Felix Brych has achieved something unprecedented at Euro 2020. The German referee was entrusted with refereeing five matches by Roberto Rosetti, the chairman of the UEFA Referees Committee - a number that had never been seen before in the history of this continental tournament. Even at the World Cup, only four referees reached this number: Horacio Elizondo and Benito Archundia in 2006, Ravshan Irmatov in 2010 and Nestor Pitana in 2018. But only the absolute number is the same, because at a World Cup there are more teams (32 instead of 24, fewer in the past) and thus more opportunities (64 instead of 51 games at Euro) for a referee to get a match. In relative terms, Brych has the world's record for most matches refereed at a major international event for national teams. No wonder that the lawyer from Munich now said: "I was still missing a big, successful international tournament in my career. Now my career feels perfect." So perfect that he decided to take a surprising step and said: That was it!
"At the Euro I was extremely focused for weeks, otherwise you can't compete successfully in a tournament like this," said Brych. "I don't think I can repeat this performance or motivation. That's why I decided not to referee another tournament and to end my international career at the end of the year." Brych, says Lutz-Michael Fröhlich, the sporting director of elite referees at the DFB, "is the referee with the most games in the Champions League, has participated in five major FIFA and UEFA tournaments, including a Champions League final (2017). Many of the games he was assigned for in the course of his career were very explosive and difficult to manage. Felix rounds off his exceptionally successful international referee career with his great performance at the Euro."
The 45-year-old could have attended some other big events in the future. Exactly how many cannot be estimated, because internationally the fixed age limit for referees is no longer taken so strictly. This is shown by the example of Björn Kuipers, the final referee of Euro 2020. The Dutchman was already 48 years old during the final between Italy and England and the end of his career has not yet been officially announced. He will celebrate his 49th birthday on 28 March 2022. When Brych gets that old, the Euro 2024 will take place in Germany. But this is no longer an objective for him after his announced resignation. He will continue in Bundesliga, where he can and wants to be active for two more seasons, according to the currently valid and practiced age limit.
Source: Kicker
