Euro 2012 Qualifiers - 7 June 2011

Azerbaijan - Germany
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Leonidas Vasiliadis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Christos Baltas (GRE)
Fourth Official: Vasilios Pamporidis (GRE)

Faroe Islands - Estonia
Referee: Antti Munukka (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matti Heininen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan-Peter Aravirta (FIN)
Fourth Official: Petteri Kari (FIN)

Belarus - Luxembourg
Referee: Anar Salmanov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mehman Mahmudov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Vagif Musayev (AZE)
Fourth Official: Fariz Yusifov (AZE)

Bosnia - Albania
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicky Siebert (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Fourth Official: Richard Liesveld (NED)

Sweden - Finland
Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Annonier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Cano (FRA)
Fourth Official: Olivier Thual (FRA)

San Marino - Hungary
Referee: Pavle Radovanovic (MNE)
Assistant Referee 1: Milos Radulovic (MNE)
Assistant Referee 2: Danijel Devic (MNE)
Fourth Official: Jovan Kaludjerovic (MNE)

Euro 2012 Qualifiers - 4 June 2011

Russia - Armenia
Referee: Stephane Lannoy (FRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Eric Dansault (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Laurent Ugo (FRA)
Fourth Official: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)

England - Switzerland
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Primoz Arhar (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Marko Stancin (SVN)
Fourth Official: Darko Ceferin (SVN)

Macedonia - Ireland
Referee: Florian Meyer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Holger Henschel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Christoph Bornhorst (GER)
Fourth Official: Deniz Aytekin (GER)

Latvia - Israel
Referee: Alan Kelly (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Damien MacGraith (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marc Douglas (IRL)
Fourth Official: David Mckeon (IRL)

Slovakia - Andorra
Referee: Lorenc Jemini (ALB)
Assistant Referee 1: Ridiger Cokaj (ALB)
Assistant Referee 2: Gezim Koka (ALB)
Fourth Official: Enea Jorgji (ALB)

Greece - Malta
Referee: Pawel Gil (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Piotr Sadczuk (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcin Borkowski (POL)
Fourth Official: Robert Malek (POL)

Montenegro - Bulgaria
Referee: Alon Yefet (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Danny Krasikow (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Amihay Yehoshua (ISR)
Fourth Official: Meir Levi (ISR)

Iceland - Denmark
Referee: Firat Aydinus (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Serkan Ok (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleks Tascioglu (TUR)
Fourth Official: Yunus Yildirim (TUR)

Portugal - Norway
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarık Ongun (TUR)
Fourth Official: Huseyin Gocek (TUR)

Euro 2012 Qualifiers - 3 June 2011

Kazakhstan – Azerbaijan

Referee: Euan Norris (SCO)

Assistant Referee 1: James Bee (SCO)

Assistant Referee 2: Alasdair Ross (SCO)

Fourth Official: Alan Muir (SCO)

Austria – Germany

Referee: Massimo Busacca (SUI, photo)

Assistant Referee 1: Matthias Arnet (SUI)

Assistant Referee 2: Manuel Navarro (SUI)

Fourth Official: Nikolaj Hanni (SUI)

Belgium – Turkey

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Stefani (ITA)

Assistant Referee 2: Renato Faverani (ITA)

Fourth Official: Luca Banti (ITA)

Faroe Islands – Slovenia

Referee: Oliver Drachta (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Roland Brandner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Armin Eder (AUT)
Fourth Official: Bernhard Brugger (AUT)

Italia – Estonia

Referee: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)

Assistant Referee 1: Cristian Nica (ROU)

Assistant Referee 2: Aurel Onita (ROU)

Fourth Official: Ovidiu Hategan (ROU)

Romania – Bosnia

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)

Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)

Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Warnmark (SWE)

Fourth Official: Markus Strombergsson (SWE)

Belarus – France

Referee: David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Cabanero Martinez (ESP)

Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)
Fourth Official: Antonio Rubinos Perez (ESP)

Moldova – Sweden

Referee: Andre Marriner (ENG)

Assistant Referee 1: Peter Kirkup (ENG)

Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Child (ENG)
Fourth Official: Stuart Attwell (ENG)

San Marino – Finland

Referee: Andrejs Sipailo (LVA)

Assistant Referee 1: Arnis Lemkins (LVA)

Assistant Referee 2: Deniss Grabejs (LVA)
Fourth Official: Vadims Direktorenko (LVA)

Croatia – Georgia

Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)

Assistant Referee 1: Henrik Andren (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Joakim Flink (SWE)

Fourth Official: Michael Lerjeus (SWE)

Liechtenstein – Lithuania

Referee: Artyom Kuchin (KAZ)

Assistant Referee 1: Yevgeniy Belskiy (KAZ)

Assistant Referee 2: Rustam Suyunov (KAZ)
Fourth Official: Anatoliy Vishnichenko (KAZ)

UEFA Women’s U-19 Euro 2011

Italy, 30 May – 11 June 2011

Referees
1. Lina Lehtovaara (FIN)

2. Severinne Zinck (FRA)

3. Lilach Asulin (ISR)

4. Sandra Braz Bastos (POR, photo)

5. Morag Pirie (SCO)

6. Pernilla Larsson (SWE)

Assistant Referees
1. Cindy Zeferino De Oliveira (AUT)

2. Angela Kyriakou (CYP)

3. Sian Massey (ENG)

4. Ourania Foskolou (GRE)

5. Andrea Hima (HUN)

6. Vera Onica (MDV)

7. Petra Sever (SVN)

8. Secim Demirel (TUR)

Fourth Officials
1. Carina Susanna Vitulano (ITA)
2. Giovanna Farinelli (ITA)

Copa Libertadores Semi-finals

First Leg

Santos FC - Cerro Porteno

Referee: Jorge Larrionda (URU, photo)

Assistant Referee 1: Pablo Fandino (URU)

Assistant Referee 2: William Casavieja (URU)

Fourth Official: Hector Martinez (URU)

Penarol - Velez Sarsfield

Referee: Carlos Amarilla (PAR)

Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Yegros (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Fourth Official: Julio Quintana (PAR)

Second Leg

Cerro Porteno - Santos FC
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Abraham Gonzalez (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Fourth Official: Albert Duarte (COL)

Velez Sarsfield - Penarol
Referee: Enrique Osses (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Mondria (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Patricio Basualto (CHI)
Fourth Official: Patricio Polic (CHI)

Kassai thrilled by "very big honour"

Viktor Kassai became the youngest final referee in UEFA Champions League history. The 35-year-old Hungarian has been selected to take charge of the showpiece between FC Barcelona and Manchester United."A Champions League final is an absolutely top match, so we can expect a celebration of football," Kassai told UEFA.com. "I hope all the spectators in the stadium and watching on TV will enjoy the match, and I hope it'll be a nice game."

Kassai has plenty of big-match experience, having taken charge of last summer's FIFA World Cup semi-final between Spain and Germany, and he will draw on that knowledge ahead of the match. "Our preparation is the same as before; the trick is to never change your style," he explained. "Mentally, we have to be very concentrated, physically we have to be at peak fitness. In both senses we are and we are absolutely ready for the match."

The travel agent will become the fourth Hungarian to referee European Champion Clubs' Cup final and the third, Sándor Puhl, who oversaw Borussia Dortmund's 1997 victory against Juventus, has fond memories of the occasion. "For a footballer it's a very important step to be involved in such event; for a referee it's exactly the same," Puhl said. "Viktor knows his job. I cannot give any hints and I don't think it is possible to give advice. What's definite is that he should do [his job] well."

Kassai is under no illusion as to how much it means to his country, adding: "It's a very big honour for me and for my team, because it's very important that the referee is not alone in officiating the match. We have a team of seven officials and we'll do our best. Of course we're proud; after Károly Palotai did the final twice, the last [Hungarian], Sándor Puhl, was 14 years ago. It's a very, very big honour and a pleasure for us to continue this legendary level of Hungarian referee. All of us are very very proud, but it's also a responsibility to continue their good work."

Kassai's predecessor as UEFA Champions League final referee, Howard Webb – who went on to do the FIFA World Cup final last summer – has some words of advice for his colleague. "He should go out there, be confident and have a good game because they've proven themselves over a period of time and on many occasions," Webb told UEFA.com. "The day will fly by because it always does but try to take it all in, have a good look around and appreciate what an amazing thing you're involved in. At some point in the night, take a second to just appreciate where you are and what you're doing and what a privileged position you're in."

Webb was 38 when he took charge of last season's showpiece in Madrid – the UEFA Champions League final's previous youngest referee – and, at three years younger, Kassai is aware of how quickly this honour has come his way. "If I'm honest I didn't [expect it so soon]," he said. "But in refereeing, and in football, it's not important how old you are, the most important [thing] is the performance. If a referee goes on to the field, no one asks how old he is or which country he's from; it's important to make good decisions and give a good performance. That's all."

Source: UEFA

UCL Final 2011: Viktor Kassai (HUN)

Viktor Kassai (Hungary, 36) has been appointed to referee the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final. He became a FIFA Referee in 2003 and moved up quickly in the international ranking. He was selected for the 2005 UEFA U-19 Euro, 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, 2008 Olympic Games (including the final Argentina – Nigeria), 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, 2010 FIFA World Cup (four matches, including the semi-final Spain – Germany). He has officiated more than 60 UEFA matches in his refereeing career. Kassai has handled one UEFA Europa League and five UEFA Champions League matches since the beginning of the current season, including, among others, the round of 16 first leg between Inter Milano and Bayern Munchen, as well as the group-stage match between Valencia CF and Manchester United.

28 May 2011
FC Barcelona – Manchester United
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabor Eros (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gyorgy Ring (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Mihaly Fabian (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tamas Bognar (HUN)
Fourth Official: Istvan Vad (HUN)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Robert Kispal (HUN)
Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)

Learning from Rosetti and Vergara

The world’s best referee in 2008, Roberto Rosetti (Italy), and the best ever Canadian assistant referee, Hector Vergara, conducted a fascinating International Referee Symposium in Montreal.

From “Chicken” to “Eagle”
Roberto Rosetti shared his experience with the participants. He began refereeing very early, when he was only 16 years old and reached the pinnacle of his career in 2008 by refereeing in the Euro Final, Spain - Germany. Rosetti used a very suggestive comparison, speaking about growing from a “chicken” to an “eagle”. In spite of having some “problems” when, as a very young referee, awarded a penalty kick against the home team in the last minute of the game, Rosetti moved on quickly and became even more ambitious. “Passion, confidence and courage are the keys of achieving the success,” said Rosetti. He was initially appointed only as a reserve referee for the 2006 World Cup, but De Santis was removed from the list because of the Calciopoli and Rosetti took his place. Rosetti was untainted by the match-fixing scandal which affected Italian football in 2006. Luciano Moggi, then general director of Juventus, had described Collina and Rosetti as being too “objective” in an intercepted telephone call. His very successful performances established him as one of the best referees in the world. He refereed the Euro 2008 final and three UEFA Champions League semi-finals. Last year, the Italian was one of the main candidates for the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final, but one of his assistants made a major mistake in Argentina - Mexico. Although it was not his own mistake, Rosetti was sent home, according to FIFA’s trio policy. “As a trio, we celebrate successes together and we stick together in difficult times. My Italian colleagues wanted me to continue, but I felt that moment as it was the end of my career,” said Rosetti. Although age-eligible for Euro 2012, he took full responsibility and resigned. He was immediately offered the referee designator position in Serie B, which he accepted.
In a technical session, Rosetti presented various aspects regarding the handball, offside, penalty kick and sending-off offences. He mentioned the importance of the referee’s positioning, as well as having the courage to make critical decisions, by taking the correct decision in difficult situations rather than finding an easy way out. He illustrated those situations with video clips from the UEFA Champions League and Serie A. As a personal example, he mentioned the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup semi-final Estudiantes - Poohang Steelers, where he sent off three South Korean players: “As a referee, you need to be strong; you must recognize and punish right away such behaviour, which was closer to karate than to soccer”. On a different note, Rosetti seemed pleased with the implementation of the additional assistant referees. He said that FIFA will return to the classic diagonal in the 5-referee system that will be used at Euro 2012.

The Road to Gold
Hector Vergara started with an inspiring presentation about his participation in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where he was one of the assistant referees in Benito Archundia’s trio. Vergara and Archundia were also paired up in Germany four years ago where they reached the semi-final. Their goal for South Africa was to officiate the final. Being a Mexican-Canadian combination, they did not have many chances to work together in the qualifying matches. Prior to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Vergara travelled to Mexico at his own expense. Together with his two Mexican colleagues, Benito Archundia and Marvin Torrentera, they spent a week together, training and preparing for their journey at the upcoming World Cup. “We wanted to be as prepared as we possibly could”, said Vergara, who underlined that they went to the 2010 World Cup with the intention of refereeing the final. After a long wait, they started the tournament with a sensitive situation in the 25th second of the match Italy - Paraguay. In spite of that, both teams showed respect and trust in the referees’ abilities and that game went on without any problems. After another long wait, they got a second game, Brazil - Portugal, with another excellent performance, which entitled them to hope for the final. At the end, it was disappointing – they were appointed to the third place match. Vergara has written himself into Canadian soccer history as the only referee or assistant referee with three World Cups under his belt.
The most decorated Canadian official conducted a practical session and also offered advice for developing a career in refereeing. “You can control 99% of your career”, stressed Vergara in front of all referees who attended the seminar. He offered his own example, as a young and ambitious referee in Canada. “Since, at that time, there were not many opportunities available, I took my whistle and my flag and went to the park. I was the only person on the field, whistling and doing various drills. It might have looked silly, but I was fully aware that I had to do that if I wanted to go far in refereeing,” said Vergara. He then spoke about various aspects of preparation as a referee: regularly reading the laws of the game, training, relaxation exercises, watching soccer games and, of course, gaining experience by refereeing. “The experience can only come through refereeing, so you should referee regularly. Be very careful though, since doing too many games will affect you mentally, if not physically as well”. He suggested that competitive referees should not officiate more than 1-2 games per week. Hector feels that it is important for young referees to aspire and “dream big”. He emphasized that setting goals along the way is a good approach to reaching your big dream. Having refereed at three straight World Cups, Vergara has certainly set plenty of goals along the way and achieved every referee’s dream.

CONCACAF Gold Cup 2011

USA, 5-25 June 2011

Referees
1. Joel Aguilar Chicas (SLV, 1975)
2. Neal Brizan (TRI, 1969)
3. Courtney Campbell (JAM, 1968)
4. Francisco Chacon Gutierrez (MEX, 1976)
5. David Gantar (CAN, 1975)
6. Walter Lopez Castellanos (GUA, 1980)
7. Jair Marrufo (USA, 1977)
8. Marlon Mejia Carrillo (SLV, 1979)
9. Jose Molina Orellana (HON, 1971)
10. Roberto Moreno Salazar (PAN, 1970)
11. Walter Quesada Cordero (CRC, 1970)
12. Marco Rodriguez Moreno (MEX, 1973, foto)
13. Jeffrey Solis Calderon (CRC, 1974)
14. Trevor Taylor (BRB, 1974)
15. Baldomero Toledo (USA, 1970)
16. Enrico Wijngaarde (SUR, 1974)

Assistant Referees
1. Jose Camargo Callado (MEX, 1972)
2. Joe Fletcher (CAN, 1976)
3. Adrian Goddard (BRB, 1972)
4. Leonel Leal Bermudez (CRC, 1976)
5. Hermenerito Leal Mo (GUA, 1972)
6. Gerson Lopez Castellanos (GUA, 1983)
7. Ramon Louisville (SUR, 1970)
8. Ricardo Morgan (JAM, 1972)
9. Charles Morgante (USA, 1974)
10. Alberto Morin Mendez (MEX, 1980)
11. Ainsley Rochard (TRI, 1981)
12. Marvin Torrentera Rivera (MEX, 1971)
13. William Torres Mejia (SLV, 1975)
14. Oscar Velasquez Zelaya (HON, 1973)
15. Hector Vergara (CAN, 1966)
16. Daniel Williamson (PAN, 1977)

UEL Final 2011: Velasco Carballo (ESP)

Carlos Velasco Carballo has been selected to referee the 2011 UEFA Europa League final between FC Porto and SC Braga in Dublin. Spanish referee Velasco Carballo has handled one UEFA Europa League and six UEFA Champions League matches this season, including the first leg of the semi-final between FC Schalke and Manchester United. An engineer from Madrid, Velasco Carballo became a FIFA Referee in 2008. He was promoted onto the UEFA Elite Referees list on 1 January 2011 and only five months later was appointed for the Europa League final. Only Collina, with an Olympic Games final after only one year on the FIFA List, climbed the ladder faster than Velasco Carballo! As a coincidence (or maybe not?), Collina will be his observer in the UEL Final.

18 May 2011
FC Porto – SC Braga
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Antonio Rubinos Perez (ESP)
Fourth Official: David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Juan Yuste Jimenez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Pierluigi Collina (ITA)