Refereeing World

CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2012 – Group Stage (I)

21 January 2012
Equatorial Guinea – Libya
Referee: Noumandiez Doue (CIV, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Songuifolo Yeo (CIV)
Assistant Referee 2: Jason Damoo (SEY)
Fourth Official: Khalid Abdel Rahman (SDN)

Senegal – Zambia
Referee: Neamt Alioum (CMR)
Assistant Referee 1: Evarist Menkouande (CMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Yanoussa Moussa (CMR)
Fourth Official: Ali Lemghaifry (MTN)

22 January 2012
Cote d’Ivoire – Sudan
Referee: Rajindraparsad Seechurn (MRI)
Assistant Referee 1: Balkrishna Bootun (MRI)
Assistant Referee 2: Angessom Ogbamariam (ERI)
Fourth Official: Hamada Nampiandraza (MAD)

Burkina Faso – Angola
Referee: Mohamed Benouza (ALG)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdelhak Etchiali (ALG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jean-Claude Birumushahu (BDI)
Fourth Official: Gehad Grisha (EGY)

Copa Libertadores – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

24 January 2012
Arsenal – Sport Huancayo
Referee: Paulo Oliveira (BRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Braatz (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Emerson Carvalho (BRA)
Fourth Official: German Delfino (ARG)

Nacional – Libertad
Referee: Victor Rivera (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Cesar Escano (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Yupanqui (PER)
Fourth Official: Diego Lara (ECU)

25 January 2012
Union Espanola – Tigres
Referee: Alfredo Intriago (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Cedeno (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Douglas Bustamante (ECU)
Fourth Official: Julio Bascunan (CHI)

Real Potosi – Flamengo
Referee: Liber Prudente (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Pastorino (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Changala (URU)
Fourth Official: Johnny Cuellar (BOL)

Internacional – Once Caldas
Referee: Martin Vazquez (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Fourth Official: Leandro Vuaden (BRA)

26 January 2012
Penarol – Caracas
Referee: Federico Beligoy (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Hernan Maidana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Gustavo Rossi (ARG)
Fourth Official: Daniel Fedorczuk (URU)

Rodriguez suspended for his simultaneous yellow cards

Mexican FIFA referee Marco Rodriguez, also known as “Chiquimarco”, has been suspended by the Mexican Referees Committee for five matches following his performance in the Mexican Apertura 2011 Final between Tigers and Santos, where he sent off 3 players and handed out 7 yellow cards. In min. 56, Rodriguez showed two yellow cards simultaneously, one for Hector Mancilla and one for Carlos Morales.

The general secretary of the Mexican Football Federation, Decio de Maria, said that "showing two yellow cards simultaneously is not considered in the Laws of the Game and Rodriguez was not supposed to do it. He was suspended by the Referees Committee for not following the rules. I cannot tell you how long is his suspension, but Rodriguez did not referee in the first two rounds of the championship and I can assure you that he will be out for a few more games”. Mario Trejo, Puma’s director, who attended a meeting at the Mexican Football Federation, confirmed that the suspension is for 5 matches: "It is very clear that Rodriguez got sanctioned for his two yellow cards. I think he is out for five games. He is one of our top referees, but sometimes he makes mistakes".
Marco Rodriguez is known for being a very strict referee who gives out many yellow and red cards. At 38, he already took part in two FIFA World Cups (2006, 2010) and currently is one of the two Mexican referee candidates for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Source: Milenio

Banned Bulgarian referee uses false identity

Three Bulgarian match officials banned from soccer for life faked their identities to officiate a friendly game between Werder Bremen and AZ Alkmaar, last week in Turkey, according to the Bulgarian referees' association web site.

Luchezar Yonov, stripped of his rights a year ago, presented himself as another referee, Raycho Raychev, from the eastern town of Sliven, at last Wednesday’s game in the Turkish resort of Belek, the statement said. His assistants at the game, Emil Mitev and Petar Taralov, also pretended to be other people. The real Raychev told the 7 Dni Sport newspaper he was "indignant" his name had been exploited in such a way and threatened to sue the impostor. "I will take all necessary measures to clear my name," Raichev told the Bulgarian football referees association's web site: "What they did is so sneaky."
Luchezar Yonov and his assistants Petar Tarulov and Emil Mitev were among the referees who were suspended in 2011 for officiating at international matches in Argentina and Venezuela while they were subject to temporary bans for suspected match-fixing, the newspaper reported. "This story convinces us the decision we took last year was right," Bulgarian Football Union referees committee chairman Kostadin Kostadinov told state television BNT. Bundesliga club Werder came back from a goal down to beat their Dutch opponents 2-1. "I read some reports and they said there were 10 minutes of added time, a controversial penalty and a free kick in the ninth minute of added time", said Kostadinov. The Bulgarian referees association has urged the BFU to inform UEFA about the incident.

Source: Reuters

Viktor Kassai – World’s Best Referee in 2011

Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai was voted the world’s best referee in 2011. Last year, at 35, Kassai became the youngest referee appointed for the UEFA Champions League final, FC Barcelona – Manchester United. The 2011 UCL Final followed the other two highlights of his career, the 2010 FIFA World Cup semi-final, Germany – Spain, and the 2008 Olympic Games final, Argentina – Nigeria. He has already been appointed by UEFA for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine.

IFFHS World’s Best Referees 2011

1. Viktor Kassai (HUN, photo) 138

2. Howard Webb (ENG) 103

3. Ravshan Irmatov (UZB) 97

4. Wolfgang Stark (GER) 67

5. Frank De Bleeckere (BEL) 63

6. Massimo Busacca (SUI) 40

7. Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP) 40

8. Nicola Rizzoli (ITA) 29

9. Jorge Larrionda (URU) 27

10. Salvio Fagundes Filho (BRA) 23

11. Felix Brych (GER) 16

12. Sergio Pezzotta (ARG) 13

13. Joel Aguilar (SLV) 10

14. Carlos Amarilla (PAR) 10

15. Hector Baldassi (ARG) 10

16. Yuichi Nishimura (JPN) 10

17. Martin Atkinson (ENG) 8

18. Pedro Proenca Oliveira (POR) 7

19. Bjorn Kuipers (NED) 7

20. Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP) 7

21. Olegario Faustino Benquerenca (POR) 5

22. Cuneyt Cakir (TUR) 5

Former FIFA referee Cakar – heart attack live on TV

Turkish football fans were left shocked when one of the nation's favourite pundits suffered a heart attack during a live broadcast. Former FIFA referee Ahmet Cakar became visibly unwell while talking about a match-fixing scandal during a TV show and keeled over onto the desk to the shock of his fellow panellists. He suffered a heart attack and was immediately taken to the hospital, where was reported to be in a stable condition. Cakar went through another difficult moment in 2004, when he was shot five times in his groin and abdomen as he stepped out of his car in Mecidiyekoy, a busy area of Istanbul. He survived and fully recovered after surgery. Ahmet Cakar refereed at Euro 1996 in England, as well as the 1993 FIFA U-20 World Cup final, Brazil – Ghana, and a Champions League semi-final, Bayern – Ajax, in 1995.

Last year, Cakar claimed that Galatasaray's elimination of Manchester United from the UEFA Champions League in 1993 was aided by a corrupted match official. Ahmet Cakar said that he witnessed a Galatasaray official offer the match referee, Kurt Rothlisberger, a bribe over the telephone the evening before the UEFA Champions League second leg against Manchester United in Istanbul. Cakar used his twitter account to claim the club bribed referee Kurt Rothlisberger and said Sami Colgecen, a Galatasaray executive, set up the deal. Rothlisberger sent off Eric Cantona at the end of the match and the Manchester United star claimed that the official had been bribed. At the time, Cantona told L’Equipe: “I am certain that referees have been bought in the European Champions Cup and I ask myself whether Mr. Rothlisberger had not also been bought”. The club have rejected the allegation made by Ahmet Cakar and have instigated legal proceedings against him. Cakar's claim was added to by another Turkish football official, Ahmet Guvener, a former president of the Turkish Referee Committee. "I heard from a club official many times that he had bribed Rothlisberger. I do not know whether he actually did that or not, but I witnessed him saying that", Guvener told the Turkish newspaper, Sabah.
Kurt Rothlisberger took charge of the UEFA Champions League final between Olympique Marseille and AC Milan in the same year. In 1994 he was sent home from the FIFA World Cup after admitting he should have awarded Belgium a penalty in a 3-2 second-round defeat. He was later given a life ban from sport after allegations that he offered to influence another UEFA Champions League game between Grasshopper Zurich and Auxerre. Rothlisberger denied the charge, but failed in a subsequent appeal to get the ban reversed.

Source: The Associated Press

Fandel's aggressor fined 250,000 euro

A Danish football fan has been ordered to pay 250,000 euro in damages for attacking German referee Herbert Fandel during Denmark's Euro 2008 qualifier against Sweden in June 2007. The 33-year-old Ronni Noervig must pay the sum to the Danish Football Association (DBU), the High Court in Copenhagen ruled. The fan had appealed against a 2009 decision by the Copenhagen City Court which had ordered him to pay the 125,000 euro, but the High Court doubled the amount. "The person in question's acts represent the biggest attack on Danish football's integrity", Jim Stjerne Hansen, secretary-general of the DBU. "His violent assault on the referee cost us an almost spotless reputation within the soccer world and 2.2 million Danish crowns”.

The match in June, 2007, at the Parken stadium in Copenhagen was abandoned in the final minutes when the fan rushed on to the field and tried to hit German referee Herbert Fandel (photo) who had just sent off Denmark's Christian Poulsen and awarded the visitors a penalty kick at the score 3-3. Fandel abandoned the match and UEFA later awarded Sweden a 3-0 victory. The defeat meant that Denmark failed to qualify for Euro 2008.
The DBU had sought damages after it was fined by UEFA and Denmark were banned from playing their next two qualifiers at Parken. The court's award was lower than the DBU's claim because the court deemed the number of spectators who would have attended a match against Lichtenstein to be lower than the DBU's estimate. In 2007, the fan was convicted of attempted assault and trespassing and given a suspended 30-day jail sentence, which was reduced to 20 days on appeal. The fan admitted he was drunk and entered the pitch illegally, but rejected the violence charge.

Source: AFP/WebNews

FIFA Referees Committee 2012-2015

Effective 1 January 2012, FIFA changed the structure and updated the composition of the Referees Committee for the next four years. The new committee comprises 28 people, including 10 former World Cup referees (Batres, Kamikawa, Lacarne, Larrionda, Mikkelsen, Ruiz) and assistant referees (Listkiewicz, Mandi, Ntagungira, Vergara). For the first time ever, there are also three female members (Jonsson, Elovirta, Leleu).

Chairman
Angel Maria Villar Llona (Spain)

Deputy Chairmen

Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium) - Competitions
Zhang Jilong (China) - Development

Members - Competitions
Peter Mikkelsen (Denmark, photo)
Carlos Alarcon (Paraguay)
Tarek Bouchamaoui (Tunisia)
Toru Kamikawa (Japan)
Lee Harmon (Cook Islands)
Ingrid Jonsson (Sweden)
Jassim Mandi (Bahrain)
Celestin Ntagungira (Rwanda)
Badara Sene (Senegal)
Carlos Batres (Guatemala) - Inspector Refereeing
Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay) - Inspector Refereeing
Alfredo Trentalange (Italy) - Inspector Refereeing
Terence Babwah (Trinidad & Tobago) - Medical Committee

Members - Development

Belaid Lacarne (Algeria, photo)
Jorge Romo (Argentina)
Michal Listkiewicz (Poland)
Ted Howard (USA)
Lambert Maltock (Vanuatu)
Katriina Elovirta (Finland)
Jacqueline Leleu (Australia)
Hector Vergara (Canada)
Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia) - Instructor Refereeing
Michael Riley (England) - Instructor Refereeing
Oscar Ruiz (Colombia) - Instructor Refereeing
James Sekajugo (Uganda) - Medical Committee

CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2012 – Gabon / Equatorial Guinea

Referees

1. Khalid Abdel Rahman (SDN, 1968)
2. Neant Alioum (CMR, 1982)
3. Daniel Bennett (RSA, 1976)
4. Mohamed Benouza (ALG, 1972)
5. Koman Coulibaly (MLI, 1970)
6. Badara Diatta (SEN, 1969)
7. Noumandiez Doue (CIV, 1970)
8. Bouchaib El Ahrach (MAR, 1972)
9. Bakary Gassama (GAM, 1979)
10. Gehad Grisha (EGY, 1976)
11. Djamel Haimoudi (ALG, 1970)
12. Hamada Nampiandraza (MAD, 1984)
13. Slim Jedidi (TUN, 1970)
14. Ali Lemghaifry (MTN, 1975)
15. Eddy Maillet (SEY, 1967, photo)
16. Eric Otogo-Castane (GAB, 1976)
17. Rajindraparsad Seechurn (MRI, 1970)
18. Janny Sikazwe (ZAM, 1979)

Assistant Referees
1. Redouane Achik (MAR, 1972)
2. Jean-Claude Birumushahu (BDI, 1972)
3. Balkrishna Bootun (MRI, 1973)
4. Richard Bouende-Malonga (CGO, 1974)
5. Djibril Camara (SEN, 1983)
6. Moffat Champiti (MWI, 1967)
7. Jason Damoo (SEY, 1975)
8. Balla Diarra (MLI, 1974)
9. Aboubacar Doumbouya (GUI, 1976)
10. Abdelhak Etchiali (ALG, 1981)
11. Peter Edibe (NGA, 1970)
12. Bechir Hassani (TUN, 1969)
13. Felicien Kabanda (RWA, 1971)
14. Evarist Menkouande (CMR, 1974)
15. Yanoussa Moussa (CMR, 1973)
16. Angessom Ogbamariam (ERI, 1971)
17. Aden Marwa Range (KEN, 1977)
18. David Shaanika (NAM, 1980)
19. Zakhele Siwela (RSA, 1982)
20. Theophile Vinga (GAB, 1975)
21. Songuifolo Yeo (CIV, 1970)

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