Refereeing World

Spanish referees defend themselves amid Barcelona scandal

Spain’s referees gathered in Madrid to defend their profession in the wake of a scandal involving Barcelona’s payment of millions of dollars over several years to a former referee then acting as their vice president. Barcelona denies any wrongdoing and says the money was for reports on referees and youth players, but a Spanish state prosecutor is probing the venture after the country’s tax officials got involved.

“We want to make clear that no one has more at stake than we do in assuring that justice is served,” referee Jose Sanchez read from manifesto in the name of the entire body of soccer match officials. The manifesto hoped that the “alleged acts by a person that in his time formed part of this house won’t stain our image and the honor of this great body.” Several hundred active and former referees and referee assistants attended the first news conference given by the Spanish soccer federation since the scandal was broken by a Spain’s Cadena SER radio station on Feb. 15. The referee body tried to distance itself from the relationship between Barcelona and former referee Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, who was a part of the Spanish soccer federation’s refereeing committee from 1994-2018. Local media reports say Barcelona’s payments to Enríquez reached 7 million euros ($7.5 million) between 2001 and 2018, when they stopped. While not confirming the exact figures, Barcelona has acknowledged the regular payment to Enríquez during those years. The club has hired an independent firm to carry out its own investigation and is expected to give its more detailed account of the relationship with Enríquez once that is concluded. There have been no reports from officials or in the media of the payments being linked to favoritism toward Barcelona by referees. Many former referees who were active at the time Enríquez was their vice president have said they never received any pressure from him or other officials. They also said that his role was to inform referees what competition they had been designated each season, but not which games. Spanish soccer federation secretary general Andreu Camps, second to president Luis Rubiales, said at the event that his organization has complied with requests for information from Spain’s tax office and prosecutors and kept UEFA informed.

Source: AP

CONMEBOL Libertadores 2023 – Third Round (First Leg)

8-9 March 2023

Magallanes – Independiente Medellin
Referee: Kevin Ortega (PER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Orue (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Sanchez (PER)
Fourth Official: Edwin Ordonez (PER)
VAR: German Delfino (ARG)
AVAR: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Referee Assessor: Ricardo Casas (ARG)
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Lamouroux (COL)

Millonarios – Atletico Mineiro
Referee: Piero Maza (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Retamal (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Claudio Urrutia (CHI)
Fourth Official: Felipe Gonzalez (CHI)
VAR: Angelo Hermosilla (CHI)
AVAR: Alejandro Molina (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Ana Perez (PER)
VAR Supervisor: Roberto Silvera (URU)

Huracan – Sporting Cristal
Referee: Andres Matonte (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Taran (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Soppi (URU)
Fourth Official: Christian Ferreyra (URU)
VAR: Andres Cunha (URU)
AVAR: Esteban Ostojich (URU)
Referee Assessor: Sergio Viola (ARG)
VAR Supervisor: Luis Vera (ECU)

Fortaleza – Cerro Porteno
Referee: Facundo Tello (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Ezequiel Brailovsky (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Chade (ARG)
Fourth Official: Maximiliano Ramirez (ARG)
VAR: Mauro Vigliano (ARG)
AVAR: Jorge Balino (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Silvia Regina (BRA)
VAR Supervisor: Juan Cardellino (URU)

Rosetti: "VAR should have not intervened on Cabral's goal"

On 23 February, during the UEFA Conference League match between Fiorentina and Sporting Braga, VAR had cancelled a goal by Cabral, despite the Goal-Line Technology having signaled the ball crossed the goal line. Roberto Rosetti, head of UEFA referees, clarified the situation during the Premio Salvetti event at Coverciano: "It would have been better if the VAR had not intervened".

Speaking about the cancellation of Cabral’s goal following VAR review, Rosetti said: “During the match Fiorentina-Braga there was an extremely complicated, borderline situation. The Goal-Line Technology signaled the ball crossed the goal line by 2 millimeters. But the VAR, after checking the images (correct procedure by the protocol) was not convinced by the correctness of the decision and intervened. The images themselves were not so clear, so the conclusion is that it would have been better for the VAR not to intervene". Roberto Rosetti, attended Premio Salvetti, named after the meritorious referee Ferruccio Salvetti and awarded to important personalities from the refereeing world and sport. In addition to Rosetti, current Serie A referee designator Gianluca Rocchi and former referee Paolo Casarin attended the award ceremony.

Source: Sky Sport

CONMEBOL Sudamericana 2023 – First Round (First Leg)

7-9 March 2023

Audax Italiano – Universidad Catolica
Referee: John Ospina (COL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilmar Navarro (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Ortiz (COL)
Fourth Official: Andres Rojas (COL)
VAR: John Perdomo (COL)
AVAR: David Rodriguez (COL)
Referee Assessor: Julio Bascunan (CHI)
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Lamouroux (COL)

Tacuary – General Caballero
Referee: Jose Cabero (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Serrano (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Rocha (CHI)
Fourth Official: Cristian Garay (CHI)
VAR: Juan Lara (CHI)
AVAR: Edson Cisternas (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Fredy Arellanos (PER)
VAR Supervisor: Claudio Rios (CHI)

Caracas – Puerto Cabello
Referee: Ivo Mendez (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Antelo (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Edward Saavedra (BOL)
Fourth Official: Christian Aleman (BOL)
VAR: Leonard Mosquera (COL)
AVAR: John Gallego (COL)
Referee Assessor: Luis Sanchez (VEN)
VAR Supervisor: Sergio Cristiano (BRA)

River Plate – Penarol
Referee: Anderson Daronco (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodrigo Correa (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Rafael Alves (BRA)
Fourth Official: Bruno Arleu (BRA)
VAR: Wagner Reway (BRA)
AVAR: Pablo Goncalves (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Miguel Nievas (URU)
VAR Supervisor: Patricio Polic (CHI)

LDU Quito – Delfin
Referee: Dario Herrera (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Savorani (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Maximiliano Del Yesso (ARG)
Fourth Official: Yael Falcon (ARG)
VAR: Rodolpho Toski (BRA)
AVAR: Daniel Nobre (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Jose Espinel (ECU)
VAR Supervisor: Angel Sanchez (ARG)

Defensor Sporting – Danubio
Referee: Bruno Arleu (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Alves (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Rodrigo Correa (BRA)
Fourth Official: Anderson Daronco (BRA)
VAR: Wagner Reway (BRA)
AVAR: Pablo Goncalves (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Patricio Loustau (ARG)
VAR Supervisor: Patricio Polic (CHI)

Guarani – Sportivo Ameliano
Referee: Cristian Garay (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Rocha (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Serrano (CHI)
Fourth Official: Jose Cabero (CHI)
VAR: Juan Lara (CHI)
AVAR: Edson Cisternas (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Fredy Arellanos (PER)
VAR Supervisor: Claudio Rios (CHI)

Guabira – Oriente Petrolero
Referee: Guillermo Guerrero (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Byron Romero (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Baren (ECU)
Fourth Official: Augusto Aragon (ECU)
VAR: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
AVAR: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Referee Assessor: Oscar Maldonado (BOL)
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Avila (ECU)

Aguilas Doradas – Independiente Santa Fe
Referee: Alexis Herrera (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Lubin Torrealba (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Ponte (VEN)
Fourth Official: Jose Uzcategui (VEN)
VAR: Rodrigo Carvajal (CHI)
AVAR: Carlos Poblete (CHI)
Referee Assessor: Abraham Gonzalez (COL)
VAR Supervisor: Sabrina Lois (ARG)

Estudiantes de Merida – Deportivo Tachira
Referee: Savio Sampaio (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Danilo Manis (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Guilherme Camilo (BRA)
Fourth Official: Wagner Magalhaes (BRA)
VAR: Rafael Traci (BRA)
AVAR: Rodrigo Guarizo (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Candelario Andarcia (VEN)
VAR Supervisor: Marcio Santiago (BRA)

Universidad Cesar Vallejo – Binacional
Referee: Jose Burgos (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Horacio Ferreiro (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Andres Nievas (URU)
Fourth Official: Gustavo Tejera (URU)
VAR: Leodan Gonzalez (URU)
AVAR: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Referee Assessor: Jorge Jaimes (PER)
VAR Supervisor: Carlos Pastorino (URU)

Blooming – Atletico Palma
Referee: Augusto Aragon (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Baren (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Byron Romero (ECU)
Fourth Official: Guillermo Guerrero (ECU)
VAR: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
AVAR: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Referee Assessor: Pedro Saucedo (BOL)
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Avila (ECU)

Cobresal – Palestino
Referee: Andres Rojas (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Richard Ortiz (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilmar Navarro (COL)
Fourth Official: John Ospina (COL)
VAR: John Perdomo (COL)
AVAR: David Rodriguez (COL)
Referee Assessor: Carlos Ulloa (CHI)
VAR Supervisor: Wilson Lamouroux (COL)

Emelec – Deportivo Cuenca
Referee: Yael Falcon (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Maximiliano Del Yesso (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Savorani (ARG)
Fourth Official: Dario Herrera (ARG)
VAR: Rodolpho Toski (BRA)
AVAR: Daniel Nobre (BRA)
Referee Assessor: Sandra Zambrano (ECU)
VAR Supervisor: Angel Sanchez (ARG)

Deportes Tolima – Junior
Referee: Jesus Valenzuela (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jorge Urrego (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tulio Moreno (VEN)
Fourth Official: Yender Herrera (VEN)
VAR: Juan Soto (VEN)
AVAR: Silvio Trucco (ARG)
Referee Assessor: Luzmila Gonzalez (COL)
VAR Supervisor: Sergio Cristiano (BRA)

Universitario – Cienciano
Referee: Gustavo Tejera (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Andres Nievas (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Horacio Ferreiro (URU)
Fourth Official: Jose Burgos (URU)
VAR: Leodan Gonzalez (URU)
AVAR: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Referee Assessor: Cesar Mongrut (PER)
VAR Supervisor: Carlos Pastorino (URU)

El Clasico referee Munuera caught telling Militao: “Vinicius grabs him by the neck, it’s a red”

We are only 24 minutes into the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The score is 0-0, and both sets of players are trying to get a foothold on the encounter. Vinicius and Frenkie de Jong clash in midfield, and this sees the Brazilian pick up a yellow card, much to the annoyance of the home crowd at Santiago Bernabeu. But could it have been worse?

The decision by referee Jose Munuera Montero came after the Madrid star, at the end of the scuffle, grabbed De Jong by the neck and threw him to the ground. According to close analysis of the TV footage after the game, the official appears (we have not yet hired a professional lip reader, but no one who we have got to review it disagrees) to have said to Los Blancos defender Eder Militao that Vinicius’ play should probably have been a red, despite deciding to just hand out a caution. “Eder, listen to me, it’s red, okay? He grabs him by the neck and throws him to the ground,” the ref appears to be seen explaining, although it doesn’t take a great deal of thought to consider that he may be using those words to justify to the complaints from Militao how clear a booking it was. Clearly this latest revelation has gone down great with the Barça fans, although the fact that they came away from the capital with a 0-1 victory, they will likely still have a smile on their faces today.

Source: AS

French referees no longer penalized when VAR overturns their decisions

The complex rating system for French referees will change, according to a report from L’Equipe. When VAR overturned one of their decisions, French referees used to receive a lower grade, on the basis they were wrong in the first place. But this won’t be the case anymore, according to Eric Borghini, the president of the Federal Commission on Refereeing. Borghini adds that the referees are mainly evaluated and rated on their technical performances by former referees acting as field observers.

Other criteria are considered for rating referees, such as communication with the assistant referees, as well as physical performance. Borghini has revealed that two assistant referees in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 have recently failed their fitness tests and were thus banned from officiating. More importantly, Borghini wants to get rid of the penalty system for referees when VAR overturn their decisions. “As long as the laws of the game allow for VAR review, it’s abnormal for a referee to be penalised”, states Borghini. “It’s not logical because it’s intended by the laws. VAR must be an assistance and the referee must be relieved to take the right decision without it changing his grade.” Borghini wishes to implement these changes for next season.

Source: GETF

FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024 Qualifiers (UEFA) – Main Round (Matchday 6)

5-8 March 2023

Belarus – Lithuania
Referee 1: Gabor Kovacs (HUN, photo)
Referee 2: Norbert Szilagyi (HUN)
Third Referee: Peter Zimonyi (HUN)
Timekeeper: Gevorg Yeghoyan (ARM)

Austria – Belgium
Referee 1: George Jansizian (SWE)
Referee 2: David Glavonjic (SWE)
Third Referee: Kastriot Gerxhaliu (SWE)
Timekeeper: Daniel Stauber (AUT)

Cyprus – Moldova
Referee 1: Marjan Mladenovski (MKD)
Referee 2: Josip Barton (MKD)
Third Referee: Done Ristovski (MKD)
Timekeeper: Larisa Avramidou (GRE)

Denmark – Romania
Referee 1: Lars Van Leeuwen (NED)
Referee 2: Joern Te Kloeze (NED)
Third Referee: Jacob Van Dijke (NED)
Timekeeper: Jonas Rossen (DEN)

North Macedonia – Sweden
Referee 1: Trayan Enchev (BUL)
Referee 2: Kaloyan Kirilov (BUL)
Third Referee: Ivo Tsenov (BUL)
Timekeeper: Dejan Dimitrijevik (MKD)

Belarus – Portugal
Referee 1: Cedric Pelissier (FRA)
Referee 2: Victor Chaix (FRA)
Third Referee: Jordan Feltesse (FRA)
Timekeeper: Mihran Kudoyan (ARM)

Hungary – Croatia
Referee 1: Talgat Kosmukhambetov (KAZ)
Referee 2: Turekhan Tursumbayev (KAZ)
Third Referee: Aslan Galayev (KAZ)
Timekeeper: Norbert Szilagyi (HUN)

Belgium – Georgia
Referee 1: Juan Cordero Gallardo (ESP)
Referee 2: David Urdanoz Apezteguia (ESP)
Third Referee: Javier Moreno Reina (ESP)
Timekeeper: Juan Boelen (BEL)

Poland – Azerbaijan
Referee 1: Grigori Ošomkov (EST)
Referee 2: Ingus Purinš (LVA)
Third Referee: Jagnar Jakobson (EST)
Timekeeper: Marta Brudnicka (POL)

France – Serbia
Referee 1: Eduardo Coelho (POR)
Referee 2: Cristiano Santos (POR)
Third Referee: Ruben Santos (POR)
Timekeeper: Julien Lang (FRA)

Finland – Denmark
Referee 1: Dominykas Norkus (LTU)
Referee 2: Mantas Pomeckis (LTU)
Third Referee: Irmantas Kaprasovas (LTU)
Timekeeper: Kirill Naishouler (FIN)

Moldova – Spain
Referee 1: David Nissen (DEN)
Referee 2: Telmen Undrakh (NOR)
Third Referee: Dag Erik Tangvik (NOR)
Timekeeper: Igor Soltanici (MDA)

Bosnia and Herzegovina – Czechia
Referee 1: Chiara Perona (ITA)
Referee 2: Daniele D’Adamo (SMR)
Third Referee: Martina Piccolo (ITA)
Timekeeper: Nikola Tadic (BIH)

Slovenia – Kazakhstan
Referee 1: Marc Birkett (ENG)
Referee 2: Peter Nurse (ENG)
Third Referee: Mark Patchell (IRL)
Timekeeper: Azra Ahmetovic (SVN)

Sweden – Italy
Referee 1: Petar Radojcic (SRB)
Referee 2: Oliver Nikolić (SRB)
Third Referee: Nebojsa Panic (SRB)
Timekeeper: David Glavonjic (SWE)

Latvia – Slovakia
Referee 1: Daniel Matkovic (SUI)
Referee 2: David Schaerli (SUI)
Third Referee: Darko Boskovic (SUI)
Timekeeper: Kiazo Leladze (LVA)

Netherlands – Ukraine
Referee 1: Nikola Jelić (CRO)
Referee 2: Vedran Babic (CRO)
Third Referee: Dino Kramar (CRO)
Timekeeper: Lars Van Leeuwen (NED)

FIFA Futsal World Cup 2024 Qualifiers (UEFA) – Main Round (Matchday 5)

1-4 March 2023

Romania – Finland
Referee 1: Kamil Çetin (TUR, photo)
Referee 2: Hakan Tezcan (TUR)
Third Referee: Fatma Tursun (TUR)
Timekeeper: Laurentiu Deaconu (ROU)

Spain – Cyprus
Referee 1: Damian Grabowski (POL)
Referee 2: Slawomir Steczko (POL)
Third Referee: Monika Czudzinowicz (POL)
Timekeeper: Jose Cidoncha Cortes (ESP)

Italy – North Macedonia
Referee 1: Stefan Vrijens (BEL)
Referee 2: Juan Boelen (BEL)
Third Referee: Yasin Alageyik (BEL)
Timekeeper: Giovanni Zannola (ITA)

Lithuania – Belarus
Referee 1: Ondřej Černy (CZE)
Referee 2: Radim Cep (CZE)
Third Referee: Filip Nesnera (CZE)
Timekeeper: Gevorg Yeghoyan (ARM)

Israel – Hungary
Referee 1: Yiangos Yiangou (CYP)
Referee 2: Michael Christofides (CYP)
Third Referee: Georgios Kozakos (CYP)
Timekeeper: Raafat Al Hamola (ISR)

Norway – France
Referee 1: Denys Kutsyi (UKR)
Referee 2: Orest Dutsiak (UKR)
Third Referee: Sviatoslav Kliuchnyk (UKR)
Timekeeper: Preben Teigen (NOR)

Armenia – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Referee 1: Aleš Mocnik Peric (SVN)
Referee 2: Dejan Veselic (SVN)
Third Referee: Jernej Petek (SVN)
Timekeeper: Mihran Kudoyan (ARM)

Azerbaijan – Greece
Referee 1: Eduardo Coelho (POR)
Referee 2: Cristiano Santos (POR)
Third Referee: Filipe Duarte (POR)
Timekeeper: Jeyhun Huseynov (AZE)

Kosovo – Netherlands
Referee 1: Nicola Manzione (ITA)
Referee 2: Dario Pezzuto (ITA)
Third Referee: Martina Piccolo (ITA)
Timekeeper: Besart Ismajli (KOS)

Montenegro – Slovenia
Referee 1: Alejandro Martinez Flores (ESP)
Referee 2: David Urdanoz Apezteguia (ESP)
Third Referee: Javier Moreno Reina (ESP)
Timekeeper: Vukic Femic (MNE)

Germany – Latvia
Referee 1: Vlad Ciobanu (ROU)
Referee 2: Liviu Chita (ROU)
Third Referee: Laurentiu Deaconu (ROU)
Timekeeper: Florian Schreiber (GER)

AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023

Uzbekistan, 1-18 March 2023

Referees

1. Ammar Mahfoodh (BHR, photo)

2. Tam Ping Wun (HKG)
3. Mohammed Zaid (IRQ)
4. Kim Woo-Sung (KOR)
5. Majed Al-Shamrani (KSA)
6. Abdullah Jamali (KUW)
7. Muhammad Bin Nasaruddin (MAS)
8. Qasim Al-Hatmi (OMA)
9. Chen Hsin-Chuan (TPE)
10. Gulmurodi Sadullo (TJK)
11. Yahya Al-Mulla (UAE)
12. Riskullaev Akhrol (UZB)

Assistant Referees
1. Faisal Alawi (BHR)
2. So Kai Man (HKG)
3. Farhad Moravveji (IRN)
4. Takebe Yosuke (JPN)
5. Jang Jong-Pil (KOR)
6. Mohamad Bin Tan (MAS)
7. Ali Muhammad (PAK)
8. Faisal Al-Shammari (QAT)
9. Chen Hsiao-En (TPE)
10. Karaev Vafo (TJK)
11. Ahmed Al-Rashdi (UAE)
12. Shayusupov Sanjar (UZB)

Women’s Team (FWWC23)
Referee: Casey Reibelt (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Heba Saddieh (PLE)
Assistant Referee 2: Ramina Tsoi (KGZ)

Referee Assessors

1. Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (MAS)
2. Ali Al-Traifi (KSA)
3. Ishiyama Noboru (JPN)
4. Jassim Al-Hail (QAT)
5. Zakariya Kanat (SYR)

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