Assistant Referee 2: Sione Teu (TGA)
Fourth Official: George Time (SOL)

Team Wellington – Henderson Eels
Referee: Norbert Hauata (TAH)
Assistant Referee 1: Philippe Revel (TAH)
Assistant Referee 2: Avinesh Narayan (FIJ)
Fourth Official: David Yareboinen (PNG)

Central Sport – AS Magenta
Referee: Matthew Conger (NZL)
Assistant Referee 1: Gareth Sheehan (NZL)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Rule (NZL)
Fourth Official: Salesh Chand (FIJ)

Referee preparations for France 2019

Last week, a preparatory FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 refereeing seminar was hosted in Doha for the second time this year. Ninety elite FIFA match officials, representing all six confederations, took another important step in the preparations leading up to the big event in France. The Qatar Amateur League organised a special tournament in conjunction with the seminar that provided match officials with another crucially important opportunity to officiate in live competitive matches with Video Assistant Referee (VAR) support. This tournament and seminar was another essential step on the road to France. 

“We have only two more months to get ready for the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019,” said Kari Seitz, FIFA Senior Refereeing Manager and head of the refereeing project for the Women’s World Cup. “Live matches, like the ones in this new Qatar Amateur Cup, give match officials greatly needed experience of refereeing with the help of VAR. We are very grateful to the Qatar Football Association for their valued support.” The practical training with players, theoretical sessions and fitness activities during the seminar were specifically designed to prepare match officials for the ever-increasing demands of the modern game. “We’ve had a successful preparation week here in Doha,” said Carol Anne Chenard, an elite referee from Canada who also officiated at the 2011 and 2015 Women’s World Cups. “Everything was perfect; the conditions were great; the venues were amazing; we could not have asked for a better preparation. The whole team, including the VARs and all of the staff, did a great job. We are completely focused on the final steps leading up to our performance in France.” The state-of-the-art Aspire Academy dome that hosted practical training in the morning and the Qatar Amateur Cup matches in the evening provided the ideal conditions for this successful event, as did the perfect weather and beautifully manicured outdoor pitch for assistant referee and fitness training. “We prepare for the World Cup almost exactly like a national football team,” emphasised Seitz. “Just like players, our match officials focus on our tactical approach, uniformity, consistency, fair play and safety.” 

Pierluigi Collina, the chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, and Massimo Busacca, the FIFA Director of Refereeing, both attended the seminar. They were delighted with the hard work and dedication of the match officials, and confirmed that they would continue to provide their full support. They stated that the priorities of match officials at the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019 would be the same as at every other tournament: helping to ensure the safety of each player, upholding The IFAB Laws of the Game and protecting the integrity of each match. Seitz added: “We are definitely on the right track to meet or even exceed the demands of the game in France. The teamwork between match officials on the pitch and VARs in the video operations room has improved to an excellent level within a short time. As of today, I would say that we have reached the 90 per cent mark of the preparation phase. The remaining ten per cent will be achieved in Paris during our customary pre-competition seminar. We are happy with our progress and confident that the extensive preparations will lead to a reduction of mistakes in France as compared to previous World Cups.” From the much-anticipated whistle signalling the kick-off of the opening match between France and Korea Republic at the iconic Parc des Princes in Paris to the final whistle of the last game, referees, assistant referees and VARs are sure to demonstrate that the FIFA Referees Committee has placed its trust in the right team. 

Source: FIFA

Concacaf Champions League – Semi-finals (First Leg)

3-4 April 2019

Tigres UANL – Santos Laguna
Referee: Ismail Elfath (USA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Corey Parker (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Kyle Atkins (USA)
Fourth Official: Armando Villarreal (USA)

CF Monterrey – Sporting Kansas City
Referee: Mario Escobar (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Joseph Bertrand (TRI)
Assistant Referee 2: Humberto Panjoj (GUA)
Fourth Official: Daneon Parchment (JAM)

UEFA Youth League – Quarter-finals

2-3 April 2019

FC Barcelona – Olympique Lyonnais
Referee: Dennis Higler (NED, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Johan Balder (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Joost van Zuilen (NED)
Fourth Official: Rubén Ávalos Barrera (ESP)
Referee Observer: Lucílio Batista (POR)

FC Porto – FC Midtjylland
Referee: Andrew Dallas (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: David Doig (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Paul O'Neill (SCO)
Fourth Official: David Oliveira (POR)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

Chelsea FC – GNK Dinamo
Referee: Radu Petrescu (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Radu Ghinguleac (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mircea Grigoriu (ROU)
Fourth Official: John Busby (ENG)
Referee Observer: Stephen Lodge (ENG)

TSG Hoffenheim – Real Madrid
Referee: Nikola Dabanović (MNE)
Assistant Referee 1: Vladan Todorović (MNE)
Assistant Referee 2: Srdjan Jovanović (MNE)
Fourth Official: Patrick Alt (GER)
Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)