UEFA Women’s Champions League 2021/22 – Group Stage (Matchday 4)

17-18 November 2021

BK Häcken – SL Benfica
Referee: Jana Adamkova (CZE, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Lucie Ratajova (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Nikol Šafrankova (CZE)
Fourth Official: Lucie Šulcova (CZE)
Referee Observer: Elke Günthner (GER)

TSG Hoffenheim – FC Barcelona
Referee: Ivana Martinčić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Sanja Rodjak-Karšić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Maja Petravić (CRO)
Fourth Official: Jelena Kumer (CRO)
Referee Observer: Katarzyna Wierzbowska (POL)

Arsenal WFC – HB Koge
Referee: Kateryna Monzul (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Maryna Striletska (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Svitlana Grushko (UKR)
Fourth Official: Anastasiya Romanyuk (UKR)
Referee Observer: Sofia Karagiorgi (CYP)

Bayern München – Olympique Lyonnais
Referee: Lina Lehtovaara (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Heini Hyvönen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tonja Paavola (FIN)
Fourth Official: Sini Hakala (FIN)
Referee Observer: Dilan Gökçek (TUR)

VfL Wolfsbug – Juventus
Referee: Marta Huerta De Aza (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Guadalupe Porras Ayuso (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Eliana Fernandez Gonzalez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Ainara Acevedo Dudley (ESP)
Referee Observer: Hilda McDermott (IRL)

Breidablik – WFC Kharkiv
Referee: Lorraine Watson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Vikki Allan (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Vikki Robertson (SCO)
Fourth Official: Hannah Mclean (SCO)
Referee Observer: Caroline De Boeck (BEL)

Chelsea FCW – Servette FC Chênois
Referee: Hristiyana Guteva (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Ekaterina Marinova (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Pavleta Rashkova (BUL)
Fourth Official: Galiya Echeva (BUL)
Referee Observer: Miroslava Migalova (SVK)

Real Madrid – Paris St. Germain
Referee: Cheryl Foster (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Ceri Williams (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: Michelle O'Neill (IRL)
Fourth Official: Rebecca Welch (ENG)
Referee Observer: Kirsi Heikkinen (FIN)

African Qualifiers: South Africa seek replay of Ghana game

Bafana Bafana needed a draw to reach the third and final round of African qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, but Ghana won with a controversial penalty. "The match officials have decided the game, which is not what is supposed to happen," claimed South Africa Football Association's (SAFA) chief executive Tebogo Mothlante. "We will be writing to both CAF and FIFA - firstly to investigate how the game was handled and secondly to challenge some of these decisions. We have already registered with the match commissioner that we will be making a formal complaint."

The Black Stars' narrow win enabled them to reach the African World Cup play-offs by the narrowest of margins, ousting South Africa at the top of the group on goals scored. The penalty was awarded after Ghana's Leicester City midfielder Daniel Amartey went down following what appeared minimal contact from defender Rushine de Reuck, who was booked for his challenge. Mothlante explained that SAFA has concerns over the legitimacy of both the decision and the display of the officiating team from Senegal, headed up by referee Maguette N'Diaye. "We are very disheartened by their actions and we can't let it destroy the players - when we have the chance to challenge, we will challenge," he added. "We feel very much robbed because it is not an isolated incident of a penalty. There are just a lot of questionable decisions by match officials and we will get an expert to dissect other incidents, so we can make a strong case."

South Africa is well aware that the capacity for matches to be replayed does exist. They were forced to replay a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Senegal after the referee was found guilty of match manipulation. The South Africans had originally beaten Senegal 2-1, with FIFA later concluding that Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey – “with the sole purpose of facilitating a minimum number of goals to make certain bets successful” - clearly took two wrong decisions. This included the award of a penalty to Bafana Bafana when Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly was adjudged to have handled the ball, despite replays showing it had hit his knee. FIFA took the unusual step of ordering the game to be replayed. South Africa lost 2-0 as Senegal qualified for the World Cup in Russia. "Of course, we are looking at the precedent whereby FIFA ordered us to replay Senegal and we think that, if justice needs to be served, the same decision should be taken against this Ghana game", added Mothlante.

Source: BBC

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers – UEFA (Matchday 11)

15-16 November 2021

Northern Ireland – Italy
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (ROU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Ovidiu Artene (ROU)
Fourth Official: Horațiu Feșnic (ROU)
VAR: Bastian Dankert (GER)
AVAR: Mike Pickel (GER)
Referee Assessor: Robert Sedlacek (AUT)

Switzerland – Bulgaria
Referee: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Aurelien Berthomieu (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Aurelien Drouet (FRA)
Fourth Official: Florent Batta (FRA)
VAR: Benoît Millot (FRA)
AVAR: Amaury Delerue (FRA)
Referee Assessor: Konrad Plautz (AUT)

Israel – Faroe Islands
Referee: Jerôme Brisard (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Benjamin Pages (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Guillaume Debart (FRA)
Fourth Official: Mikael Lesage (FRA)
VAR: Stephanie Frappart (FRA)
AVAR: Mikael Berchebru (FRA)
Referee Assessor: Zbigniew Przesmycki (POL)

Scotland – Denmark
Referee: Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Naranjo Perez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Teodoro Sobrino Magan (ESP)
Fourth Official: Jose Sanchez Martinez (ESP)
VAR: Juan Martinez Munuera (ESP)
AVAR: Jesus Gil Manzano (ESP)
Referee Assessor: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)

Austria – Moldova
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Dejan Kostadinov (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Goce Petreski (MKD)
Fourth Official: Dejan Jakimovski (MKD)
VAR: Mete Kalkavan (TUR)
AVAR: Abdulkadir Bitigen (TUR)
Referee Assessor: Michal Beneš (CZE)

San Marino – England
Referee: Rade Obrenovič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Grega Kordež (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleksandar Kasapovič (SVN)
Fourth Official: Asmir Sagrković (SVN)
VAR: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)
AVAR: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
Referee Assessor: Haim Jakov (ISR)

Albania – Andorra
Referee: Andris Treimanis (LVA)
Assistant Referee 1: Haralds Gudermanis (LVA)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleksejs Spasjoņņikovs (LVA)
Fourth Official: Aleksandrs Golubevs (LVA)
VAR: Lawrence Visser (BEL)
AVAR: Erik Lambrechts (BEL)
Referee Assessor: Orhan Erdemir (TUR)

Poland – Hungary
Referee: Tiago Martins (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Campos (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Pedro Almeida (POR)
Fourth Official: Helder Malheiro (POR)
VAR: Joao Pinheiro (POR)
AVAR: Vitor Ferreira (POR)
Referee Assessor: Miroslav Tulinger (CZE)

Finland – France
Referee: Marco Guida (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Giallatini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabiano Preti (ITA)
Fourth Official: Giovanni Ayroldi (ITA)
VAR: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
AVAR: Maurizio Mariani (ITA)
Referee Assessor: Kyros Vassaras (GRE)

Bosnia and Herzegovina – Ukraine
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrian Devis (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Diaz Perez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Jose Munuera Montero (ESP)
VAR: Ricardo De Burgos Bengoechea (ESP)
AVAR: Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez (ESP)
Referee Assessor: Jorn West Larsen (DEN)

Wales – Belgium
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Tavares (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Soares (POR)
Fourth Official: Miguel Moreira (POR)
VAR: Luis Godinho (POR)
AVAR: Fabio Verissimo (POR)
Referee Assessor: Gylfi Orasson (ISL)

Czech Republic – Estonia
Referee: Orel Grinfeeld (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Roy Hassan (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Idan Yarkoni (ISR)
Fourth Official: Gal Leibovitz (ISR)
VAR: Roi Reinshreiber (ISR)
AVAR: Ziv Adler (ISR)
Referee Assessor: Boško Jovanetić (SRB)

Gibraltar – Latvia
Referee: Espen Eskas (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Oystein Ytterland (NOR)
Fourth Official: Kristoffer Hagenes (NOR)
VAR: Pawel Raczkowski (POL)
AVAR: Krzysztof Myrmus (POL)
Referee Assessor: Marian Ružbarsky (SVK)

Montenegro – Turkey
Referee: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Seidel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Gittelmann (GER)
Fourth Official: Tobias Reichel (GER)
VAR: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
AVAR: Katrin Rafalski (GER)
Referee Assessor: William Young (SCO)

Netherlands – Norway
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Fourth Official: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
VAR: François Letexier (FRA)
AVAR: Thomas Leonard (FRA)
FIFA Referee Assessor: Lutz-Michael Fröhlich (GER)

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers – CONMEBOL (Matchday 14)

16 November 2021

Argentina – Brazil
Referee: Andres Cunha (URU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Taran (URU)
Fourth Official: Kevin Ortega (PER)
VAR: Esteban Ostojich (URU)
AVAR: Alexander Guzman (COL)
Referee Assessor: Luis Sanchez (VEN)

Bolivia – Uruguay
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Danilo Manis (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Pires (BRA)
Fourth Official: Luiz Oliveira (BRA)
VAR: Wagner Reway (BRA)
AVAR: Rodrigo Correa (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Omar Ponce (ECU)

Colombia – Paraguay
Referee: Facundo Tello (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabriel Chade (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Cristian Navarro (ARG)
Fourth Official: Dario Herrera (ARG)
VAR: Juan Soto (VEN)
AVAR: Braulio Machado (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Angel Sanchez (ARG)

Venezuela – Peru
Referee: Bruno Arleu (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcelo Van Gasse (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Fourth Official: Wagner Magalhaes (BRA)
VAR: Rafael Traci (BRA)
AVAR: Rodolpho Toski (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Roberto Perassi (BRA)

Chile – Ecuador
Referee: Fernando Rapallini (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Diego Bonfa (ARG)
Fourth Official: Gery Vargas (BOL)
VAR: Mauro Vigliano (ARG)
AVAR: John Ospina (COL)
Referee Assessor: Abraham Gonzalez (COL)

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers – Concacaf (Round 3, Matchday 8)

16 November 2021

Canada – Mexico
Referee: Mario Escobar (GUA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Caleb Wales (TRI)
Assistant Referee 2: William Arrieta (CRC) 

Fourth Official: Benjamin Pineda (CRC)

Jamaica – USA
Referee: Juan Calderon (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Mora (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Tipaz (GUA)
Fourth Official: Bryan Lopez (GUA)

Costa Rica – Honduras

Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Frank Anderson (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Kathryn Nesbitt (USA)
Fourth Official: Rubiel Vazquez (USA)

Panama – El Salvador
Referee: Marco Ortiz (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Espinosa (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Martinez (MEX)
Fourth Official: Jorge Perez (MEX)

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers – AFC (Round 3, Matchday 6)

16 November 2021

Iraq – Korea
Referee: Ilgiz Tantashev (UZB, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrei Sapenko (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Timur Gaynullin (UZB)
Fourth Official: Axrol Riskullayev (UZB)
VAR: Muhammad Bin Jahari (SIN)
AVAR: Turki Al Khudhayr (KAS)

Syria – Iran
Referee: Ma Ning (CHN)
Assistant Referee 1: Shi Xiang (CHN)
Assistant Referee 2: Cao Yi (CHN)
Fourth Official: Shen Yinhao (CHN)
VAR: Fu Ming (CHN)
AVAR: Ahmed Al Kaf (OMA)

Lebanon – UAE
Referee: Shaun Evans (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Ronnie Koh (SIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Rawut Nakrit (THA)
Fourth Official: Mongkolchai Pechsri (TAH)
VAR: Sivakorn Pu-Udom (TAH)
AVAR: Amirul Yaacob (MAS)

China – Australia
Referee: Adham Makhadmeh (JOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ahmed Al Roalle (JOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohammad Al Kalaf (JOR)
Fourth Official: Ahmad Al Ali (KWA)
VAR: Abdulla Al Marri (QAT)
AVAR: Ahmed Al Ali (JOR)

Vietnam – Saudi Arabia
Referee: Hanna Hattab (SYR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ali Ahmad (SYR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ahmed Al Rashdi (UAE)
Fourth Official: Adel Al Naqbi (UAE)
VAR: Abdulla Mohammed (UAE)
AVAR: Omar Al Ali (UAE)

Oman – Japan
Referee: Ko Hyung-Jin (KOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Yoon Jae-Yeol (KOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Park Sang-Jun (KOR)
Fourth Official: Kim Woo-Sung (KOR)
VAR: Kim Jong-Hyeok (KOR)
AVAR: Kim Dae-Yong (KOR)

FIFA World Cup 2022 Qualifiers – CAF (Round 2, Matchday 6)

14-16 November 2021

Ghana – South Africa
Referee: Maguette N’Diaye (SEN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: El Hadji Samba (SEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Djibril Camara (SEN)
Fourth Official: Daouda Gueye (SEN)

Mali – Uganda
Referee: Bamlak Tessema (ETH)
Assistant Referee 1: Samuel Temesgin (ETH)
Assistant Referee 2: Tigle Belachew (ETH)
Fourth Official: Belay Tadesse (ETH)

Zimbabwe – Ethiopia
Referee: Mohamed Moussa (NIG)
Assistant Referee 1: Yahaya Mahamadou (NIG)
Assistant Referee 2: Abdoul Yacouba (NIG)
Fourth Official: Zakari Oumarou (NIG)

DR Congo – Benin
Referee: Eric Otogo-Castane (GAB)
Assistant Referee 1: Urbain Ndong (GAB)
Assistant Referee 2: Felix Eyaga (GAB)
Fourth Official: Isidore Nze (GAB)

Madagascar – Tanzania
Referee: Messie Nkounkou (CGO)
Assistant Referee 1: Styven Moutsassi (CGO)
Assistant Referee 2: Jospin Malonga (CTA)
Fourth Official: Jean Bissila (CGO)

Senegal – Congo
Referee: Fabricio Duarte (CPV)
Assistant Referee 1: Helio Semedo (CPV)
Assistant Referee 2: Aritson Fonseca (CPV)
Fourth Official: Lenine Rocha (CPV)

Kenya – Rwanda
Referee: Celso Alvacao (MOZ)
Assistant Referee 1: Arsenio Marengula (MOZ)
Assistant Referee 2: Olivio Saimone (MOZ)
Fourth Official: Artur Alfinar (MOZ)

Namibia – Togo
Referee: Pierre Atcho (GAB)
Assistant Referee 1: Boris Ditsoga (GAB)
Assistant Referee 2: Angelo Mambana (GAB)
Fourth Official: Gauthier Mbina (GAB)

Guinea Bissau – Sudan
Referee: Jean Ouattara (BFA)
Assistant Referee 1: Seydou Tiama (BFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Habib Sanou (BFA)
Fourth Official: Hamidou Diero (BFA)

Niger – Djibouti
Referee: Athoumani Youssouf (COM)
Assistant Referee 1: Soulaimane Amaldine (COM)
Assistant Referee 2: Said Chebli (COM)
Fourth Official: Ali Adelaid (COM)

Egypt – Gabon
Referee: Georges Gatogato (BDI)
Assistant Referee 1: Frank Komba (TAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Desire Nkurunziza (BDI)
Fourth Official: Thierry Nkurunziza (BDI)

Mozambique – Malawi
Referee: Hassan Mohamed (SOM)
Assistant Referee 1: Hamza Abdi (SOM)
Assistant Referee 2: Mahad Mahamud (SOM)
Fourth Official: Omar Artan (SOM)

Libya – Angola
Referee: Dahane Beida (MTN)
Assistant Referee 1: Hamedine Diba (MTN)
Assistant Referee 2: Mohamed Youssouf (MTN)
Fourth Official: Mohamed Bouh (MTN)

Liberia – Central African Republic
Referee: Ibrahim Traore (CIV)
Assistant Referee 1: Ashumu Aguie (CIV)
Assistant Referee 2: Nouho Ouattara (CIV)
Fourth Official: Clement Kpan (CIV)

Algeria – Burkina Faso
Referee: Victor Gomes (RSA)
Assistant Referee 1: Zakhele Siwela (RSA)
Assistant Referee 2: Athenkosi Ndongeni (RSA)
Fourth Official: Thando Ndzandzeka (RSA)

Nigeria – Cape Verde
Referee: Mustapha Ghorbal (ALG)
Assistant Referee 1: Mokrane Gourari (ALG)
Assistant Referee 2: Abbes Zerhouni (ALG)
Fourth Official: Lahlou Benbraham (ALG)
Referee Assessor: Noumandiez Doue (CIV)

Morocco – Guinea
Referee: Joshua Bondo (BOT)
Assistant Referee 1: Lucky Kegakologetswe (BOT)
Assistant Referee 2: Madondo Sibanda (BOT)
Fourth Official: Tirelo Mositwane (BOT)

Tunisia – Zambia
Referee: Pacifique Ndabihawenimana (BDI)
Assistant Referee 1: Emery Niyongabo (BDI)
Assistant Referee 2: Pascal Ndimunzigo (BDI)
Fourth Official: Louis Hakizimana (RWA)

Cameroon – Cote d’Ivoire
Referee: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Jerson Dos Santos (ANG)
Assistant Referee 2: Souru Phatsoane (LES)
Fourth Official: HelderMartins (ANG)

Mauritania – Equatorial Guinea
Referee: Ahmad Heeralall (MRI)
Assistant Referee 1: Bajee Babajee (MRI)
Assistant Referee 2: Jean Pithia (MRI)
Fourth Official: Patrice Milazare (MRI)

Grazie, Gionni! Obrigado, Antonio!

The end of the 2021 season is marked by the farewell of two of the world's most decorated beach soccer referees: Gionni Matticoli and Antonio Almeida.

After more than 13 years of refereeing at the highest level, including 13 finals of the biggest competitions, the final of the Intercontinental Beach Cup Dubai 2021 was the last of the 341 matches refereed by Matticoli, a referee who has been present in no less than five FIFA Beach Soccer World Cups! “I have had the chance to meet and share my time with amazing people, both referees, players, coaches, managers, etc. who have made me grow as a person. I am really thankful to all of them“, he admits.

In a very similar terms, Portuguese refereeing legend Antonio Almeida explains that “beach soccer has given me such fantastic things. Refereeing is absolutely my passion, and getting to know other people, different countries and different cultures has been amazing, just as the chance to learn from the very best over these years“, Almeida highlights. Following 223 international games at the highest level (plus hundreds more at the Portuguese National Championship), the game for the third place at the last Mundialito de Clubes (being Portuguese he could not referee the final, as SC Braga were involved) was his farewell to refereeing. A top class stage for a top class referee.

These two referees, a true reference in the beach soccer global stage, have set the bar really high for all those who want to follow their steps, and say goodbye to our sport, at least at the highest level, banking on the respect from everyone, including players, coaches and fans all over the globe.

Source: Beach Soccer

UEFA U-21 Euro 2023 Qualifiers (Matchday 7)

15-16 November 2021

Bosnia and Herzegovina – Montenegro 

Referee: Rohit Saggi (NOR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Geir Isaksen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Morten Jensen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)
Referee Observer: Emil Bozhinovski (MKD)

Gibraltar – Netherlands
Referee: Helgi Jonasson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 1: Gylfi Sigurdsson (ISL)
Assistant Referee 2: Thordur Arnason (ISL)
Fourth Official: Vilhjalmur Thorarinsson (ISL)
Referee Observer: Nicolae Grigorescu (ROU)

Finland – Estonia
Referee: Georgi Davidov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Georgi Doinov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Petar Mitrev (BUL)
Fourth Official: Stanislav Todorov (BUL)
Referee Observer: George Vadachkoria (GEO)

Greece – Iceland
Referee: Alain Durieux (LUX)
Assistant Referee 1: Gilles Becker (LUX)
Assistant Referee 2: David Santos (LUX)
Fourth Official: Jeremy Muller (LUX)
Referee Observer: Robert Malek (POL)

Liechtenstein – Belarus
Referee: Ashot Ghaltakhchyan (ARM)
Assistant Referee 1: Khachatur Hovhannisyan (ARM)
Assistant Referee 2: Vanik Simonyan (ARM)
Fourth Official: Artem Gasparyan (ARM)
Referee Observer: Leontios Trattou (CYP)

Azerbaijan – Belarus
Referee: Vassilis Fotias (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Chrysoula Kourompylia (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Meintanas (GRE)
Fourth Official: Angelos Evangelou (GRE)
Referee Observer: Hanns Kaasik (EST)

Wales – Switzerland
Referee: Manfredas Lukjancukas (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Gevork Arakelian (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mangirdas Mirauskas (LTU)
Fourth Official: Mindaugas Jackus (LTU)
Referee Observer: Joao Ferreira (POR)

Ukraine – Serbia
Referee: Adam Farkas (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Balazs Szert (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Theodoros Georgiou (HUN)
Fourth Official: Peter Solymosi (HUN)
Referee Observer: Salustia Chato Cipres (AND)

Poland – Latvia
Referee: Robertas Valikonis (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Edgaras Bučinskas (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vytenis Kazlauskas (LTU)
Fourth Official: Kestutis Bartuškevicius (LTU)
Referee Observer: Nuno Castro (POR)

Lithuania – Slovakia
Referee: Haris Kaljanac (BIH)
Assistant Referee 1: Goran Dujak (BIH)
Assistant Referee 2: Radislav Kacavenda (BIH)
Fourth Official: Admir Šehović (BIH)
Referee Observer: Victor Shvetsov (UKR)

Bulgaria – Moldova
Referee: Petri Viljanen (FIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Mika Lamppu (FIN)
Assistant Referee 2: Jukka Honkanen (FIN)
Fourth Official: Oliver Reitala (FIN)
Referee Observer: Nerijus Dunauskas (LTU)

Russia – Spain
Referee: Jochem Kamphuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Charles Schaap (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Rogier Honig (NED)
Fourth Official: Joey Kooij (NED)
Referee Observer: Augustus Constantin (ROU)

Slovenia – Czech Republic
Referee: Bojan Pandžić (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mikael Hallin (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Ekman (SWE)
Fourth Official: Kaspar Sjöberg (SWE)
Referee Observer: Jouni Hyytiä (FIN)

Turkey – Denmark
Referee: Peter Bankes (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Ian Hussin (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: James Mainwaring (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Salisbury (ENG)
Referee Observer: Volodymyr Petrov (UKR)

Germany – San Marino
Referee: Ion Orlic (MDA)
Assistant Referee 1: Vasili Ermischin (MDA)
Assistant Referee 2: Natalia Ceban (MDA)
Fourth Official: Roman Jitari (MDA)
Referee Observer: Dimitar Mechkarovski (MKD)

North Macedonia – France
Referee: Arda Kardeşler (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kerem Ersoy (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Cevdet Komurcuoglu (TUR)
Fourth Official: Bahattin Simsek (TUR)
Referee Observer: Aleksandr Gvardis (RUS)

Israel – Hungary
Referee: Mykola Balakin (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Zhukov (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Dmytro Zaporozhenko (UKR)
Fourth Official: Yaroslav Kozyk (UKR)
Referee Observer: Jens Larsen (DEN)

Kosovo – Albania
Referee: Trustin Farrugia Cann (MLT)
Assistant Referee 1: Luke Portelli (MLT)
Assistant Referee 2: James Muscat (MLT)
Fourth Official: Daniel Portelli (MLT)
Referee Observer: Niklas a Lidarenda (FRO)

Ireland – Sweden
Referee: Peter Kralović (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Milan Štrbo (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Erik Weiss (SVK)
Fourth Official: Peter Ziemba (SVK)
Referee Observer: Kostadin Gerginov (BUL)

Scotland – Belgium
Referee: Willy Delajod (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Philippe Jeanne (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwan Finjean (FRA)
Fourth Official: Johan Hamel (FRA)
Referee Observer: Domagoj Vuckov (CRO)

Portugal – Cyprus
Referee: Kristoffer Karlsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Niklas Nyberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcus Lundgren (SWE)
Fourth Official: Fredrik Klitte (SWE)
Referee Observer: Alan Sant (MLT)

Austria – Croatia
Referee: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Klyver (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Max Robin Wilde (SWE)
Fourth Official: Adam Ladebäck (SWE)
Referee Observer: Igor Satkii (MDA)

Northern Ireland – Malta
Referee: Kari a Hovdanum (FRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Hermansen (FRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorleif Djurhuus (FRO)
Fourth Official: Eiler Rasmussen (FRO)
Referee Observer: Guy Goethals (BEL)

CAF Elite Women’s referees course sharpens Africa’s top match officials

Under the watchful eye of experienced instructors, the match officials selected for the CAF Women's Champions League are currently being sharpened ahead of kick-off this weekend. The group consists of Africa’s candidates for the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2023. The development and advancement of refereeing is a major area of focus for CAF in an attempt to create a nucleus of top officials who will officiate at major events. For the last three days, the match officials have undergone intensive physical and technical preparations. This also included the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) simulation sessions.

The course, which is based on practical and theoretical sessions, is led by a panel of renowned instructors such as An Yan Lim Kee Chong (technical instructor/ Mauritis), Tempa Ndah François (technical instructor/Benin), Malang Diedhiou (VAR instructor/Senegal), Jerome Damon (VAR instructor/South Africa), Marwa Hannachi (Physics Instructor/Tunisia), Fadouma Dia (Technical instructor/Senegal) and Ananh Jeanne Ayemou (Physics Instructor/Cote d’Ivoire). “We started with basic training, working through VAR protocols and then VAR simulator. We have been doing this for the past three days. Now the focus will be on preparing match officials for this very important tournament. We want to make everyone proud of the work we do because of the big investments CAF is making for refereeing in Africa,” said Jerome Damon. An Yan Lim Kee Chong explained: “For this course, we have used, for the first time, CAF teaching material which was developed a year ago and in line with best global practise. This is a great innovation for CAF and we will continue to produce educational material for the development of refereeing in Africa.”

Source: CAF