UEFA U-17 Euro Final 2025: Derevinskyi (UKR)

1 June 2025

France – Portugal
Referee: Oleksii Derevinskyi UKR (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksii Myronov UKR
Assistant Referee 2: Christopher Rae SCO
Fourth Official: Joey Kooij NED
Referee Observer: Björn Kuipers NED

Concacaf Champions Cup Final 2025: Lopez (GUA)

1 June 2025

Cruz Azul – Vancouver Whitecaps
Referee: Walter Lopez GUA (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Keytzel Corrales NCA
Assistant Referee 2: Raymundo Feliz DOM
Fourth Official: Ismael Cornejo SLV
VAR: Benjamin Pineda CRC
AVAR: Ivan Barton SLV

UEFA Women's Nations League 2025/26 – Group Stage (Matchday 5)

30 May 2025

Italy – Sweden
Referee: Stéphanie Frappart FRA (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Camille Soriano FRA
Assistant Referee 2: Élodie Coppola FRA
Fourth Official: Élisa Daupeux FRA
Referee Observer: Elke Günther GER

Kazakhstan – Liechtenstein
Referee: Anna Adamska POL
Assistant Referee 1: Julia Bukarowicz POL
Assistant Referee 2: Angelika Nowak POL
Fourth Official: Michalina Diakow POL
Referee Observer: Carina Vitulano ITA

Azerbaijan – Lithuania
Referee: Sapir Berman ISR
Assistant Referee 1: Mai Moalem ISR
Assistant Referee 2: Nofar Skorka ISR
Fourth Official: Shada Dahamshi ISR
Referee Observer: Sjoukje de Jong NED

Romania – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Referee: Olivia Tschon AUT
Assistant Referee 1: Biljana Iskin AUT
Assistant Referee 2: Lara Anderson AUT
Fourth Official: Marina Zechner AUT
Referee Observer: Aneliya Sinabova BUL

Czechia – Croatia
Referee: Karoline Wacker GER
Assistant Referee 1: Daniela Göttlinger GER
Assistant Referee 2: Jessica Bergmann GER
Fourth Official: Miriam Schwermer GER
Referee Observer: Petra Pavlíková SVK

Slovakia – Gibraltar
Referee: Iríni Pingíou GRE
Assistant Referee 1: Georgía Komisopoúlou GRE
Assistant Referee 2: María Détsi GRE
Fourth Official: Eléni Antoníou GRE
Referee Observer: Ivana Vlahić BIH

Estonia – Israel
Referee: Charlotte Carpenter WAL
Assistant Referee 1: Ceri Williams WAL
Assistant Referee 2: Michelle Portelli WAL
Fourth Official: Louise Thompson NIR
Referee Observer: Sofia Karagiorgi CYP

Slovenia – Greece
Referee: Réka Molnár HUN
Assistant Referee 1: Judit Gavalla-Kulcsár HUN
Assistant Referee 2: Nikolett Bizderi HUN
Fourth Official: Fanni Kovács HUN
Referee Observer: Anja Kunick GER

Latvia – North Macedonia
Referee: Mzevinari Sharashanidze GEO
Assistant Referee 1: Elene Eloshvili GEO
Assistant Referee 2: Sopo Tsulaia GEO
Fourth Official: Teona Sturua GEO
Referee Observer: Lale Orta TUR

Turkiye – Ireland
Referee: Kristina Georgieva BUL
Assistant Referee 1: Dorieta Valeva BUL
Assistant Referee 2: Liliya Dumbalakova BUL
Fourth Official: Galiya Echeva BUL
Referee Observer: Gyöngyi Gaál HUN

Serbia – Hungary
Referee: Kirsty Dowle ENG
Assistant Referee 1: Emily Carney ENG
Assistant Referee 2: Grace Lowe ENG
Fourth Official: Melissa Burgin ENG
Referee Observer: Marta Frías Acedo ESP

Ukraine – Albania
Referee: Caroline Lanssens BEL
Assistant Referee 1: Margot Jacobs BEL
Assistant Referee 2: Maria Étienne BEL
Fourth Official: Michel Allaerts BEL
Referee Observer: Katarzyna Wierzbowska POL

Moldova – Faroe Islands
Referee: Jelena Medjedović SRB
Assistant Referee 1: Aleksandra Kostić SRB
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Milošević SRB
Fourth Official: Jasmina Mickoska SRB
Referee Observer: Sandra Renon FRA

Malta – Cyprus
Referee: Sabina Bolić CRO
Assistant Referee 1: Ivona Pejić CRO
Assistant Referee 2: Gordana Katušić CRO
Fourth Official: Ivana Martinčić CRO
Referee Observer: Galina Doneva BUL

Andorra – Georgia
Referee: Vesna Miletić BIH
Assistant Referee 1: Aida Jusufović BIH
Assistant Referee 2: Merima Homarac BIH
Fourth Official: Nejra Halać BIH
Referee Observer: Cristina Babadac ROU

Luxembourg – Armenia
Referee: Frederikke Sokjær DEN
Assistant Referee 1: Katrine Stensholm DEN
Assistant Referee 2: Anna Schmidt DEN
Fourth Official: Kasper Madsen DEN
Referee Observer: Jelena Banjeglav-Rankov SRB

Denmark – Wales
Referee: Catarina Campos POR
Assistant Referee 1: Andreia Sousa POR
Assistant Referee 2: Vanessa Gomes POR
Fourth Official: Raquel Correia POR
Referee Observer: Aušra Kance LTU

Norway – Iceland
Referee: Olatz Rivera Olmedo ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Iragartze Fernández Esesúmaga ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Belinda Castilla Mesa ESP
Fourth Official: Amy Penalver Pearce ESP
Referee Observer: Ana Minić SRB

Northern Ireland – Poland
Referee: Minka Vekkeli FIN
Assistant Referee 1: Heini Hyvönen FIN
Assistant Referee 2: Alisa Levälampi FIN
Fourth Official: Satu Miettunen FIN
Referee Observer: Claudine Brohet BEL

Belarus – Finland
Referee: Merima Čelik BIH
Assistant Referee 1: Tamara Došen BIH
Assistant Referee 2: Merima Tanović BIH
Fourth Official: Almasa Hodžić BIH
Referee Observer: Graziella Pirriatore ITA

Germany – Netherlands
Referee: Alina Peșu ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Daniela Constantinescu ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Svitlana Hrushko UKR
Fourth Official: Maria Vălușescu ROU
Referee Observer: Miroslava Migalová SVK

Belgium – Spain
Referee: Ewa Augustyn POL
Assistant Referee 1: Paulina Baranowska POL
Assistant Referee 2: Irina Pozdejeva LTU
Fourth Official: Katarzyna Lisiecka-Sęk POL
Referee Observer: Hilda McDermott IRL

Scotland – Austria
Referee: Marta Huerta de Aza ESP
Assistant Referee 1: Guadalupe Porras Ayuso ESP
Assistant Referee 2: Eliana Fernández González ESP
Fourth Official: Ainara Acevedo Dudley ESP
Referee Observer: Bente Skogvang NOR

England – Portugal
Referee: Frida Klarlund DEN
Assistant Referee 1: Fie Bruun DEN
Assistant Referee 2: Amina Gutschi AUT
Fourth Official: Julie Thomsen DEN
Referee Observer: Emilia Wnuk POL

France – Switzerland
Referee: Iuliana Demetrescu ROU
Assistant Referee 1: Mihaela Țepușă ROU
Assistant Referee 2: Roxana Ivanov ROU
Fourth Official: Ana Terteleac ROU
Referee Observer: Ingrid Jonsson SWE

CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2025 – Group Stage (Matchday 6)

27-29 May 2025

Vasco da Gama – Melgar
Referee: John Ospina COL (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: John Gallego COL
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Ortiz COL
Fourth Official: Carlos Betancur COL
VAR: Keiner Jimenez COL
AVAR: Sebastian Vela COL
Referee Assessor: Marcelo Rogerio BRA
VAR Supervisor: Jorge Mercado PAR

Lanus – Academia Puerto Cabello
Referee: Ivo Mendez BOL
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Tapia BOL
Assistant Referee 2: Ruben Flores BOL
Fourth Official: Christian Aleman BOL
VAR: Jorge Justiniano BOL
AVAR: Alejandra Quisbert BOL
Referee Assessor: Ricardo Casas ARG
VAR Supervisor: Christian Schiemann CHI

Huracan – Corinthians
Referee: Gery Vargas BOL
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Antelo BOL
Assistant Referee 2: Edwar Saavedra BOL
Fourth Official: Javier Revollo BOL
VAR: Wilfredo Campos BOL
AVAR: Juan Garcia BOL
Referee Assessor: Hector Baldassi ARG
VAR Supervisor: Cesar Escano PER

America de Cali – Racing
Referee: Alejandro Velazquez VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Jorge Urrego VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Ponte VEN
Fourth Official: Rafael Torres VEN
VAR: Angel Arteaga VEN
AVAR: Carlos Lopez VEN
Referee Assessor: Abraham Gonzalez COL
VAR Supervisor: Oscar Viera PAR

Independiente – Nacional de Potosi
Referee: Paulo Zanovelli BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Danilo Manis BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Nailton Sousa BRA
Fourth Official: Rafael Klein BRA
VAR: Pablo Gonçalves BRA
AVAR: Daniel Nobre BRA
Referee Assessor: Hector Baldassi ARG
VAR Supervisor: Carlos Pastorino URU

Guarani – Boston River
Referee: Bryan Loayza ECU
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Lescano ECU
Assistant Referee 2: Dennys Guerrero ECU
Fourth Official: Anthony Diaz ECU
VAR: Roberto Sanchez ECU
AVAR: Gabriel Gonzalez ECU
Referee Assessor: Cynthia Franco PAR
VAR Supervisor: Ednilson Corona BRA

Defensa y Justicia – Cerro Largo
Referee: Emikar Calderas VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Migdalia Rodriguez VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Mary Blanco COL
Fourth Official: Paula Fernandez COL
VAR: Milagros Arruela PER
AVAR: Stefani Escobar VEN
Referee Assessor: Luzmila Gonzalez COL
VAR Supervisor: Sandra Zambrano ECU

Universidad Catolica – Vitoria
Referee: Yender Herrera VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Tulio Moreno VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Erizon Nieto VEN
Fourth Official: Yeferson Miranda VEN
VAR: Yorman Delgado VEN
AVAR: Reyes Soto VEN
Referee Assessor: Juan Corozo ECU
VAR Supervisor: Sebastian Restrepo COL

Palestino – Mushuc Runa
Referee: Hernan Heras URU
Assistant Referee 1: Horacio Ferreira URU
Assistant Referee 2: Andres Nievas URU
Fourth Official: Nadia Fuques URU
VAR: Antonio Garcia URU
AVAR: Agustin Berisso URU
Referee Assessor: Juan Lugones BOL
VAR Supervisor: Angel Sanchez ARG

Cruzeiro – Union de Santa Fe
Referee: Blas Romero PAR
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo PAR
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Canete PAR
Fourth Official: David Ojeda PAR
VAR: Jose Mendez PAR
AVAR: Luis Onieva PAR
Referee Assessor: Leandro Vuaden BRA
VAR Supervisor: Julio Bascunan CHI

Godoy Cruz – Atletico Grau
Referee: Javier Revollo BOL
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Antelo BOL
Assistant Referee 2: Edwar Saavedra BOL
Fourth Official: Gery Vargas BOL
VAR: Jorge Justiniano BOL
AVAR: Alejandra Quisbert BOL
Referee Assessor: Ricardo Casas ARG
VAR Supervisor: Christian Schiemann CHI

Gremio – Sportivo Luqueno
Referee: Jose Cabero CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Rocha CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Venegas CHI
Fourth Official: Diego Flores CHI
VAR: Rodrigo Carvajal CHI
AVAR: Marcia Castillo CHI
Referee Assessor: Roberto Perassi BRA
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Lamouroux COL

Caracas – Deportes Iquique
Referee: Alex Cajas ECU
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Baren ECU
Assistant Referee 2: Danny Avila ECU
Fourth Official: Yerson Zambrano ECU
VAR: Jefferson Macias ECU
AVAR: Byron Romero ECU
Referee Assessor: Candelario Andarcia VEN
VAR Supervisor: Joel Ruiz PAR

Atletico Mineiro – Cienciano
Referee: Juan Benitez PAR
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar PAR
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Villagra PAR
Fourth Official: Carlos Benitez PAR
VAR: Ulises Mereles PAR
AVAR: Eduardo Britos PAR
Referee Assessor: Leandro Vuaden BRA
VAR Supervisor: Julio Bascunan CHI

Fluminense – Once Caldas
Referee: Dario Herrera ARG
Assistant Referee 1: Crisitian Navarro ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Pablo Gonzalez ARG
Fourth Official: Sebastian Martinez ARG
VAR: Silvio Trucco ARG
AVAR: Jorge Balino ARG
Referee Assessor: Ricardo Marques BRA
VAR Supervisor: Marcelo de Leon URU

Union Espanola – GV San Jose
Referee: Edina Alves BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Neuza Back BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Fabrini Bevilaqua BRA
Fourth Official: Marcelly Zambrano ECU
VAR: Charly Straud BRA
AVAR: Monica Amboya ECU
Referee Assessor: Cleidy Riveiro BRA
VAR Supervisor: Sabrina Lois ARG

CONMEBOL Libertadores 2025 – Group Stage (Matchday 6)

27-29 May 2025

Libertad – Alianza Lima
Referee: Esteban Ostojich URU (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Soppi URU
Assistant Referee 2: Pablo Llarena URU
Fourth Official: Jose Burgos URU
VAR: Andres Cunha URU
AVAR: Santiago Fernandez URU
Referee Assessor: Ubaldo Aquino PAR
VAR Supervisor: Roberto Silvera UR

Sao Paulo – Talleres
Referee: Piero Maza CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Rocha CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Venegas CHI
Fourth Official: Diego Flores CHI
VAR: Francisco Gilabert CHI
AVAR: Edson Cisternas CHI
Referee Assessor: Hilton Moutinho BRA
VAR Supervisor: Juan Cardellino URU

Botafogo – Universidad de Chile
Referee: Andres Rojas COL
Assistant Referee 1: Alexander Guzman COL
Assistant Referee 2: Cristian Aguirre COL
Fourth Official: Jose Ortiz COL
VAR: Heider Castro COL
AVAR: Nataly Arteaga COL
Referee Assessor: Ricardo Marques BRA
VAR Supervisor: Marcelo de Leon URU

Estudiantes de La Plata – Carabobo
Referee: Augusto Menendez PER
Assistant Referee 1: Jesus Sanchez PER
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Castillo PER
Fourth Official: Daniel Ureta PER
VAR: Joel Alarcon PER
AVAR: Diego Jaimes PER
Referee Assessor: Manuel Bernal PAR
VAR Supervisor: Sandra Zambrano ECU

River Plate – Universitario
Referee: Raphael Claus BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Danilo Manis BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Nailton Sousa BRA
Fourth Official: Bruno Arleu BRA
VAR: Daniel Nobre BRA
AVAR: Pablo Gonçalves BRA
Referee Assessor: Sergio Viola ARG
VAR Supervisor: Carlos Pastorino URU

Independiente Del Valle – Barcelona
Referee: Cristian Garay CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Retamal CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Alejandro Molina CHI
Fourth Official: Dione Rissios CHI
VAR: Benjamin Saravia CHI
AVAR: Miguel Araos CHI
Referee Assessor: Jose Espinel ECU
VAR Supervisor: Victor Martinez PAR

Nacional – Atletico Nacional
Referee: Maximiliano Ramirez ARG
Assistant Referee 1: Maximiliano Del Yesso ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Facundo Rodriguez ARG
Fourth Official: Nazareno Arasa ARG
VAR: German Delfino ARG
AVAR: Pablo Dovalo ARG
Referee Assessor: Fernando Falce URU
VAR Supervisor: Luis Vera ECU

Internacional – Bahia
Referee: Facundo Tello ARG
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Belatti ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Chade ARG
Fourth Official: Sebastian Zunino ARG
VAR: Hector Paletta ARG
AVAR: Nicolas Lamolina ARG
Referee Assessor: Roberto Perassi BRA
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Lamouroux COL

Bolivar – Cerro Porteno
Referee: Andres Matonte URU
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Taran URU
Assistant Referee 2: Mathias Muniz URU
Fourth Official: Alberto Feres URU
VAR: Christian Ferreyra URU
AVAR: Richard Trinidad URU
Referee Assessor: Pedro Saucedo BOL
VAR Supervisor: Oswaldo Segura ECU

Palmeiras – Sporting Cristal
Referee: Wilmar Roldan COL
Assistant Referee 1: John Leon COL
Assistant Referee 2: David Fuentes COL
Fourth Official: Guillermo Guerrero ECU
VAR: Leonard Mosquera COL
AVAR: Luis Picon COL
Referee Assessor: Hilton Moutinho BRA
VAR Supervisor: Juan Cardellino URU

Flamengo – Deportivo Tachira
Referee: Carlos Ortega COL
Assistant Referee 1: John Gallego COL
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Ortiz COL
Fourth Official: Carlos Betancur COL
VAR: Keiner Jimenez COL
AVAR: Sebastian Vela COL
Referee Assessor: Marcelo Rogerio BRA
VAR Supervisor: Jorge Mercado PAR

LDU Quito – Central Cordoba
Referee: Felipe Gonzalez CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Retamal CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Alejandro Molina CHI
Fourth Official: Dione Rissios CHI
VAR: Benjamin Saravia CHI
AVAR: Miguel Araos CHI
Referee Assessor: Jose Carpio ECU
VAR Supervisor: Victor Martinez PAR

Penarol – Velez Sarsfield
Referee: Anderson Daronco BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Rodrigo Correa BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Alex Ang BRA
Fourth Official: Rodrigo Pereira BRA
VAR: Rodolpho Toski BRA
AVAR: Rodrigo D’Alonso BRA
Referee Assessor: Oscar Maldonado BOL
VAR Supervisor: Luis Vera ECU

Olimpia – San Antonio
Referee: Flavio Souza BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Guilherme Camilo BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Mayra Mastella BRA
Fourth Official: Bruno Arleu BRA
VAR: Wagner Reway BRA
AVAR: Rodrigo Guarizo BRA
Referee Assessor: Juan Zorrilla PAR
VAR Supervisor: Roberto Silvera URU

Colo Colo – Atletico Bucaramanga
Referee: Kevin Ortega PER
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Orue PER
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Atoche PER
Fourth Official: Michael Espinoza PER
VAR: Diego Haro PER
AVAR: Edwin Ordonez PER
Referee Assessor: Jorge Antequera BOL
VAR Supervisor: Angel Sanchez ARG

Racing Club – Fortaleza
Referee: Alexis Herrera VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Lubin Torrealba VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Antoni Garcia VEN
Fourth Official: Rony Cueva VEN
VAR: Juan Soto VEN
AVAR: Marco Suarez VEN
Referee Assessor: Sergio Viola ARG
VAR Supervisor: Cesar Escano PER

AFC Women’s Champions League Final 2025: Koizumi (JPN)

24 May 2025

Melbourne City FC – Wuhan Jiangda
Referee: Asaka Koizumi JPN (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Makoto Bozono JPN
Assistant Referee 2: Ikki Chihiro JPN
Fourth Official: Pansa Chaisanit THA
Reserve AR: Amal Badhafari UAE
VAR: Abdullah Al-Shehri KSA
AVAR: Edita Mirabidova UZB
Referee Assessor: Aye Thein MYA

AFC Champions League Two Final 2025: Mahfoodh (BHR)

18 May 2025

Lion City Sailors – Sharjah FC
Referee: Ammar Mahfoodh BHR (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mohamed Salman BHR
Assistant Referee 2: Abdulla Al-Rowaimi BHR
Fourth Official: Mohamed Deham BHR
Reserve AR: Faisal Al-Awi BHR
VAR: Khamis Al-Marri QAT
AVAR: Meshari Al-Shamari QAT

AFC Challenge League Final 2025: Hee-Gon (KOR)

10 May 2025

Preah Khan Rieng – FC Arkadag
Referee: Kim Hee-Gon KOR (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Yoon Jae-Yeol KOR
Assistant Referee 2: Cheon Jin-Hee KOR
Fourth Official: Kim Dae-Yong KOR
Reserve AR: Bang Gi-Yeol KOR
VAR: Kim Woo-Sung KOR
AVAR: Chae Sang-Hyeop KOR

Concacaf Women’s Champions Cup Final 2025: Araya (CRC)

24 May 2025

Tigres UANL – Gotham FC
Referee: Marianela Araya CRC (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Shirley Perello HON
Assistant Referee 2: Lourdes Noriega HON
Fourth Official: Crystal Sobers TRI

FIFA Club World Cup 2025 – Play-In Match

31 May 2025

Los Angeles FC – Club America
Referee: Wilton Sampaio BRA (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Boschilia BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Pires BRA
Fourth Official: Ramon Abatti BRA

Reserve AR: Rafael Alves BRA

VAR: Nicolas Gallo COL

AVAR: Leodan Gonzalez URU

CAF Confederation Cup Final 2025

First Leg, 17 May 2025

RS Berkane – Simba
Referee: Pierre Atcho GAB (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Boris Ditsoga GAB
Assistant Referee 2: Eric Ulrich BEN
Fourth Official: Patrice Mebiame GAB
VAR: Abongile Tom RSA
AVAR 1: Maria Rivet MRI
AVAR 2: Diana Chikotesha ZAM

Second Leg, 25 May 2025

Simba – RS Berkane
Referee: Dahane Beida MTN
Assistant Referee 1: Gerson Dos Santos ANG
Assistant Referee 2: Adou N’Goh CIV
Fourth Official: Abdelaziz Bouh MTN
VAR: Issa Sy CIV
AVAR 1: Akhona Makhalima RSA
AVAR 2: Arsenio Marengula MOZ

AFC Women’s Futsal Asian Cup Final 2025: Liang & Zhu (CHN)

17 May 2025

Thailand – Japan
Referee 1: Liang Qingyun CHN
Referee 2: Zhu Xin CHN

Brych blows final whistle of his career

German refereeing legend Felix Brych is to close the curtain on over 20 years of officiating in the topflight when Augsburg host Union Berlin on Matchday 34. The end-of-season encounter on Saturday (3.30pm) will be the last to feature a very familiar face for long-time followers of the Bundesliga and of European football. No other referee has officiated as many matches in both the Bundesliga (358) and the UEFA Champions League (69) as 49-year-old Felix Brych.

Byrch says ahead of his last match behind the whistle: "I am leaving in the best of spirits. I have a great time past me to think of and am looking forward to what comes next." He added it has been worth "giving absolutely everything" into every single match of his long career. It all began in 2001 in Duisburg, as Brych officiated the first of 139 Bundesliga 2 matches (with the hosts facing Reutlingen). Berlin's Olympiastadion was the venue in 2004 when Brych made his Bundesliga debut as Hertha Berlin drew 1-1 with Mainz. He would return to that iconic ground to lead two DFB Cup finals, in 2015 and 2021. His high regard in UEFA saw to him being appointed referee for both the 2017 UEFA Champions League final and 2014 Europa League final.

Brych naturally made the occasional mistake over his long time in officiating, most notably in an October 2013 encounter between Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen as Stefan Kießling headed into the side netting - and through a hole in the net that saw it enter the goal. He admitted allowing the goal had been "extremely stupid" in a later book. The referee had the honesty to explain how the error came around, saying that he and his assistants "had been too distracted the previous evening by thinking about the World Cup than the task in hand" as a qualifier his team of officials had recently taken charge of paved the way for his inclusion on the 2014 World Cup officiating list. Despite the mishap in Sinsheim, Brych's eagerness to always be looking for ways to improve himself was rewarded in the years to come with his appointment for the 2017 Champions League final. Additionally, Brych officiated five matches at the Euro 2021, which marked another record for the referee.

One of his greatest personal accomplishments, however, came during his 344th Bundesliga match as an official, in which he equaled Wolfgang Stark's record. Brych tore his cruciate ligament, but just nine months later, he was back, whistle in tow and with his usual confidence. "To make a comeback at the age of 49 after a cruciate ligament rupture is even bigger than the record for me," the referee said of his return. As if that wasn't impressive enough, just one day after his injury, Brych stayed true to his word, limping into an education centre in Frankfurt to deliver a seminar to apsiring, young referees, as had previously been agreed. So it is that this weekend, a true, conscientious professional bids his final farewell.

Source: Bundesliga

Rapallini named Technical Manager of Refereeing in Argentina

The new Technical Manager of Argentine referees, Fernando Rapallini, spoke about its new function, its role, the objectives and the challenges ahead in 2025.

AFA: How do you face this new challenge?

Fernando Rapallini: I face it with a lot of joy and a lot of responsibility. It's a very nice charge and the idea is to give back to refereeing what refereeing gave me. We will try to live up to it and to be able to give referees the experience gained over all these years at both the national and international levels. I am very happy and grateful to the authorities for trusting me.

- What will be your role within the referee structure?

- I am going to be the Technical Manager of Refereeing. I will be in charge of the entire training, development and instruction for all referees, from the youngest to the greatest. For all categories. Of course, with the support of all instructors in each area. The main idea is to set up a clear and uniform line for all the referees of Argentine football.

- You had a lot of international participation in recent years, how much did that experience serve you?

- The truth is that having had the possibility to referee on all continents, except Oceania, was very important to me. I was lucky enough to referee matches at the U-20 World Cup, FIFA World Cup, Club World Cup, and being the first non-European referee at Euro, in addition to Copa America. After that, I was also hired by leagues from different parts of the world to referee matches. I was also an instructor in the United Arab Emirates League. All that development allowed me to have different views on football and refereeing. There are different cultures and different idiosyncrasies, and I have learned from all of them. Not everywhere matches are refereed in the same way and with the same methods in competitions, both at the national and international levels. That allowed me to be more versatile and flexible and work under great pressure. I hope to use all that experience so that our referees can quickly acquire knowledge and have more tools to solve the problems that may arise. The important thing is that they can be better. With better referees, we will have better football and that's what we aspire to.

- How important is this new stage in your life for your professional career?

- It is very important. I graduated from the referee school in 2000 and joined AFA in 2001. From that moment until now my entire journey was inside football. Now, being able to hold a position of such importance and so much responsibility and to remain linked to refereeing is a very important objective and challenge for me. It is a dream to be where I am and work with who I am working with, honestly.

- What targets do you have for 2025?

- The ability to continue to learn, to continue to develop, to grow refereeing, to find new talents, to form new referees, to try to improve what is being done well and try to correct what was done wrong. Implement new technologies with neurocognitive platforms to train, there is a very large field to develop, and I think refereeing needs that. Not for lack of work, but quite the contrary, because the world evolves and refereeing must go hand in hand with that evolution.

- What are you looking to improve or enhance in your new position?

- One of the clear objectives and most important goals is to be able to unify procedures. Not the criteria because that's everyone's. But the procedures through considerations to make sanctions or decision-making on the field as uniform as possible in similar situations. Try to develop new things like a project regarding the entire structure of refereeing, new technologies and be able to lower the age at which referees reach the first division. Today the age range is a little higher than the rest of South America. While the Argentine refereeing is one of the best in the world and, therefore, also on our continent, it has a somewhat higher age range than the average and it would be good to lower it a little. It's a long project and a job that will take time but we are looking forward to that challenge.

Source: AFA

UEFA Champions League Final 2025: Kovacs (ROU)

It has been a year to savour for István Kovács. Twelve months ago, the Romanian was rounding off an impressive club season by taking the whistle for Atalanta's UEFA Europa League triumph in Dublin before going on to officiate two matches at EURO 2024. At the same time, he also became a father for the first time, and despite the impact of a busy family life, has enjoyed another excellent campaign during 2024/25, leading to his appointment for Saturday's Champions League final in Munich. It will make Kovács the first man to have refereed the final of each of UEFA's current major club competitions, having taken charge of the inaugural Conference League final in 2022. It will be a proud moment for the 40-year-old, himself a former player in Romania's third tier, and below he discusses the appointment, his approach to games and just what the Champions League means to him.

- István, congratulations on the appointment. How did it feel when you received the news?

- It was amazing to receive the call from [UEFA managing director for refereeing] Roberto Rosetti. It was a very happy call, and it's an overwhelming feeling after so many years of hard work, to be awarded the biggest club competition match in the world. At the start of every season, you dream of refereeing a final, the Champions League is the biggest thing you can achieve, and I am very pleased, not just for me, but for my colleagues as well. I'd like to thank UEFA, the Referees Committee, the Romanian Football Federation, and everybody who has helped us along the way, in particular our referees’ chairman, Kyros Vassaras, who has done a fantastic job over the past eleven years, and my mentor, István Szilágyi who has been with me since I started refereeing.

- It has been a very special year for you…

- Yes, the arrival of our son, who is ten months old now, has really changed our lives in a positive way. As referees, we travel a lot, but when I arrive home, I try to spend all of my time with the family. I am lucky to be able to do this.

- Do you have your own favourite UEFA Champions League memories from down the years?

- Yes, of course. One was 1997 with Borussia Dortmund, when Lars Ricken was substituted in and with his first touch of the ball, scored a very nice goal from about 35 metres. The second for me was 1999, when Manchester United turned the result at the very end. Each Monday, I would watch a show called Euro Goals, one hour of European football, and I was desperate to be a part of this competition.

- Does it help you as a referee to have played at a high level?

- I was a midfielder and played in the third division, not bad, and I think it can help to understand the feelings and emotions of the players. I can relate a little bit to what they are going through on the pitch. Sometimes, you can also get a feel for when a physical contact was intentional or not. I understand the tactics quite well and this is also a big part of our preparation. UEFA provides technical analysis for the officials, and I like to spend hours going through this. Of course, physical fitness is also important. Today's football is very physical, very dynamic and demanding, with a lot of fast transitions, so it's important to be fit.

- What is your preparation like on the day of a match?

- Usually, I don’t take breakfast. I'll go with my team for a short walk for around an hour and have a drink of tea and some cookies. At around one o'clock, I take lunch, usually chicken and pasta with salad, and after that will sleep for one to two hours. Three hours before the game, I'll be up and listening to some music, shower and shave and then I'm ready to go to the stadium, completely focused and ready to go. (Source: UEFA)

31 May 2025
Paris St. Germain – Inter Milano
Referee: István Kovács (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mihai Marica (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Ferencz Tunyogi (ROU)
Fourth Official: Joao Pinheiro (POR)
Reserve AR: Bruno Jesus (POR)
VAR: Dennis Higler (NED)
AVAR: Catalin Popa (ROU)
SVAR: Paulus van Boekel (NED)

Referee Observer: Björn Kuipers (NED)

UEFA Europa League Final 2025: Zwayer (GER)

As two English clubs prepare for Wednesday’s UEFA Europa League final, guided by Australian and Portuguese coaches, it’s a German referee who will quietly oversee proceedings on the pitch in Bilbao. Felix Zwayer, a seasoned international referee with over a decade of experience at the highest level, has been appointed to officiate the showpiece event between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. Zwayer, who turns 44 two days before Wednesday's final, brings a wealth of experience to the role, having overseen key fixtures across UEFA competitions this season, most recently the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal. The Europa League marks a second major UEFA final for Zwayer, following the 2023 Nations League decider, and adds to a résumé that also includes four matches at last summer's EURO 2024. Away from football, Zwayer is a married father of two, and is also a partner in a real estate company. Below, he reflects on his journey to the top, the pressures and privileges of refereeing on the European stage, and what it means to officiate one of the biggest nights in the club football calendar.

- Felix, congratulations on the appointment. How did you feel when you received the news?

- When I spoke to [UEFA managing director for refereeing] Roberto Rosetti, it was a big moment, I was really happy and quite emotional. Being nominated for finals is a big thing. It's a dream in any referee's career, and being responsible for such a big match, and to have the the trust of the of the UEFA Referees Committee, is something very important. You feel a kind of pressure, but you also feel a kind of happiness that comes with the responsibility, and it gives you confidence. It's a mixture of emotions, which is really hard to define or explain, but it's a very special moment.

- How will you prepare for Wednesday's match?

- I will watch the previous meetings between the two teams to get an impression of how they play, and study the squads to make sure I know all the players. They are two English teams, which brings a special style of football, and we work with UEFA match analysts to go through their tactical approaches. The analysis always helps us prepare in the best way, gives a good perspective and different ideas. The two teams know each other very well, and it's important for me to adapt a little bit to their style of play, while staying true to the UEFA guidelines. I want to deliver the very best performance, to make it enjoyable for everybody and give the teams the chance to play freely.

- How has it been officiating alongside two new assistants, Robert Kempter and Christian Dietz, this season?

- After EURO 2024, I changed my assistants due to the age restrictions for international officials. I was so happy with my previous assistants, Marco Achmüller and Stefan Lupp, we were working together for ten years, and it is a shame for them that they cannot be with me in Bilbao. But, I am very happy with the new team, Robert and Christian, and this season went so well. I am very pleased with the performances we have delivered so far and ending with a European final will be fantastic. I should also mention my VAR, Bastian Dankert, who has been a part of my team for such a long time. He is one of the best in the world and we have a very good connection.

- Finally, can you talk about what being a referee means to you?

- I never started refereeing to get to the top, I just did it and felt pleasure with it. Over the years, through refereeing I have got to know so many different people, on and off the pitch, and this has helped me to develop my own personality and take more responsibility. If someone asks me, I always say you should give it a try, be brave and be proud of being a referee. it will give you lots of opportunities, and on a personal level it gives you much more than you expect. (Source: UEFA)

21 May 2025

Tottenham Hotspur – Manchester United

Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Robert Kempter (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Dietz (GER)
Fourth Official: Maurizio Mariani (ITA)
Reserve AR: Daniele Bindoni (ITA)
VAR: Bastian Dankert (GER)
AVAR: Benjamin Brand (GER)
SVAR: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)

Referee Observer: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)

UEFA Europa Conference League Final 2025: Peljto (BIH)

The UEFA Conference League final is a momentous occasion, not just for the competing teams but also for the officials entrusted with taking charge on the grand stage. Irfan Peljto will become the first Bosnian to referee a major UEFA club competition final as Real Betis and Chelsea meet at Poland's Stadion Wroclaw. Peljto, 40, has built a wealth of experience since becoming an international referee in 2015. This season, he has overseen seven Champions League matches, including the quarter-final first leg between Arsenal and Real Madrid, as well as four Europa League fixtures. With his experience and composure, Peljto is set to play a crucial role in ensuring a smooth and fair contest in Wroclaw. Ahead of the final, UEFA.com sat down with him to discuss his journey, the challenges of officiating at the highest level, and what it means to be in charge of such a prestigious match.

- Irfan, congratulations on your appointment for the final. What are your emotions as the match approaches?

- We are living a dream. To receive the call was very emotional. It's an honour not only for my career, but to bring the flag of my small country under the European spotlight is a very proud moment. It is also not just a moment for me but also for my team, Senad Ibrišimbegović and Davor Beljo. I am the engine, but these guys are my wings and we all have to work together to be successful. I hope it is also a moment for the future of referees in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that young referees have this positive perspective on refereeing, and that we have created a path for them. We will work hard and give everything we can on the night to make sure that it's a success. We will be completely focused, and afterwards it will be nice to reflect on a special occasion for all of us.

- The Conference League has allowed fans and players to dream of European glory, but it's also given more important opportunities to referees as well…

- This year, we can say it's been very good for Bosnian football as a whole. FK Borac reached the round of 16, which is a big achievement for a club from our country, and this is one of the benefits of the Conference League. So, for clubs, but also for referees, it was a big thing to implement this competition, and in a very short period it has shown everybody its value.

- Both finalists are certainly well known across Europe, though…

- They are huge clubs with big histories, and of course a lot of supporters. They are two top teams with fantastic players, so we also need to be prepared.

- How will you prepare for the final?

- We always say that every match is like a final, no matter what, as if it will be the last in your career. As referees, we receive a lot of support from UEFA, with mental, tactical and physical preparation. There is a lot to understand about the approach of each team, and individual players, and these sides have two different styles.

- UEFA's Be a Referee! campaign aims to recruit more officials across Europe. What's your advice to people thinking of taking up refereeing?

- Well, we need a lot more referees because, without a referee, there is no match. To have this role, you need to be passionate about football and hungry to be a part of the sport. I wanted to play football for a living. I wasn't so good, but I found my place in the game as a referee, and I really do prefer this role. It gives you very special emotions, and for that 90 minutes you are in control. (Source: UEFA)

28 May 2025

Chelsea FC – Real Betis

Referee: Irfan Peljto (BIH)

Assistant Referee 1: Senad Ibrišimbegović (BIH)

Assistant Referee 2: Davor Beljo (BIH)

Fourth Official: Halil Meler (TUR)

Reserve AR: Kerem Ersoy (TUR)

VAR: Jérôme Brisard (FRA)

AVAR: Willy Delajod (FRA)

SVAR: Marco di Bello (ITA)

Referee Observer: Roberto Rosetti (ITA)

UEFA Women’s Champions League Final 2025: Martinčić (CRO)

The UEFA Women’s Champions League final is one of the most anticipated nights in the football calendar – and for referee Ivana Martinčić, being part of it is a moment of immense pride. Delighted to be entrusted with the whistle, the Croatian official is ready to play her role in a match that means so much to so many. Martinčić, 39, brings over a decade of international experience to her first appearance as the lead official in a UEFA club final. Having served as fourth official in last year’s final, the 39-year-old now takes centre stage as Arsenal meet Barcelona in Lisbon. As she prepares for the biggest assignment of her career so far, Martinčić reflects on her journey, the growth of the women’s game, and the responsibility of leading the officiating team on one of the sport’s grandest nights.

- Ivana, congratulations on the appointment. How did you feel when you were told you would referee the final?

- I was speechless. I really didn’t know what to say. I took some time to process it but of course, I was very happy. It's the biggest moment in my career so far, and it's a dream come true. Afterwards, I called my parents, and then some of my mentors who have helped me and believed in me along the way. It's so important to have the support of these people behind me and I really want to thank them for their support. I also want to say thank you to the UEFA Referees Committee for giving me this opportunity, it's a big honour and a privilege for me.

- Lisbon has been an important city for you down the years…

- Everything seems to start in Lisbon for me. My UEFA journey started with an introductory course in Lisbon, and when I was promoted to the elite category, the first seminar was also here. Then, when I was selected to referee at the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, the preparations took place in Lisbon, and now the UEFA Women's Champions League final. I don't know what it means, but I seem to have a very strong connection with Lisbon!

- How much does it help having the experience of being fourth official at last season's final in Bilbao?

- It really prepared me very well and I was very happy to support Rebecca Welch and her team last year, it was a nice experience. Us referees are like one big family. Of course, we are competitive and we all want to be at the big matches, but we also support each other and always want each other to do well. We are all proud of each other and it has been very nice to receive a lot of messages from my colleagues about this appointment.

- You were also a player in Croatia's top division. How does refereeing compare to playing?

- I loved playing football. When I was young, I would play in the yard with my neighbours, and it didn’t matter to me that I was the only girl. I was a striker and I loved to be on the pitch, but I was always causing problems for the referees. My father was an assistant referee, and eventually persuaded me to give it a go. He was a tough mentor, and very strict with me, but now I am grateful for this. Refereeing helped me to grow up. It gave me important skills and made me a better person, so I'm very thankful that I decided to try it!

- What is your advice for girls or women who might be interested in becoming a referee?

- I'm really happy that there are more roles for women in football now and there are more and more female referees, but we still need more. My advice to anybody is just to try it and believe in yourself. Don't be scared and don't worry about making mistakes. We all have bad days and at first, you need to be patient. (Source: UEFA)

24 May 2025
Arsenal WFC – FC Barcelona
Referee: Ivana Martinčić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Sanja Rodjak-Karšić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Maja Petravić (CRO)
Fourth Official: Ivana Projkovska (MKD)
Reserve AR: Staša Špur (SVN)
VAR: Tiago Martins (POR)
AVAR: Momčilo Marković (SRB)
SVAR: Alen Borošak (SVN)
Referee Observer: Dagmar Damkova (CZE)

CAF Champions League Final 2025

First Leg, 24 May 2025

Mamelodi Sundowns – Pyramids
Referee: Mahmood Ismail (SDN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Ibrahim Mohamed (SDN)
Assistant Referee 2: Liban Abdoulrazack (DJI)
Fourth Official: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (BDI)
VAR: Daniel Laryea (GHA)
AVAR 1: Salima Mukansanga (RWA)
AVAR 2: Nouha Bangoura (SEN)
Referee Observer: Athanthi Mukebito (RWA)

Second Leg, 1 June 2025

Pyramids – Mamelodi Sundowns
Referee: Omar Artan (SOM)
Assistant Referee 1: Gilbert Cheruiyot (KEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Yiembe (KEN)
Fourth Official: Louis Houngnandande (BEN)
VAR: Bamlak Tessema (ETH)
AVAR 1: Abdelaziz Bouh (MTN)
AVAR 2: Carine Atezambong (CMR)

CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2025 – Group Stage (Matchday 5)

13-15 May 2025

Nacional Potosi – Boston River
Referee: Ramón Abatti BRA (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Boschilia BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Guillerme Camilo BRA
Fourth Official: Rodrigo Pereira BRA
VAR: Daniel Nobre BRA
AVAR: Marco Fazekas BRA
Referee Assessor: Pedro Saucedo BOL
VAR Supervisor: Joel Ruiz PAR

Gremio – Godoy Cruz
Referee: Diego Ulloa COL
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Roldán COL
Assistant Referee 2: Mary Blanco COL
Fourth Official: Andrés Rojas COL
VAR: Heider Castro COL
AVAR: Mauricio Perez COL
Referee Assessor: Ednilson Corona BRA
VAR Supervisor: Juan Lugones BOL

Academia Puerto Cabello – Melgar
Referee: Juan Andrade ECU
Assistant Referee 1: Andrés Tola ECU
Assistant Referee 2: Danny Ávila ECU
Fourth Official: Anthony Díaz ECU
VAR: Roberto Sánchez ECU
AVAR: Kevin Pazmino ECU
Referee Assessor: Jairo Romero VEN
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Lamouroux COL

Lanus – Vasco Da Gama
Referee: Carlos Benítez PAR
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Cañete PAR
Assistant Referee 2: José Villagra PAR
Fourth Official: Dilio Rodríguez BOL
VAR: Fernando López PAR
AVAR: Nadia Weiler PAR
Referee Assessor: Sergio Viola ARG
VAR Supervisor: Patricio Polic CHI

Union – Mushuc Runa
Referee: Yender Herrera VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Antoni García VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Erizon Nieto VEN
Fourth Official: Rony Cueva VEN
VAR: Juan Soto VEN
AVAR: Yorman Delgado VEN
Referee Assessor: Ricardo Casas ARG
VAR Supervisor: Carlos Pastorino URU

Sportivo Luqueno – Atletico Grau
Referee: Dione Rissios CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Marcia Castillo CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Leslie Vásquez CHI
Fourth Official: Emikar Calderas VEN
VAR: Stefani Escobar VEN
AVAR: Migdalia Rodríguez VEN
Referee Assessor: Cynthia Franco PAR
VAR Supervisor: Sandra Zambrano ECU

Defensa y Justicia – Universidad Catolica
Referee: José Mendez PAR
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Cañete PAR
Assistant Referee 2: José Villagra PAR
Fourth Official: Dilio Rodríguez BOL
VAR: Fernando López PAR
AVAR: Nadia Weiler PAR
Referee Assessor: Oscar Maldonado BOL
VAR Supervisor: Claudio Rios CHI

Fluminense – Union Espanola
Referee: Yael Falcón ARG
Assistant Referee 1: Maximiliano Del Yesso ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Facundo Rodríguez ARG
Fourth Official: Carlos Gariano ARG
VAR: Pablo Dovalo ARG
AVAR: Fernando Espinoza ARG
Referee Assessor: Roberto Perassi BRA
VAR Supervisor: Roberto Silvera URU

Cruzeiro – Palestino
Referee: Kevin Ortega PER
Assistant Referee 1: Jesús Sánchez PER
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Atoche PER
Fourth Official: Edwin Ordóñez PER
VAR: Diego Haro PER
AVAR: Alejandro Villanueva PER
Referee Assessor: Paulo Conceicao BRA
VAR Supervisor: Victor Carrillo PER

Cerro Largo – Vitoria
Referee: Joel Alarcón PER
Assistant Referee 1: Alberth Alarcón PER
Assistant Referee 2: Leonar Soto PER
Fourth Official: Daniel Ureta PER
VAR: Michael Espinoza PER
AVAR: Diego Jaimes PER
Referee Assessor: Fernando Falce URU
VAR Supervisor: Angel Sanchez ARG

America de Cali – Huracan
Referee: Cristian Garay CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Rocha CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Poblete CHI
Fourth Official: Diego Flores CHI
VAR: Miguel Araos CHI
AVAR: Mathias Riquelme CHI
Referee Assessor: Luzmila Gonzalez COL
VAR Supervisor: Pericles Cortes BRA

Racing – Corinthians
Referee: José Cabero CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Alan Sandoval CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Venegas CHI
Fourth Official: Daniel Ureta CHI
VAR: Francisco Gilabert CHI
AVAR: Wladimir Muñoz CHI
Referee Assessor: Jorge Antequera BOL
VAR Supervisor: Angel Sanchez ARG

Independiente – Guarani
Referee: Flávio Souza BRA
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Pires BRA
Assistant Referee 2: Victor Imazu BRA
Fourth Official: Matheus Candacan BRA
VAR: Rodrigo D’Alonso BRA
AVAR: Diego Pombo BRA
Referee Assessor: Sabrina Lois ARG
VAR Supervisor: Claudio Rios CHI

Atletico Mineiro – Caracas
Referee: José Burgos URU
Assistant Referee 1: Martín Soppi URU
Assistant Referee 2: Andrés Nievas URU
Fourth Official: Gabriel Mendoza BOL
VAR: Christian Ferreyra URU
AVAR: Richard Trinidad URU
Referee Assessor: Paulo Conceicao BRA
VAR Supervisor: Victor Carrillo PER

Cienciano – Deportes Iquique
Referee: David Ojeda PAR
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Onieva PAR
Assistant Referee 2: Nancy Fernandez PAR
Fourth Official: Zulma Quiñónez PAR
VAR: Leodan González URU
AVAR: Antonio García URU
Referee Assessor: Silvia Reyes PER
VAR Supervisor: Marcelo de Leon URU

Once Caldas – San Jose
Referee: Augusto Aragón ECU
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Baren ECU
Assistant Referee 2: Mauricio Lozada ECU
Fourth Official: Susana Corella ECU
VAR: Gabriel González ECU
AVAR: Roddy Zambrano ECU
Referee Assessor: Sebastian Restrepo COL
VAR Supervisor: Juan Cardellino URU

CONMEBOL Libertadores 2025 – Group Stage (Matchday 5)

13-15 May 2025

Deportivo Tachira – Central Cordoba
Referee: Mathias de Armas URU (photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Agustín Berisso URU
Assistant Referee 2: Héctor Bergalo URU
Fourth Official: Hernán Heras URU
VAR: Diego Dunajec URU
AVAR: Jonathan Fuentes URU
Referee Assessor: Candelario Andarcia VEN
VAR Supervisor: Jose Espinel ECU

Fortaleza – Atletico Bucaramanga
Referee: Derlis López PAR
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldívar PAR
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Britos PAR
Fourth Official: Derlis Benítez PAR
VAR: Mario Díaz de Vivar PAR
AVAR: Esteban Testta PAR
Referee Assessor: Ricardo Marques BRA
VAR Supervisor: Julio Bascunan CHI

Universidad de Chile – Carabobo
Referee: Bryan Loayza ECU
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Lescano ECU
Assistant Referee 2: David Vacacela ECU
Fourth Official: Robert Cabrera ECU
VAR: Jefferson Macías ECU
AVAR: Dennys Guerrero ECU
Referee Assessor: Ubaldo Aquino PAR
VAR Supervisor: Emerson de Carvalho BRA

Sporting Cristal – Cerro Porteno
Referee: Facundo Tello ARG
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Belatti ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Chade ARG
Fourth Official: Nazareno Arasa ARG
VAR: Hernán Mastrangelo ARG
AVAR: Nicolás Lamolina ARG
Referee Assessor: Henry Gambetta PER
VAR Supervisor: Marcelo de Leon URU

Atletico Nacional – Bahia
Referee: Dário Herrera ARG
Assistant Referee 1: Cristian Navarro ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Pablo Acevedo ARG
Fourth Official: Luis Lobo ARG
VAR: Jorge Baliño ARG
AVAR: Lucas Novelli ARG
Referee Assessor: Abraham Gonzalez COL
VAR Supervisor: Victor Martinez PAR

Penarol – Olimpia
Referee: Wilmar Roldán COL
Assistant Referee 1: John León COL
Assistant Referee 2: Sebastián Vela COL
Fourth Official: José Ortiz COL
VAR: Leonard Mosquera COL
AVAR: Keiner Jiménez COL
Referee Assessor: Jorge Antequera BOL
VAR Supervisor: Luis Vera ECU

Velez Sarsfield – San Antonio
Referee: Alexis Herrera VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Tulio Moreno VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Lubin Torrealba VEN
Fourth Official: Jesús Valenzuela VEN
VAR: Juan Lara CHI
AVAR: Edson Cisternas CHI
Referee Assessor: Hector Baldassi ARG
VAR Supervisor: Patricio Polic CHI

Botafogo – Estudiantes
Referee: Juan Benítez PAR
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo PAR
Assistant Referee 2: Julio Aranda PAR
Fourth Official: Blas Romero PAR
VAR: Ulises Méreles PAR
AVAR: José Cuevas PAR
Referee Assessor: Leandro Vuaden BRA
VAR Supervisor: Cesar Escano PER

Sao Paulo – Libertad
Referee: Carlos Betancur COL
Assistant Referee 1: John Gallego COL
Assistant Referee 2: Cristian Aguirre COL
Fourth Official: María Daza COL
VAR: Nicolás Gallo COL
AVAR: Yadir Acuña COL
Referee Assessor: Cleidy Riveiro BRA
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Avila ECU

Racing – Colo Colo
Referee: Gustavo Tejera URU
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Barreiro URU
Assistant Referee 2: Horacio Ferreiro URU
Fourth Official: Nadia Fuques URU
VAR: Andrés Cunha URU
AVAR: Santiago Fernández URU
Referee Assessor: Sabrina Lois ARG
VAR Supervisor: Rodney Aquino PAR

Universitario – Barcelona
Referee: Andres Matonte URU
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolás Taran URU
Assistant Referee 2: Pablo Larenas URU
Fourth Official: Alberto Feres URU
VAR: Leodan González URU
AVAR: Antonio García URU
Referee Assessor: Cesar Mongrut PER
VAR Supervisor: Oscar Viera PAR

Nacional – Internacional
Referee: Piero Maza CHI
Assistant Referee 1: Claudio Urrutia CHI
Assistant Referee 2: Alejandro Molina CHI
Fourth Official: Guillermo Guerrero ECU
VAR: Carlos Orbe ECU
AVAR: Byron Romero ECU
Referee Assessor: Fernando Falce URU
VAR Supervisor: Luis Vera ECU

Palmeiras – Bolivar
Referee: Maximiliano Ramirez ARG
Assistant Referee 1: José Savorani ARG
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Mamani ARG
Fourth Official: Laura Fortunato ARG
VAR: Germán Delfino ARG
AVAR: Mariana de Almeida ARG
Referee Assessor: Leandro Vuaden BRA
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Avila ECU

Talleres – Alianza Lima
Referee: Gery Vargas BOL
Assistant Referee 1: José Antelo BOL
Assistant Referee 2: Edwin Saavedra BOL
Fourth Official: Javier Revollo BOL
VAR: Álvaro Campos BOL
AVAR: Gaad Flores BOL
Referee Assessor: Sergio Viola ARG
VAR Supervisor: Jorge Mercado PAR

Flamengo – Liga de Quito
Referee: Andres Rojas COL
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Roldán COL
Assistant Referee 2: Mary Blanco COL
Fourth Official: Diego Ulloa COL
VAR: Heider Castro COL
AVAR: Mauricio Perez COL
Referee Assessor: Hilton Moutinho BRA
VAR Supervisor: Cesar Escano PER

River Plate – Independiente Del Valle
Referee: Jesús Valenzuela VEN
Assistant Referee 1: Tulio Moreno VEN
Assistant Referee 2: Lubin Torrealba VEN
Fourth Official: Alexis Herrera VEN
VAR: Juan Lara CHI
AVAR: Edson Cisternas CHI
Referee Assessor: Hector Baldassi ARG
VAR Supervisor: Carlos Pastorino URU

FIFA Women's World Cup 2027 – Candidate Referee Seminar (UEFA)

Herzogenaurach (Germany), 5 - 9 May 2025

Referees

1. Emanuela Rusta ALB (photo) 

2. Hristiyana Guteva BUL
3. Ivana Martinčić CRO
4. Frida Klarlund DEN
5. Abigail Byrne ENG
6. Marta Huerta De Aza ESP
7. Olatz Rivera Olmedo ESP
8. Stéphanie Frappart FRA
9. Eleni Antoniou GRE
10. Katalin Kulcsar HUN
11. Maria Ferrieri Caputi ITA
12. Silvia Gasperotti ITA
13. Ivana Projkovska MKD
14. Shona Shukrula NED
15. Ewa Augustyn POL
16. Catarina Campos POR
17. Iuliana Demetrescu ROU
18. Alina Peşu ROU
19. Désirée Grundbacher SUI
20. Tess Olofsson SWE

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Final 2025: Fernandez (URU) & Botallico (ITA)

11 May 2025

Final
Belarus – Brazil
Referee 1: Aecio Fernandez URU (photo)
Referee 2: Saverio Botallico ITA
Third Official: Steven Siave MRI
Fourth Official: Gonzalo Carballo SLV
Timekeeper: Sergio Soares POR

Match for Third Place
Senegal – Portugal
Referee 1: Mariano Romo ARG
Referee 2: Aurelien Planchais-Godefroy TAH
Third Official: Nayim Kosimov UZB
Fourth Official: Jorge Tunon PAN
Timekeeper: Vladimir Tashkov BUL

Elizondo to instruct Mexican referees

The Referees Committee chose Horacio Elizondo to improve the refereeing of Liga MX. He began his career in a top league like Argentina, spent 20 years being a referee, has his YouTube channel to analyze refereeing and is the second referee who had the courage to send off Zinedine Zidane in a FIFA World Cup. Elizondo will be the next instructor of referees of the Mexican Football Federation, who has chosen the former international to try to put order in the Referees Committee after the controversies of the last semesters.

Horacio Elizondo was born in Buenos Aires, studied to be a professor of Physical Education and at the age of 20 made the decision to be a professional referee without knowing that his character and discipline would lead him to referee First Division games and later the World Cup final. In fact, it was due to a handball game, when he was a student, that the idea of becoming a professional referee came to life for the first time. Elizondo told the press people of the Costa Rica Football Federation how he was told first time that he could be a referee. “When I was in the faculty studying Physical Education one of the subjects was handball, the teacher teaches us the rules of the game and then leads us to do a practice between colleagues to see if we had understood. It was my turn to do 10 minutes of practice and when we finished, he called me and asked me if I had ever thought that I could be a referee. I asked him why and he said, "I saw with your teammates that you tie them all up, your best friend Alberto went to the first one who caused issues and told him that he would not allow any protest". I didn't notice it and then he said "We need referees in our association".

After his debut in Argentine football as a professional referee, the competitions were gradually coming. That's how he led World Cups, intercontinental tournaments, and Olympic Games. In fact, he became the first referee to lead the start and final of the same World Cup. He had 22 years of experience when he came the opportunity to referee the opening of the 2006 World Cup Germany between Germany and Costa Rica and then he also took charge of the Final between France and Italy. That was the final in which Zinedine Zidane became so upset with the Materazzi that he gave him a header in his chest and was sent off. The French midfielder had to leave the game, and his team ended up losing the final. That decision was thanks to the fourth official Luis Medina Cantalejo, who told him about Zidane's headbutt, because the Argentine referee did not see the action. “I went to my AR and told him something that very few people know: "I want you focused because you should have seen that". Then I turned around, put the hand in my pocket, pulled the red card and Zidane was out", said Elizondo.

After retiring from the field, Elizondo's work has not stopped. Thanks to his extensive experience, he was called by the Football Federation of Costa Rica to work with the referees of the Central American country and from 2025 he will be with the Mexican Federation because Juan Manuel Herrero, director of the Referees Committee, has decided to hire him as the new instructor of the Mexican referees.

Source: Medio Tiempo

UEFA U-19 Euro 2025

Romania, 13 – 26 June 2025

Referees
1. Lothar D'Hondt BEL
2. Antoni Bandić BIH
3. Menelaos Antoniou CYP
4. Javier Alberola Rojas ESP (photo)
5. Robert Hennessy IRL
6. Andrea Colombo ITA

Assistant Referees
1. Michael Obritzberger AUT
2. Romain Devillers BEL
3. Stefan Tešanović BIH
4. Petar Mitrev BUL
5. Iraklis Komodromos CYP
6. Alfredo Rodriguez Moreno ESP
7. Christopher Campbell IRL
8. Giuseppe Perrotti ITA

Fourth Officials
1. Dalibor Černý CZE
2. Bence Csonka HUN

Referee Observers
1. David Elleray ENG
2. Svein Moen NOR
3. Vlado Svilokos CRO
4. Alan Sant MLT

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2025 – Semi-finals

10 May 2025

Portugal – Brazil
Referee 1: Lukasz Ostrowski POL (photo)
Referee 2: Micke Palomino PER
Third Official: Nayim Kosimov UZB
Fourth Official: Steven Siave MRI
Timekeeper: Matthieu Dor FRA

Belarus – Senegal
Referee 1: Yuichi Hatano JPN
Referee 2: Ibrahim Al-Raeesi UAE
Third Official: Aurelien Planchais-Godefroy TAH
Fourth Official: Gonzalo Carballo SLV 

Timekeeper: Alejandro Ojaos Valera ESP

UEFA U-17 Euro 2025

Albania, 19 May - 1 June 2025

Referees
1. Patrik Kolarić CRO (photo)
2. Mikkel Redder DEN
3. Oliver Reitala FIN
4. Joey Kooij NED
5. Lukasz Kuzma POL
6. Oleksiy Derevinskyy UKR

Assistant Referees
1. Luka Pajić CRO
2. Martin Markus DEN
3. Olli Jantunen FIN
4. Dyon Fikkert NED
5. Marek Arys POL
6. Christopher Rae SCO
7. Guillaume Maire SUI
8. Oleksiy Myronov UKR

Fourth Officials
1. Florian Lata ALB
2. Kamal Umudlu AZE

Referee Observers
1. Thomas Einwaller AUT
2. Sokol Jareci ALB
3. David Fernandez Borbalan ESP
4. Alexandru Deaconu ROU

Ramos Rizo to lead Guatemalan refereeing

After a 20-year career as a referee analyst for ESPN, Felipe Ramos Rizo, leaves television and will take on a new challenge in his career: the direction of Guatemalan refereeing and will travel to the Central American country at the end of the month to be officially presented to the Guatemala Football Federation. Ramos Rizo, with extensive experience in refereeing, takes the position left by his compatriot Jose Camargo in March and was contacted directly by Gerardo Paiz, president of the Guatemalan Football Federation, so an agreement was reached between the two parties. A few hours after making his departure from ESPN public, Felipe Ramos Rizo shared details about the new project he will be assuming in Guatemala. “I agree to go to Guatemala to take the direction of refereeing because I find myself able to work and develop the change of the structure of refereeing in Guatemala. I'm happy for that, I'll have the opportunity to do something I wanted for many years, I'm going to get to work. The conditions that exist are the right ones to work in Guatemala”, said Ramos Rizo.

In the opinion of the former international referee, who officiated at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan, two of his main challenges in Guatemala will be the introduction of video refereeing (VAR) and improving the fitness of the referees. “In Guatemala there will be VAR. In a few days I will take a course at FIFA with the issue of VAR that we hope we can incorporate in the upcoming tournament. We are going to try to make the mistakes minimal, preparing the referees and we have to work for that. With video, group and personal sessions, on the field. It's not just a question of Guatemala; it's seen everywhere. I am concerned and we need to improve and work on positioning and fitness. We must have 100% athletes, because today’s football requires the referee to run between 12-13 kilometers per game, so we need athletes. If we work well on the fitness, we'll improve many aspects”. He also referred to the top referees that Guatemala currently has and that they have earned a position at the international level. In his opinion, Mario Escobar fights for the first place at the Concacaf level. “I mentioned that Mario Escobar is fighting for number one with Cesar Ramos because Mario has great results at the Concacaf level. Having Escobar as an example for the other referees of what can be achieved in the referee career, for me is a high honor. The only thing we have left is to continue supporting them and working together. We have two good referees at international level, and they are the example of what can be achieved by being disciplined and committed”.

Finally, Felipe Ramos Rizo indicated that his contract with the Guatemala Football Federation is for the next five years and sent a message to the Guatemalan referees who will soon be under his responsibility. “All I'm telling you is to end the season in the best shape. Make your best physical, mental and use all your referee resources to finish the season. Then I promise you that there will be a lot of work and a lot of follow-ups for young referees. We need to improve some issues, but I am telling them not to stop preparing on fitness because there will be a lot of work that will give us good results on the field. The effort and discipline are something we are going to demand and expect a lot of work from me”.

Source: ESPN

FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2025 – Quarter-finals

8 May 2025

Belarus – Iran
Referee 1: Sergio Soares POR (photo)
Referee 2: Nayim Kosimov UZB
Third Official: Yuichi Hatano JPN
Fourth Official: Özcan Sultanoglu TUR
Timekeeper: Aurelien Planchais-Godefroy TAH

Portugal – Japan
Referee 1: Vladimir Tashkov BUL
Referee 2: Ibrahim Al-Raeesi UAE
Third Official: Fallah Al Balushi OMA
Fourth Official: Saverio Bottalico ITA
Timekeeper: Matthieu Dor FRA

Senegal – Italy
Referee 1: Mariano Romo ARG
Referee 2: Aecio Fernandez URU
Third Official: Alejandro Ojaos Valera ESP
Fourth Official: Jorge Gomez COL
Timekeeper: Micke Palomino PER

Brazil – Spain
Referee 1: Gonzalo Carballo SLV
Referee 2: Jorge Tunon PAN
Third Official: Hamdi Bchir TUN
Fourth Official: Steven Siave MRI
Timekeeper: Lukasz Ostrowski POL

PGMOL: More money from clubs?

This has been a difficult year for referees, with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta recently hitting out over a lack of consistency in officiating. It is an issue that has been a case throughout the season, with Bournemouth striker Evanilson recently wrongly sent off against Man United by Peter Bankes. That issue was then emphasised further when Bankes failed to send off Wolves full-back Rayan Ait-Nouri against Man City for what many saw to be a more dangerous challenge. But in spite of those problems, it appears Premier League sides may soon be facing even greater financial demands from the referees body which is currently run by Howard Webb.

According to a recent report from The Telegraph, it is expected that Webb will announce that PGMOL made a financial loss of £900,000 last year. That may have been influenced by the introduction of new technology into the Premier League, such as VAR and semi-automated offside. As a result, it is suggested that top-flight clubs in England will have to increase their budgets if they want to maintain a high standard of officiating. Hackett though, does not believe that clubs ought to be agreeing to such demands in the circumstances. After being asked by Football Insider what he made of those updates on the situation at the PGMOL, the former referee said: “I’ve got a lot to say on this! You talk to professional players, and I had the opportunity of talking to people like Tom Finney and Nat Lofthouse many years ago. They talked about their maximum wage of £7 a week, and part of that discussion was asking me how much did I get for a cup final as a referee. The answer was in 1981 I got £35. So ’81, it’s a long time ago. In that period – to give a bit of background – when I went into Europe to referee big games in Europe, Real Madrid, Barcelona, whatever. You didn’t get a match fee, you did it almost for the love which is remarkable isn’t it. You got a day allowance of a small amount of money to pay for food, travel – travel was paid for by them, hotel was paid for by them. There was one occasion where I had to referee a match – Stuttgart vs Feyenoord – and I had to be back for a board meeting and the outcome is to do that I had to spend two grand chartering an aircraft to bring me back home for that board meeting. This is not like a bad luck story, this is about commitment that referees used to give to the game. I lost a couple of jobs because of refereeing. The outcome of that is when I retired from refereeing, I started lobbying the chairman of the Premier League on the basis that we needed to go to professional referees. I helped write the paper, I didn’t submit but I read it, contributed to it. That was submitted and as a result the PGMOL was formed. The first manager was Philip Don, I was the development manager. Then I took over from him a couple of years later, and then in round about 2007 I retired to become referee ambassador for the Premier League. The reason I’m doing this is to talk about what we achieved because at that time, there was Graham Poll, Mark Halsey, Mark Clattenburg, Howard Webb, Graham Barber. So, we had a minimum of ten strong-personality referees delivering good performances. The turnover in 2007 when I left was £5.6million. And we had a £95,000 profit. The cost of sales was £5.5million. Then Mike Riley took over in 2008, and it went to £6million. So now we go eight years later, we’re looking at a turnover in 2019 of £20.3million. In 2020, it goes to £22million, in 2023 that figure goes to £33million with a loss after tax of £1.8million, and the latest results that have been posted – these are available in companies house, in detail. If we look at the current report of 2024 that was issued on companies house on 3 May, the turnover was £39million. So, in a period of 17 years it’s gone from £5million to almost £40million, and of course if recording a £900,000 loss. So he’s not actually saying they’re going to make a loss, they have made a loss. I think it’s deplorable, it’s unacceptable. I think that there needs to be a very clear root and branch review of the PGMOL organisation. If I were the clubs I wouldn’t give them one penny more, I’d be asking for something back. Now, the argument that’s often put forward is clubs are really wealthy, they’ve got bags of money, and it might be that you’ve got two or three players in a club that are earning this amount of money. That’s not the point, it’s not the point! The point is we went to professional referees to deliver better performances. What I’ve seen with the PGMOL is a lack of control in its expenditure, a lack of performance delivery at the coal-face and whilst they will continue to say that refereeing standards are improving, I would say that based on 50 years involvement in refereeing, with no chip on my shoulder, that that’s not the case. It’s just not the case! In my period of time in office – and I’m going back – I can tell you on average we had one major error every weekend. So, in ten games we had one major error. We had a staff of less than, I think ten people really, and now you’re getting to figures which are just over the top, too many administrators. I don’t worry about what referees earn, I want them to earn the maximum amount. But within this structure it’s like fat cats and no control of finance. What amazes is it’s got a board of directors and I cannot [believe] how a board of directors are allowing PGMOL to run into a loss situation. Now I know what we’ve done is, in that period of time, we’ve got Goal Line Technology, we’ve got VAR, I understand all that we’ve not got a semi automated [offside] system that’s coming in. But those are assets that can be amortised in a business and costed over a period of time. When I saw the figures I was gobsmacked. It’s gone up £6million in one year. £6million and he’s asking for more. So, I think it asks all sorts of questions: Who’s paying? Who’s getting the money? Where is it being spent? what are the returns on that investment?”

Source: Football Insider