UEFA Champions League – Play-offs

First Leg, 21-22 August 2012

Helsingborg – Celtic
Referee: Olegario Benquerença (POR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Joao Santos (POR)
Additional AR 1: Artur Soares (POR)
Additional AR 2: Carlos Xistra (POR)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Referee Observer: Peter Mikkelsen (DEN)

Spartak Moskva – Fenerbahce
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Michael Jones (ENG)
Fourth Official: Stephen Child (ENG)
Referee Observer: Andreas Schluchter (SUI)

Monchengladbach – Dynamo Kyiv
Referee: Pedro Proenca (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Tiago Trigo (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Venancio Tome (POR)
Additional AR 1: Duarte Gomes (POR)
Additional AR 2: Joao Capela (POR)
Fourth Official: Rui Tavares (POR)
Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN)

Kobenhavn – OSC Lille
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Sinisa Premuzaj (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Krmar (CRO)
Additional AR 1: Igor Pristovnik (CRO)
Additional AR 2: Ante Vucemilovic-Simunovic (CRO)
Fourth Official: Goran Pataki (CRO)
Referee Observer: Jaap Uilenberg (NED)

Basel – CFR Cluj
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Warnmark (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Martin Strombergsson (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Tobias Mattsson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
Referee Observer: Wilfried Heitmann (GER)

Bate – Hapoel Kiryat
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Darren Cann (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Kevin Friend (ENG)
Fourth Official: Simon Beck (ENG)
Referee Observer: Zoran Petrovic (SRB)

AEL Limasol – Anderlecht
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Radojcic (SRB)
Additional AR 1: Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB)
Additional AR 2: Miodrag Gogic (SRB)
Fourth Official: Vladimir Jovanovic (SRB)
Referee Observer: Michael Riley (ENG)

Dinamo Zagreb – NK Maribor
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Huseyin Gocek (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Suleyman Abay (TUR)
Fourth Official: Orkun Aktas (TUR)
Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)

Braga – Udinese
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER)
Additional AR 1: Marco Fritz (GER)
Additional AR 2: Tobias Welz (GER)
Fourth Official: Guido Kleve (GER)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Liba (CZE)

Malaga – Panathinaikos
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredji Harchay (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Huseyin Ocak (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Said Ennjimi (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Olivier Thual (FRA)
Fourth Official: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA)
Referee Observer: Alan Snoddy (NIR)

Copa Sudamericana – Group Stage (Matchday 5)

21 August 2012
Sao Pablo – Bahia
Referee: Sandro Ricci (BRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Altemir Hausmann (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Berkenbrock (BRA)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Marques (BRA)

San Martin – Emelec
Referee: Patricio Polic (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Maturana (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Barraza (CHI)
Fourth Official: Henry Gambetta (PER)

22 August 2012
Boca Juniors – Independiente
Referee: Patricio Loustau (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Bonfa (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Fourth Official: Diego Abal (ARG)

Coritiba – Gremio
Referee: Wilson Seneme (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Rocha (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Emerson Carvalho (BRA)
Fourth Official: Francisco Nascimento (BRA)

Botafogo – Palmeiras
Referee: Leandro Vuaden (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcio Santiago (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabricio Silva (BRA)
Fourth Official: Pericles Cortes (BRA)

23 August 2012
Leon Huanuco – Deportivo Quito
Referee: Antonio Arias (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Caceres (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Dario Gaono (PAR)
Fourth Official: Miguel Santivanez (PER)

Figueirense – Goianiense
Referee: Marcelo Henrique (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Braatz (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Rodrigo Joia (BRA)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Marques (BRA)

Colon Santa Fe – Racing
Referee: Pablo Lunati (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gustavo Esquivel (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ernesto Uziga (ARG)
Fourth Official: Saul Laverni (ARG)

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup 2012 – Group Stage (Matches 1-8)

19 August 2012
Japan – Mexico
Referee: Christine Baitinger (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Natalie Aspinall (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Sian Massey (ENG)
Fourth Official: Silvia Spinelli (ITA)

New Zealand – Switzerland

Referee: Abirami Apbai (SIN)
Assistant Referee 1: Lee Seul Gi (KOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Thi Thuy Kieu (VIE)
Fourth Official: Qin Liang (CHN)

Brazil – Italy
Referee: Margaret Domka (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emperatriz Ayala (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Elizabeth Cuff (CUB)
Fourth Official: Fadouma Dia (SEN)

Nigeria – Korea
Referee: Dianne Ferreira-James (GUY)
Assistant Referee 1: Kimberly Moreira (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Marisol Salazar (GUA)
Fourth Official: Fadouma Dia (SEN)

20 August 2012
Korea DPR – Norway
Referee: Lucila Venegas (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Enedina Caudillo (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Lixy Enriquez (MEX)
Fourth Official: Nami Sato (JPN)

Argentina – Canada
Referee: Esther Staubli (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Eveline Bolli (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Ella De Vries (BEL)
Fourth Official: Pernilla Larsson (SWE)

Ghana – USA
Referee: Teodora Albon (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Petruta Iugulescu (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Angela Kyriakou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Fusako Kajiyama (JPN)

Germany – China
Referee: Ana Marques (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mariana De Almeida (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Luzmila Gonzalez (COL)
Fourth Official: Fusako Kajiyama (JPN)

Recopa Sudamericana 2012

First Leg, 22 August 2012

Universidad de Chile – Santos

Referee: Nestor Pitana (ARG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Casas (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Hernan Maidana (ARG)
Fourth Official: German Delfino (ARG)

PGMOL: “Wrongly booking innocent players is inevitable"

English Premier League referees have recently been told to take a tough line against cheats even at the risk of fingering an innocent victim. Guidelines say a referee “must be prepared to accept that he may occasionally punish a player when no simulation has occurred". Wrongly booking a suspect/innocent player is inevitable “occasionally”, according to advice handed out to English officials at a pre-season conference. But they are urged to be “strong” in a continuing campaign against what former top international referee and current UEFA Chief Refereeing Officer Pierluigi Collina (photo) once called “a cancer in football”.

Referees accept it is becoming ever harder to detect a deliberate dive when there has been little or no contact from an opponent. “Players have become skilled at disguising their intentional actions and, therefore, it is difficult to differentiate from a fair or foul challenge,” says a communique from Professional Game Match Officials. But the guidelines stress that - “in order to reduce the number” of cheating incidents - a referee “must be prepared to accept that he may occasionally punish a player when no simulation has occurred because such decisions are difficult to make”. The PGMOL advice to officials adds: “However, referees need to be strong, positive and confident... and take the appropriate action”. Officials have also been reminded to caution players who wave imaginary yellow cards in an attempt to get an opponent punished.

Source: Mirror

International Friendly Matches

14-15 August 2012

Sweden – Brazil
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN, photo)

Germany – Argentina
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)

France – Uruguay
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)

Italy – England
Referee: Sascha Kever (SUI)

Belgium – Netherlands
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)

Ukraine – Czech Republic
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB)

Serbia – Ireland
Referee: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)

Croatia – Switzerland
Referee: Antonio Damato (ITA)

Denmark – Slovakia
Referee: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)

Scotland – Australia
Referee: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)

Russia – Ivory Coast
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)

Portugal – Panama
Referee: Cesar Muniz Fernandez (ESP)

San Marino – Malta
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)

Hungary – Israel
Referee: Ivan Kruzliak (SVK)

Norway – Greece
Referee: Alan Kelly (IRL)

Austria – Turkey
Referee: Jan Valasek (AUT)

Slovenia – Romania
Referee: Emir Aleckovic (BIH)

Albania – Moldova
Referee: Yunus Yildirim (TUR)

Estonia – Poland
Referee: Ken Henry Johnsen (NOR)

Macedonia – Lithuania
Referee: Halis Ozkahya (TUR)

Wales – Bosnia
Referee: Marco Borg (MLT)

Armenia – Belarus
Referee: Davit Kharitonashvili (GEO)

Bulgaria – Cyprus
Referee: Christopher Lautier (MLT)

Liechtenstein – Andorra
Referee: Stephan Klossner (SUI)

Azerbaijan – Bahrain
Referee: Georgi Vadachkoria (GEO)

Puerto Rico – Spain
Referee: Javier Santos (PUR)

Guatemala – El Salvador
Referee: Terry Vaughn (USA)

Mexico – USA
Referee: Walter Quesada (CRC)

Canada – Costa Rica
Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA)

FIFA Futsal World Cup 2012

Thailand, 1-18 November 2012

Referees

AFC
1. Nurdin Bukuev (KGZ), 07.10.1980
2. Mohamad Chami (LIB), 02.02.1979
3. Scott Kidson (AUS, photo), 10.05.1973
4. Jang Kwan Kim (KOR), 16.04.1968
5. Naoki Miyatani (JPN), 28.02.1979
6. Shukhrat Pulatov (UZB), 18.07.1975
7. Alireza Sohrabi (IRN), 12.06.1971
8. Youze Zhang (CHN), 27.12.1972

CAF
1. Saheed Ayeni (NGA), 31.12.1968
2. Said Abd Kadara (EGY), 25.08.1967
3. Jose Katemo (ANG), 06.09.1982
4. Eduardo Mahumane (MOZ), 30.07.1973

CONCACAF
1. Wenceslaos Aguilar Diaz (PAN), 05.09.1978
2. Sergio Cabrera Acosta (CUB), 08.09.1977
3. Alexander Cline Beteta (PAN), 03.07.1982
4. Carlos Gonzalez Sanchez (GUA), 15.10.1982
5. Geovanny Lopez Munguia (CRC), 27.01.1982
6. Francisco Rivera Llerenas (MEX), 19.01.1977

CONMEBOL
1. Sandro Brechane Stein (BRA), 12.05.1967
2. Oswaldo Gomez Florez (COL), 24.12.1977
3. Jaime Jativa Bravo (ECU), 06.09.1980
4. Renata Leite Neves (BRA) 14.05.1976
5. Daniel Rodriguez Bordon (URU), 23.04.1979
6. Hector Rojas Figueroa (PER), 09.09.1973
7. Joel Ruiz Acosta (PAR), 13.07.1974
8. Dario Javier Santamaria (ARG), 22.03.1979

OFC
1. Amitesh Behari (FIJ), 07.09.1979
2. Rex Kamusu (SOL), 05.08.1984

UEFA
1. Marc Birkett (ENG), 03.02.1978
2. Eduardo Fernandes Coelho (POR), 10.10.1979
3. Fernando Gutierrez Lumbreras (ESP), 26.07.1971
4. Karel Henych (CZE), 11.03.1979
5. Danijel Janosevic (CRO), 06.01.1971
6. Gabor Kovacs (HUN), 16.04.1978
7. Pascal Lemal (BEL), 21.11.1972
8. Francesco Massini (ITA), 27.01.1969
9. Ivan Shabanov (RUS), 15.08.1978
10. Borut Sivic (SVN), 20.04.1971

Luisao knocked out referee Fischer

The international friendly match between Fortuna Dusseldorf and Benfica Lisbon was abandoned on Saturday after the referee was pushed over by Luisao. Before half-time referee Christian Fischer was about to hand a second booking to Benfica midfielder Javi Garcia when Luisao stormed torwards him and pushed him down, according to reports from Rheinische Post. The official remained on the ground motionless for a few seconds and was in a daze for a few minutes, before abandoning the match after 38 minutes and leaving the field for treatment by Dusseldorf's team doctor.

Referee Christian Fischer said that he had not expected anything like that to happen: "I did not see the player who bumped into me coming. I wanted to book a different player for a second time, and suddenly two Benfica players were surrounding me. It was like running against a brick wall at full speed. Never before in my 20 years as a ref have I gone through something like this - not in the minor leagues and not in Bundesliga football."

Fortuna's chairman Peter Frymuth explained: "The ref was attacked and had to be treated by our doctors inside the locker room. Because of that attack the game was abandoned. I am shocked. I have been in football for many years and have never seen anything like it. I do not understand that players from a team with the reputation of Benfica, a team that play in the Champions League, have such an attitude. Let's get help from the German federation and talk with UEFA about Luisao and about what other Benfica players did. I hope they are severely punished. This should have been a day of celebration for us, but now it has becoming a depressing affair. We are sick at heart."

Rainer Koch, an official from the German Football Federation (DFB), has called on the Portuguese FA to punish the defender heavily. "The Portuguese FA has the authority in that case. There can only be a harsh penalty for such incidents. Attacks on the referee are absolutely unacceptable," said Koch. "There has to be zero tolerance in such cases. I expect the Portuguese FA to take drastic action and ban the player for quite a while, not just for a few matches." 

Source: ESPN/DPA

Copa Sudamericana – Group Stage (Matchday 4)

14 August 2012
Millionarios – Intigas
Referee: Juan Soto (VEN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Jorge Urrego (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Lopez (VEN)
Fourth Official: Imer Machado (COL)

Cerro Largo – Aurora
Referee: Saul Laverni (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gustavo Rossi (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ernesto Uziga (ARG)
Fourth Official: Hector Martinez (URU)

Nacional – Iquique
Referee: Paulo Oliveira (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Berkenbrock (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Rodrigo Joia (BRA)
Fourth Official: Daniel Fedorczuk (URU)

15 August 2012
Liga de Loja – Monagas
Referee: Victor Carrillo (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Johnny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Cesar Escano (PER)
Fourth Official: Roddy Zambrano (ECU)

Envigado – Union Comercio
Referee: Raul Orosco (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Efrain Castro (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Arol Valda (BOL)
Fourth Official: Juan Restrepo (COL)

16 August 2012
Universitario – Liverpool
Referee: Marlon Escalante (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Yanez (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Luis Murillo (VEN)
Fourth Official: Jose Jordan (BOL)

Argentinos Juniors – Tigre
Referee: Patricio Loustau (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gustavo Esquivel (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ivan Nunez (ARG)
Fourth Official: Federico Beligoy (ARG)

Deportivo Lara – Deportes Tolima
Referee: Diego Lara (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Alvarado (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Fourth Official: Jose Hoyo (VEN)

UEFA Europa League – Third Qualifying Round

Second Leg, 9 August 2012

Plzen – Ruch
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN, photo)

Omonia – Crvena Zvezda
Referee: Michael Lerjeus (SWE)

Elfsborg – Horsens
Referee: Bobby Madden (SCO)

Dinamo Moskow – Dundee United
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)

Aktobe – Genk
Referee: Cyril Zimmermann (SUI)

Slaven Koprivnica – Athletic
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)

Legia – Ried
Referee: Eli Hacmon (ISR)

Metalurh Donetsk – Tromso
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)

Mlada Boleslav – Twente
Referee: Maksim Layushkin (RUS)

Aalesund – Apoel

Referee: Hannes Kaasik (EST)

Rosenborg – Servette
Referee: Neil Doyle (IRL)

Anorthosis – Dila
Referee: Mihaly Fabian (HUN)

Spartak Trnava – Steaua
Referee: Yevhen Aranovskiy (UKR)

Young Boys – Kalmar
Referee: Halis Ozkahya (TUR)

Gent – Videoton
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)

Lech – AIK
Referee: Libor Kovarik (CZE)

Zeta – Sarajevo
Referee: Tommy Skjerven (NOR)

Sparta Praha – Admira
Referee: Luca Banti (ITA)

Mura – Arsenal Kyiv
Referee: Oliver Drachta (AUT)

Vitesse – Anzhi
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)

PAOK – Bnei Yehuda
Referee: Cristian Balaj (ROU)

Rapid Bucharest – Heerenveen
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)

Hannover – St. Patrick's
Referee: Anar Salmanov (AZE)

Bursaspor – KuPS
Referee: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)

Internazionale – Hajduk Split
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)

Marseille – Eskisehirspor
Referee: Artur Soares (POR)

Maritimo – Asteras
Referee: Paolo Valeri (ITA)

Liverpool – Gomel
Referee: Kenn Hansen (DEN)

Rapid Wien – Vojvodina
Referee: Robert Malek (POL)