The UEFA Referees Committee approved the referee categories for the second half of the season 2017/2018. On the men’s list, Michael Oliver (photo) and Anthony Taylor (both from England) were added to the Elite category, while Andreas Ekberg (Sweden) has been promoted to Category 1. On the women`s list, four Elite referees retired: Teodora Albon and Cristina Dorcioman (both from Romania), Efthalia Mitsi (GRE) and Morag Pirie (SCO). There were minor changes on the futsal list, where female referees were added for the first time and combined with male referees into one list.
Men
Retired from Elite: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA), Paolo Tagliavento (ITA), Craig Thomson (SCO).
Promoted from First Category to Elite: Michael Oliver (ENG), Anthony Taylor (ENG).
Retired from First Category: Tony Chapron (FRA), Stefan Johannesson (SWE), Andre Marriner (ENG).
Promoted from Second Category to First Category: Andreas Ekberg (SWE).
Retired/removed from Second Category: Anatoliy Abdula (UKR), Svein-Erik Edvartsen (NOR), Antony Gautier (FRA), Gunnar Jonsson (ISL), Christos Nicolaides (CYP), Pavle Radovanovic (MNE), Ognjen Valjic (BIH), Ante Vucemilovic-Simunovic (CRO), Anatolii Zhabchenko (UKR).
New FIFA Referees entered directly in Second Category: Karim Abed (FRA), Stuart Attwell (ENG), Jerome Brisard (FRA), Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea (ESP), Marco Di Bello (ITA), Daniele Doveri (ITA), Paul Tierney (ENG).
Retired/removed from Third Category: Sascha Amhof (SUI), Dennis Antamo (FIN), Sven Bindels (LUX), Oleksandr Derdo (UKR), Markus Hameter (AUT), Nikolaj Hänni (SUI), Edin Jakupovic (BIH), Georgios Kyzas (GRE), Martin Lundby (NOR),Yurii Mozharovskyy (UKR), Dominik Ouschan (AUT), Petur Reinert (FRO), Lasha Silagava (GEO), Aleksandar Vasic (SRB), Nikolai Yordanov (BUL).
New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Kari a Hovdanum (FRO), Volen Chinkov (BUL), Timotheos Christofí (CYP), Yigal Frid (ISR), Danilo Grujic (SRB), Kristoffer Hagenes (NOR), Eldorjan Hamiti (ALB), Christopher Jäger (AUT), Nejc Kajtazovic (SVN), Kristoffer Karlsson (SWE), Besfort Kasumi (KVX), Yaroslav Kozyk (UKR), Ivar Kristjansson (ISL), Mykola Kryvonosov (UKR), Irakli Kvirikashvili (GEO), Milovan Milacic (MNE), Igor Pajac (CRO), Ioannis Papadopoulos (GRE), Dragan Petrovic (BIH), Christophe Pires Martins (LUX), Vitaly Romanov (UKR), Rohit Saggi (NOR), Urs Schnyder (SUI), Admir Sehovic (BIH), Denys Shurman (UKR), Lionel Tschudi (SUI), Petri Viljanen (FIN), Nick Walsh (SCO), Julian Weinberger (AUT), Juxhin Xhaja (ALB).
Retired from Elite: Teodora Albon (ROU), Cristina Dorcioman (ROU), Efthalia Mitsi (GRE), Morag Pirie (SCO).
Promoted from First Category to Elite: Lorraine Watson (SCO).
Retired/removed from First Category: Linn Andersson (SWE), Eleni Lampadariou (GRE), Severine Zinck (FRA).
Promoted from Second Category to First Category: Ivana Martincic (CRO).
Retired/removed from Second Category: Cathrine Eide (NOR), Zuzana Valentova (SVK).
Promoted from Third Category to Second Category: Rebecca Welch (ENG).
Retired/removed from Third Category: Jelena Banjeglav (SRB), Beatriz Gil Gozalo (ESP), Kristina Kazoroh (UKR), Dilek Kocbay (TUR), Eliska Kralovec-Kramlova (CZE),Yuliya Medvedeva (KAZ), Ana Soares Aguiar (POR).
New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Ainara Acevedo Dudley (ESP), Victoria Beyer (FRA), Briet Bragadottir (ISL), Catarina Ferreira Campos (POR),Emilie Rodahl Dokset (NOR), Lizzy van der Helm (NED), Jeļena Jermolajeva (LVA), Hanna Kaplainen (FIN), Veronika Kovarova (CZE), Marina Krupskaya (RUS),Cristina Paraluta (ROU), Jelena Pejkovic (CRO), Tamara Petric (SRB), Alina Pesu (ROU), Laura Rapp (SWE), Liudmila Telbukh (UKR), Cansu Tiryaki (TUR), Dimítra Tsaganou (GRE), Reelika Turi (EST), Ruth-Anne Wright (NIR).
Retired from Elite: Oleg Ivanov (UKR).
Retired from First Category: Pascal Lemal (BEL), Barry Weijers (NED).
Retired/removed from Second Category: Tarik Keco (BIH), Kalin Kinov (BUL), Simon Rogers (IRL), Daniele Di Resta (ITA), Damir Radovic (SRB).
Women referees added to Second Category: Raquel Gonzelez Ruano (ESP), Chiara Perona (ITA), Irina Velikanova (RUS).
New FIFA Referees entered directly in Second Category: Dario Pezzuto (ITA).
Retired/removed from Third Category: Martin Cilek (CZE), Toni Lehtinen (FIN), Konstantinos Kommatas (GRE), Guy Berger (ISR), Oren Simanian (ISR), Mario Cassar (MLT), Nikola Aleksic (SRB), Serhat Celik (TUR), Sabit Selvi (TUR).
Women referees added to Third Category: Katarzyna Netkowska (POL), Fatma Tursun (TUR).
New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Yasin Alageyik (BEL), Alem Bajrovic (BIH), Zoran Sofrenic (BIH), Ivo Tsenov (BUL), Filip Nesnera (CZE), Arttu Kyynaeraeinen (FIN), Raafat Al Hamola (ISR), Idan Berenshtein (ISR), Jacob Van Dijke (ISR), Tatiana Boltneva (RUS), Gordon McCabe (SCO), Nebojsa Panic (SRB), Tadija Stantic (SRB), Haris Curovac (SWE), Ugur Cakmak (TUR), Murat Colak (TUR), Denys Kutsyi (UKR).
Women
Retired from Elite: Teodora Albon (ROU), Cristina Dorcioman (ROU), Efthalia Mitsi (GRE), Morag Pirie (SCO).
Promoted from First Category to Elite: Lorraine Watson (SCO).
Retired/removed from First Category: Linn Andersson (SWE), Eleni Lampadariou (GRE), Severine Zinck (FRA).
Promoted from Second Category to First Category: Ivana Martincic (CRO).
Retired/removed from Second Category: Cathrine Eide (NOR), Zuzana Valentova (SVK).
Promoted from Third Category to Second Category: Rebecca Welch (ENG).
Retired/removed from Third Category: Jelena Banjeglav (SRB), Beatriz Gil Gozalo (ESP), Kristina Kazoroh (UKR), Dilek Kocbay (TUR), Eliska Kralovec-Kramlova (CZE),Yuliya Medvedeva (KAZ), Ana Soares Aguiar (POR).
New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Ainara Acevedo Dudley (ESP), Victoria Beyer (FRA), Briet Bragadottir (ISL), Catarina Ferreira Campos (POR),Emilie Rodahl Dokset (NOR), Lizzy van der Helm (NED), Jeļena Jermolajeva (LVA), Hanna Kaplainen (FIN), Veronika Kovarova (CZE), Marina Krupskaya (RUS),Cristina Paraluta (ROU), Jelena Pejkovic (CRO), Tamara Petric (SRB), Alina Pesu (ROU), Laura Rapp (SWE), Liudmila Telbukh (UKR), Cansu Tiryaki (TUR), Dimítra Tsaganou (GRE), Reelika Turi (EST), Ruth-Anne Wright (NIR).
Futsal
Retired from Elite: Oleg Ivanov (UKR).
Retired from First Category: Pascal Lemal (BEL), Barry Weijers (NED).
Retired/removed from Second Category: Tarik Keco (BIH), Kalin Kinov (BUL), Simon Rogers (IRL), Daniele Di Resta (ITA), Damir Radovic (SRB).
Women referees added to Second Category: Raquel Gonzelez Ruano (ESP), Chiara Perona (ITA), Irina Velikanova (RUS).
New FIFA Referees entered directly in Second Category: Dario Pezzuto (ITA).
Retired/removed from Third Category: Martin Cilek (CZE), Toni Lehtinen (FIN), Konstantinos Kommatas (GRE), Guy Berger (ISR), Oren Simanian (ISR), Mario Cassar (MLT), Nikola Aleksic (SRB), Serhat Celik (TUR), Sabit Selvi (TUR).
Women referees added to Third Category: Katarzyna Netkowska (POL), Fatma Tursun (TUR).
New FIFA Referees entered in Third Category: Yasin Alageyik (BEL), Alem Bajrovic (BIH), Zoran Sofrenic (BIH), Ivo Tsenov (BUL), Filip Nesnera (CZE), Arttu Kyynaeraeinen (FIN), Raafat Al Hamola (ISR), Idan Berenshtein (ISR), Jacob Van Dijke (ISR), Tatiana Boltneva (RUS), Gordon McCabe (SCO), Nebojsa Panic (SRB), Tadija Stantic (SRB), Haris Curovac (SWE), Ugur Cakmak (TUR), Murat Colak (TUR), Denys Kutsyi (UKR).