Italian referee Gionni Matticoli celebrated his 300th beach soccer match when he refereed the final of the recent Euro Winners Cup. Mattocoli refereed 190 international and 110 national matches in his career and this was his 12th final, a long list of achievements that began to in 2013 at the very first edition of the Euro Winners Cup held in San Benedetto del Tronto.
The Euro Winners Cup is a competition organized by Beach Soccer Worldwide and reserved for the winning clubs of their respective national championships and others of the best in Europe. The 7th edition was held this month in Nazaré, a Portuguese town which is now a consolidated venue for various beach soccer competitions, hosting 26 men's and 5 women's clubs from all over Europe. There were 18 referees appointed, including three Italians: Gionni Matticoli, Saverio Bottalico and Fiammetta Susanna. The refereeing team was led by another Italian, FIFA instructor Michele Conti, also a member of the National Committee of the Italian Referees Association. Bottalico, who in the days preceding the Tournament had directed the decisive match of the Euro Beach Soccer League between Portugal and Switzerland, was assigned the semi-final between the Spaniards of CD FP Marbella and the Russians of BSC Kristall, and then we was the third referee in the final, along with his compatriot Matticoli and German Torsten Gunther, played between the Russians of BSC Kristall and the Portuguese of SC Braga, currently holders of the title. Susanna led the referee team for the decisive match of the Euro Winners Cup Woman, made up of German colleague Annett Unterbeck and Hungarian Renata Foris. A "non-final final" as the five women's clubs that participated in the tournament faced each other in a single round and the match between the Russian WFC Zvezda and the Spanish CFP Caceres was decisive for assigning the women’s title.
Source: AIA
