UEFA Observers and Delegates for CL Round of 16 Second Legs ready

These are the officials selected who will observe the referees and delegate the matches of Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg ties during the coming two weeks.

11 March 2014, 20:45 CET
Atlético Madrid - AC Milan
UEFA Referee Observer: Sergey Zuev (RUS)
UEFA Delegate: Eggert Magnusson (ISL)
Prediction: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA)

11 March 2014, 20:45 CET
Bayern München - Arsenal FC
UEFA Referee Observer: Jaap Uilenberg (NED)
UEFA Delegate: Balázs Makray (HUN)
Prediction: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)

12 March 2014, 20:45 CET
Paris SG - Bayer Leverkusen
UEFA Referee Observer: Donald McVicar (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: David Findlay (SCO)
Prediction: Pavel Královec (CZE)

12 March 2014, 20:45 CET
FC Barcelona - Manchester City
UEFA Referee Observer: Luciano Luci (ITA)
UEFA Delegate: Christian Schmölzer (AUT)
Prediction: Felix Brych (GER)

18 March 2014, 20:45 CET
Real Madrid - Schalke 04
UEFA Referee Observer: Vítor Melo Pereira (POR)
UEFA Delegate: Dennis Cruise (IRL)
Prediction: Damir Skomina (SVN)

18 March 2014, 20:45 CET
Chelsea FC - Galatasaray
UEFA Referee Observer: Roberto Rosetti (ITA)
UEFA Delegate: Michele Uva (ITA)
Prediction: Milorad Mažić (SRB)

19 March 2014, 20:45 CET
Borussia Dortmund - Zenit St Petersburg
UEFA Referee Observer: Stephen Bennett (ENG)
UEFA Delegate: Christian Kofoed (DEN)
Prediction: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)

19 March 2014, 20:45 CET
Manchester Utd. - Olympiakos
UEFA Referee Observer: Francesco Bianchi (SUI)
UEFA Delegate: Michael Kirchner (GER)
Prediction: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)

Match Officials for CL & EL K.O. stage matches ready

These are the men appointed by UEFA to function as referee observers and match delegates respectively in the first legs of Champions League's Round of 16 and Europa League's Round of 32.

Herbert Fandel will observe a match in Europa League (c) spox.com

UEFA Champions League:

Manchester City - FC Barcelona
Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Henk Kesler (NED)

Bayer Leverkusen - Paris S.G.
Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)
UEFA Delegate: Mike Foster (ENG)

Arsenal FC - Bayern München
Referee Observer: Manuel Enrique Mejuto González (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: Armen Minasyan (ARM)

AC Milan - Atlético Madrid
Referee Observer: Horst Brummeier (AUT)
UEFA Delegate: Wolfgang Thierrichter (AUT)

Zenit St Petersburg - Borussia Dortmund
Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)
UEFA Delegate: Jānis Mežeckis (LVA)

Olympiacos - Manchester United
Referee Observer: Zdravko Jokić (SRB)
UEFA Delegate: Georges Lüchinger (LIE)

Schalke 04 - Real Madrid
Referee Observer: Michel Vautrot (FRA)
UEFA Delegate: Michal Listkiewicz (POL)

Galatasaray - Chelsea FC
Referee Observer: Vaclav Krondl (CZE)
UEFA Delegate: Jean-Louis Piette (FRA)


UEFA Europa League:

FC Dnipro - Tottenham
Referee Observer: Christakis Skapoullis (CYP)
UEFA Delegate: David McDowell (SVN)

Real Betis - Rubin Kazan
Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Patrick Wattebled (FRA)

Swansea City - SSC Napoli
Referee Observer: Marinus Koopman (NED)
UEFA Delegate: Panagiotis Chatzialexiou (GER)

Juventus Turin - Trabzonspor
Referee Observer: Herbert Fandel (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Petr Fousek (CZE)

NK Maribor - Sevilla CF
Referee Observer: Zbigniew Przesmycki (POL)
UEFA Delegate: Ionel Piscanu (ROU)

Viktoria Plzen - Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
UEFA Delegate: Tomás Gea (AND)

Chornomorets - Olympique Lyon
Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)
UEFA Delegate: Ori Shilo (ISR)

Lazio Roma - Ludogorets
Referee Observer: David Elleray (ENG)
UEFA Delegate: Gunther De Saedeleer (BEL)

Ajax Amsterdam - RB Salzburg
Referee Observer: Pierluigi Collina (ITA)
UEFA Delegate: Luis Cuervas Del Real (ESP)

Esbjerg - Fiorentina
Referee Observer: Paul Allaerts (BEL)
UEFA Delegate: Ivan Lekov (BUL)

Maccabi Tel-Aviv - FC Basel
Referee Observer: Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE)
UEFA Delegate: Barry Bright (ENG)

FC Porto - Eintracht Frankfurt
Referee Observer: Alan Snoddy (NIR)
UEFA Delegate: Dusko Grabovac (CRO)

Anzhi - KRC Genk
Referee Observer: Gevorg Hovhannisyan (ARM)
UEFA Delegate: Kuanysh Kanapyanov (KAZ)

Dynamo Kyiv - Valencia CF
Referee Observer: Stefan Ormandjiev (BUL)
UEFA Delegate: Andreas Akkelides (CYP)

PAOK - SL Benfica
Referee Observer: Oguz Sarvan (TUR)
UEFA Delegate: Johan van Kouterik (NED)

Slovan Liberec - AZ Alkmaar
Referee Observer: Adrian D. Casha (MLT)
UEFA Delegate: Lucien Kayser (LUX)

UEFA's Referee Winter Seminar in Lisbon

Lisbon will be the destination of several European top-class match officials who take part in UEFA's traditional winter referee seminar. Parts of the referee committee and 127 UEFA referees are going to attend Portugal's capital from 2 to 6 February.

At the seminar, UEFA normally conducts focused training with their referees in terms of fitness, laws of the game and issues that are on the agenda of urgent or current topics such as dogso cases, free-kick management and penalty area incidents. The speeches will be held by Hugh Dallas, Vlado Sajn and, in the case of female football, by Dagmar Damkova and Bo Karlsson. The pool of referees will furthermore receive instructions and a greeting speech by UEFA's head of refereeing Pierluigi Collina. Werner Helsen will, as usual, be the responsible man for fitness guidelines, while Spaniard Emilio García will deal with the topic of match-fixing. Moreover, a special facet of the seminar are accurate fitness-, body weight- and body fat tests to be done on Wednesday morning. Again, there is no special assistance for UEFA's top referees in the area of personality and soft skills.
The officials are splitted in two seminar blocks. The advanced course (3-6 Feb.) consists of experienced top-class referees mostly belonging to Elite Group and First Group, partly regardless whether they are male or female, while the introductory course (2-6 Feb.) means the international start for those 44 officials who have made their FIFA bow in January 2014.

These referees participate in the seminars:

Advanced Course:
Martin Atkinson (ENG), Olegário Benquerenca (POR), Felix Brych (GER), Cüneyt Cakir (TUR), Mark Clattenburg (ENG), William Collum (SCO), Jonas Eriksson (SWE), David Fernández Borbalán (ESP), Viktor Kassai (HUN), Pavel Královec (CZE), Björn Kuipers (NED), Stéphane Lannoy (FRA), Milorad Mažić (SRB), Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR), Pedro Proenca (POR), Nicola Rizzoli (ITA), Gianluca Rocchi (ITA), Damir Skomina (SVN), Wolfgang Stark (GER), Paolo Tagliavento (ITA), Craig Thomson (SCO), Alberto Undiano (ESP), Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP), Howard Webb (ENG)

Yevhen Aranovskyi (UKR), Firat Aydinus (TUR), Deniz Aytekin (GER), Luca Banti (ITA), Ivan Bebek (CRO), Serhiy Boiko (UKR), Ruddy Buquet (FRA), Sébastien Delferiere (BEL), Aleksei Eskov (RUS), Antony Gautier (FRA), Mattias Gestranius (FIN), Manuel Gräfe (GER), Serge Gumienny (BEL), Tom Hagen (NOR), Kenn Hansen (DEN), Ovidiu Hategan (ROU), Stefan Johannesson (SWE), Matej Jug (SVN), Sergei Karasev (RUS), Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR), Harald Lechner (AUT), Szymon Marciniak (POL), Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP), Paolo Mazzoleni (ITA), Steven McLean (SCO), Bas Nijhuis (NED), Michael Oliver (ENG), Daniele Orsato (ITA), Halis Özkahya (TUR), Anastassios Sidiropoulos (GRE), Artur Soares Dias (POR), Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD), Marijo Strahonja (CRO), Martin Strömbergsson (SWE), Alexandru Tudor (ROU), Clément Turpin (FRA), István Vad (HUN), Pol van Boekel (NED), Slavko Vinčič (SVN), Alon Yefet (ISR), Miroslav Zelinka (CZE), Felix Zwayer (GER)

Jana Adamková (CZE), Teodora Albon (ROU), Christine Baitinger (GER), Cristina Dorcioman (ROU), Gyöngy Gaál (HUN), Kirsi Heikkinen (FIN), Riem Hussein (GER), Katalin Kulcsár (HUN), Pernilla Larsson (SWE), Thalia Mitsi (GRE), Kateryna Monzul (UKR), Jenny Palmqvist (SWE), Morag Pirie (SCO), Silvia Tea Spinelli (ITA), Esther Staubli (SUI), Bibiana Steinhaus (GER), Carina Vitulano (ITA)


Introductory Course:
Zaven Hovhannisyan (ARM), Manuel Schüttengruber (AUT), Erik Lambrechts (BEL), Bart Vertenten (BEL), Edin Jakupovic (BIH), Tsvetan Krastev (BUL), Fran Jovic (CRO), Tihomir Pejin (CRO), Zbynek Proske (CZE), Jens Maae (DEN), Anders Poulsen (DEN), Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP), Alejandro José Hernández Hernández (ESP), Ville Nevalainen (FIN), Benoît Bastien (FRA), Benoît Millot (FRA), Bastian Dankert (GER), Tobias Stieler GER), Paul McLaughlin (IRL), Roy Reinshreiber (ISR), Marco Guida (ITA), Davide Massa (ITA), Alexandru Tean (MDA), Bartosz Frankowski (POL), Tomasz Musial (POL), Sergei Ivanov (RUS), Paul Robertson (SCO), Bojan Pandzic (SWE)

Julia-Stefanie Baier (AUT), Farida Lutfaliyeva (AZE), Lois Otte (BEL), Galiya Echeva (BUL), Ivana Martincic (CRO), Eliska Kralovec-Kramlova (CZE), Ifeoma Kulmala (FIN), Eleni Antoniou (GRE), Valentina Garoffolo (ITA), Justina Lavrenovaite (LTU), Viola Raudzina (LVA), Irena Velevackoska (MKD), Henrikke Nervik (NOR), Kseniya Goryacheva (RUS), Aleksandra Cesen (SVN), Liudmyla Telbukh (UKR)

UEFA considers implementation of vanishing spray

The UEFA Executive Committee has decided to conduct a test trial of the so-called vanishing spray utilized by the referees to mark out free-kick and wall positions at the final tournament of 2014 UEFA Under-17 European Championship. Thus, Europe's football governing body apparently follows world federation FIFA that will deploy the spray at Brazil's World Cup 2014.

WC 2014 Referee Ben Williams marking the wall-distance

The tool, that is being availed in South American competitions for several years and that was first tested by FIFA at U-20 World Cup 2013, is supposed to support referees when controlling the correct wall-distance of 9.15m and defining the correct and stationary ball position during free-kicks close to the penalty area. The spray creates a white foam line which vanishes within one minute. Usually the spray is stored in a bottle placed at the referees' trousers.

The responsible men in the football associations touch on a very subtle issue in modern football once again by shifting focus on the wall-distance at free-kicks. Basically, the observation that plenty of attackers here and there steal some (centi-)metres in order to revamp the free-kick position is legitimate. In addition, it is widely known that several defenders are infringing the wall-distance of 9.15m. So at first glance, this tool appears to be a logical means to make the game better. 

However, there are several strong arguments against it. 

First, the game is not made better, but slower. It takes the referees some seconds to sort out the spray bottle, mark the foam lines and store the bottle away. Besides, it does not exclude the opportunity that some players will ignore these lines.

Second, a tool to prevent infringements with regard to the wall-distance and to stealing some metres has already been implemented in the last century and is commonly called "yellow card". 

Third, marking an optically visible line does not necessarily mean that the distance between the wall and the ball's position really is 9.15m. Furthermore, it still allows the possibility that the referees did not identify the correct position where the previous infringement leading to the set piece had occurred at all. If FIFA (and soon UEFA) were consistent, they would have to equip their match officials with a measuring tape and the sixth sense to ensure accuracy.

Fourth (and most important), it is a worrying signal if the responsible associations do not rely on their referees' ability to manage free-kick incidents including the correct ball position and wall distance with their personality. Referees, who savour authority being respected by the players, who are to able to communicate appropiately with the players and who have a general awareness for this sort of infractions, do not need a spray. Therefore, the implementation of the vanishing spray probably is one of those projects of some office sitters in Switzerland who feel the urge to immortalize themselves. At any rate, it is futile in my opinion.

UEFA Referees asked to avert the Triple Punishment

The Third Team can confirm several reports issued by various newspapers reporting about a directive that is planned to be given to UEFA's top-class referees instructing them to avert the so-called triple punishment in future matches.

Sergei Karasev administering a "triple punishment" in UCL

According to the current version of the Laws of the Game, referees are forced to send players off with a direct red card as soon as they have denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, regardless of where the infringement occurred (referring to inside or outside the penalty area only). If the infringement happened in the penalty area, referees naturally have to award a penalty kick in favour of the team that were fouled. The penalty kick (and mostly the goal), the red card and consecutive suspensions are widely called triple punishment (for the team offending the infraction). Plenty of former players, football experts and specially football politicians have been considering this circumstance as too harsh. Their basic argument is that, by awarding the penalty kick, the obvious goal-scoring opportunity is recreated, so that a red card is not necessary any longer. Agreeable to this point of view, a yellow card should be issued against the offender. 

Specially UEFA president Michel Platini is one of the persons favouring the abolishment of the triple punishment. Now, the Frenchman, in whom a former football player, a football expert and a politician have surely unified in a unique manner, has therefore decided to ask UEFA Referee Committee headed by Pierluigi Collina to instruct their top referees accordingly. In the knockout stage of the two major UEFA club competitions, this guideline will first come into effect. 

Since the literal change of the Laws of the Game requires the IFAB's approval, this directive is only an advise or guideline. For now. As several powerful men inside FIFA (and maybe IFAB, too) are making pressure for this definite change of the Laws of the Game for a while, it is quite probable that UEFA's guideline could be kind of a blueprint in this matter. Unfortunately, Platini never was a referee and is therefore missing the adequate feeling for the Laws of the Game and spirit of football. What he and his companions seem to forget is that the red card was never only thought as a compensation for the denied obvious goal-scoring opportunity, but rather dealt with as a punishment for the offense and try to prevent a goal from being scored at all. Moreover, it was surely a deterrent factor. And some questions remain open. What if a player deliberately handles the ball on the goalline à la Luis Suarez? What if the consecutive penalty kick of any dogso-infringement does not lead to a goal, keeping in mind that a penalty kick exposes a different psychological pattern for the attacking team? How do you want to sell that to players and football fans, who consider a red card as a true and mere matter of justice after a deliberate infringement to be classified as dogso? 

Actually it must have been painful for Collina and co. having received this order by Monsieur Platini. It must feel hard to instruct one's referees such an absurdity. We'll see how the referees will deal with such situations in the k.o. stage - provided that appropiate incidents will occur, of course, which hopefully won't be the case. Otherwise, referees will be in a huge dilemma due to this populistic move by the FIFA-president-to-be.

International Referees and Assistant Referees 2014 (UEFA)

Please find the full referee and assistant referee lists for the European zone governed by UEFA in the pdf-documents attached.

	Referees
	Assistant Referees

UEFA Referee Categories - 2013/14 (Winter)

These are the updated referee categories determined on 17 December 2013. Several promotions, demotions and re-categorizations have been conducted, while Elite Development Group has been abandoned. We welcome all new FIFA referees, whose names are written in bold, in the international world of football refereeing and goodbye those who make place for young officials or have reached the age limit!

Elite Group:

Martin Atkinson (ENG), Olegário Benquerenca (POR), Felix Brych (GER), Cüneyt Cakir (TUR), Mark Clattenburg (ENG), William Collum (SCO), Jonas Eriksson (SWE), David Fernández Borbalán (ESP, N), Viktor Kassai (HUN), Pavel Královec (CZE), Björn Kuipers (NED), Stéphane Lannoy (FRA), Milorad Mažić (SRB), Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR), Pedro Proenca (POR), Nicola Rizzoli (ITA), Gianluca Rocchi (ITA), Damir Skomina (SVN), Wolfgang Stark (GER), Paolo Tagliavento (ITA), Craig Thomson (SCO), Alberto Undiano (ESP), Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP), Howard Webb (ENG

First Group:

Ievgenii Aranovskiy (UKR, N), Firat Aydinus (TUR, R), Deniz Aytekin (GER, R), Pavel Balaj (ROU), Luca Banti (ITA), Ivan Bebek (CRO, R), Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS), Kevin Blom (NED), Serhiy Boiko (UKR), Marcin Borski (POL), Ruddy Buquet (FRA, N), Tony Chapron (FRA), Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP), Sébastien Delferiere (BEL, N), Aleksei Eskov (RUS, N), Simon Evans (WAL), Antony Gautier (FRA, R), Mattias Gestranius (FIN, N), Pawel Gil (POL), Hüseyin Göcek (TUR), Duarte Gomes (POR), Manuel Gräfe (GER, R), Serge Gumienny (BEL), Tom Harald Hagen (NOR, R), Kenn Hansen (DEN, N), Martin Hansson (SWE), Ovidiu Alin Hategan (ROU, R), Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL), Stefan Johannesson (SWE), Matej Jug (SVN, R), Hannes Kaasik (EST), Anastassios Kakos (GRE), Sergei Karasev (RUS, R), Michael Koukoulakis (GRE), Libor Kovarik (CZE), Ivan Kruzliak (SVK), Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR), Harald Lechner (AUT, N), Liran Liany (ISR), Robert Madden (SCO), Danny Makkelie (NED), Szymon Marciniak (POL), Andre Marriner (ENG), Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP), Gediminas Mazeika (LTU), Paolo Silvio Mazzoleni (ITA, N), Steven McLean (SCO, N), Bas Nijhuis (NED, R), Michael Oliver (ENG), Daniele Orsato (ITA, R), Halis Özkahya (TUR, N), Robert Schörgenhofer (AUT), Anastassios Sidiropoulos (GRE), Manuel De Sousa (POR), Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD, R), Marijo Strahonja (CRO, R), Martin Strömbergsson (SWE, N), Stephan Studer (SUI),  Leontios Trattou (CYP), Alexandru Tudor (ROU), Clément Turpin (FRA), István Vad (HUN, R), Pol van Boekel (NED), Slavko Vinčič (SVN, N), Alon Yefet (ISR), Bülent Yildirim (TUR), Miroslav Zelinka (CZE, N), Felix Zwayer (GER)

Second Group:

Aliyar Aghayev (AZE, N), Ionut Marius Avram (ROU), Bastien Benoît (FRA), John Beaton (SCO), Alain Bieri (SUI), Tamás Bognar (HUN), Kevin Clancy (SCO), Mark Courtney (NIR), Antonio Damato (ITA, D), Bastian Dankert (GER), Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP), Oleksandr Derdo (UKR), Christian Dingert (GER), Neil Doyle (IRL), Oliver Drachta (AUT), Nerijus Dunauskas (LTU), René Eisner (AUT), Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP), Mihaly Fabian (HUN), Fredy Fautrel (FRA, D), Marco Fritz (GER), Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP), Vlado Glodjovic (SRB), Serdar Gözübüyük (NED), Marco Guida (ITA), Eli Hacmon (ISR), Alexander Harkam (AUT, N), Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP), Arnold Hunter (NIR), Adrien Jaccottet (SUI, N), Ken Henry Johnsen (NOR), Georgi Kabakov (BUL, N), Jakob Kehlet (DEN), Sascha Kever (SUI, D), Stephan Klossner (SUI), István Kovacs (ROU), Artyom Kuchin (KAZ), Sergei Lapochkin (RUS, N), Maksim Layushkin (RUS), Michael Lerjeus (SWE), Richard Liesveld (NED), Davide Massa (ITA), Dimitar Meckarovski (MKD), Vitaly Meshkov (RUS), Hugo Miguel (POR, N), Benoît Millot (FRA), Antti Munukka (FIN), Aleksei Nikolaev (RUS, D), Marios Panayi (CYP), Radu Petrescu (ROU, N), Clayton Pisani (MLT, N), Lee Probert (ENG), Pawel Raczkowski (POL, N), Pavle Radovanovic (MNE), Nicolas Rainville (FRA), Artur Ribeiro Soares Dias (POR), Anar Salmanov (AZE), Eitan Shmuelevitz (ISR), Ilias Spathas (GRE), Daniel Stefanski (POL, N), Tobias Stieler (GER), Ivaylo Stoyanov (BUL),  Padraigh Sutton (IRL), Anthony Taylor (ENG), Stanislav Todorov (BUL, D), Kristo Tohver (EST), Stavros Tritsonis (GRE), Richard Trutz (SVK), Siarhei Tsynkevich (BLR, N), Michael Tykgaard (DEN, N), Jan Valasek (SVK), Paolo Valeri (ITA), Ognjen Valjic (BIH), Ante Vucemilovic-simunovic jr (CRO), Tobias Welz (GER), Carlos Xistra (POR)

Third Group:

Anatoliy Abdula (UKR), Alexandr Aliyev (KAZ), Sascha Amhof (SUI), Ioannis Anastasiou (CYP), Sándor Andó-Szabó (HUN, D), Dennis Antamo (FIN), Aleksandrs Anufrijevs (LVA), Petr Ardeleanu (CZE), Thorvaldur Arnason (ISL), Suren Baliyan (ARM), Sven Bindels (LUX), Marco Borg (MLT, D), Alexandre Boucaut (BEL), Johnny Casanova (SMR), Sebastian Coltescu (ROU), Raymond Crangle (NIR), Nikola Dabanovic (MNE), Sergiu Derenov (MDA), Vasilis Dimitriou (CYP), Vadims Direktorenko (LVA), Svein-Erik Edvartsen (NOR), Jérome Efong Nzolo (BEL), Andreas Ekberg (SWE), Said Ennjimi (FRA), Bartosz Frankowski (POL), Aleksander Gauzer (KAZ), Athanassios Giachos (GRE), Orel Grinfeld (ISR), Danilo Grujic (SRB), Tornike Gvantseladze (GEO), Dag Vidar Hafsas (NOR), Markus Hameter (AUT), Nikolaj Hänni (SUI), Tore Hansen (NOR), Rahim Hasanov (AZE), Thoroddur Hjaltalin (ISL), Zaven Hovhannisyan (ARM), Sergei Ivanov (RUS), Dejan Jakimovski (MKD), Edin Jakupovic (BIH), Jari Järvinen (FIN), Lorenc Jemini (ALB), Michael Johansen (DEN), Gunnar Jónsson (ISL), Enea Jorgji (ALB), Bosko Jovanetic (SRB), Fran Jovic (CRO), Mete Kalkavan (TUR), Jovan Kaludjerovic (MNE), Laurent Kopriwa (LUX), Yaroslav Kozyk (UKR), Peter Kralovic (SVK), Tvetan Krastev (BUL), Mads Kristoffersen (DEN), Erik Lambrechts (BEL), Jonathan Lardot (BEL), Jens Maae (DEN), Bryn David Markham-Jones (WAL), Paul McLaughlin (IRL), Yuriy Mozharovskyy (UKR), Dumitru Muntean (MDA), Tomasz Musial (POL), Ádám Németh (HUN), Ville Nevalainen (FIN), Christos Nicolaides (CYP), Bojan Pandzic (SWE), Andreas Pappas (GRE), Bardhyl Pashaj (ALB), Tihomir Pejin (CRO), Elmir Pilav (BIH), Nikola Popov (BUL), Anders Poulsen (DEN), Radek Prihoda (CZE), Zbynek Proske (CZE), Petur Reinert (FAR), Roi Reinshreiber (ISR), Chris Reisch (LUX), Paul Robertson (SCO), Robert Rogers (IRL), Eiko Saar (EST), Alan Sant (MLT), Joao Santos Capela (POR), Marco Santos Ferreira (POR), Manuel Schüttengruber (AUT), Dzianis Shcharbakou (BLR), Lasha Silagava (GEO), Bariş Şimşek (TUR), Sergejus Slyva (LTU), Mervyn Smyth (NIR), Alexandru Tean (MDA), Andris Treimanis (LVA), George Vadachkoria (GEO), Bart Vertenten (BEL), Mikhail Vilkov (RUS), Ignasi Villamayor (AND), Anatoliy Vishnichenko (KAZ), Vladimir Vnuk (SVK), Domagoj Vuckov (CRO), Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB), Mark Whitby (WAL), Nikolay Yordanov (BUL, D), Mitja Zganec (SVN), Anatolii Zhabchenko (UKR)

N = New in this category/promoted

D = Demoted

R = Re-categorized

bold = new FIFA referees

David Fernández Borbalán promoted to Elite Group

Spanish referee David Fernández Borbalán has emerged to be the only referee promoted to Elite Group as a result of the committee's meeting. Additionally, it seems as if UEFA has decided to abandon the Elite Development Group.

Further information to follow.

Kyros Vassaras stays in UEFA Referee Committee

Contrary to the latest piece of news that Greek Kyros Vassaras was about to leave UEFA's referee committee, which was previously issued here on the basis of an official UEFA document dealing with the composition of the federation's bodies and committees, it has now turned out that Vassaras will definitely stay in the referee committee.

Upon The Third Team's request, UEFA confirmed that "the name of Mr. Vassaras was not included in the list by mistake". They regretted this error and will update the document in due course.

So nothing has changed in the committee's composition. It still consists of the following members:

Chairman
Angel Maria Villar Llona (ESP)

Deputy Chairman
Senes Erzik (TUR)

Chief Refereeing Officer
Pierluigi Collina (ITA)

Refereeing Officers
Marc Batta (FRA), Hugh Dallas (SCO)

Members
Dagmar Damkova (CZE), David Elleray (ENG), Herbert Fandel (GER), Bo Karlsson (SWE), Nikolay Levnikov (RUS), Jozef Marko (SVK), Vlado Sajn (SVN), Jaap Uilenberg (NED), Kyros Vassaras, Kurt Zuppinger (SUI)

Kyros Vassaras to leave UEFA Referee Committee

It seems as if there has been a change in the constellation of UEFA's Referee Committee. Former EURO 2008 referee Kyros Vassaras of Greece is not appearing in the updated list of the committee's members of the 5th December 2013.

Having been specially responsible for youth tournaments, where he was frequently present as coordinator and observer, Vassaras seems to have quit the committee for so far unknown reasons. According to the document issued by Europe's football governing body, there is nobody replacing him. A statement by UEFA is awaited and will be communicated here as soon as issued.

UEFA Document

UEFA Referee Observers for CL MD6 and Predictions

UEFA Referee Committee have already assigned the referee observers who will be present at Champions League Matchday 6 to observe and assess the sixteen referee teams. 

Among others, Chief Officer Pierluigi Collina will attend Real Sociedad - Bayer Leverkusen, his first match as officially appointed observer for several months in the highest European club competition (Galatasaray - Schalke 04, William Collum). The delegates will be posted soon, as they have not been nominated by now.

10 December 2013:

Manchester United - Shakhtar Donetsk (Group A)
UEFA Referee Observer: Sergey Zuev (RUS)
Prediction: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)

Real Sociedad - Bayer Leverkusen (Group A)
UEFA Referee Observer: Pierluigi Collina (ITA)*
Prediction: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)

Galatasaray - Juventus Turin (Group B)
UEFA Referee Observer: Sándor Piller (HUN)
Prediction: Björn Kuipers (NED)

FC København - Real Madrid (Group B)
UEFA Referee Observer: Neale Barry (ENG)
Prediction: Deniz Aytekin (GER)

SL Benfica - Paris SG (Group C)
UEFA Referee Observer: László Vagner (HUN)
Prediction: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)

Olympiacos - RSC Anderlecht (Group C)
UEFA Referee Observer: Adrian Casha (MLT)
Prediction: Wolfgang Stark (GER)

FC Bayern München - Manchester City (Group D)
UEFA Referee Observer: Alan Snoddy (NIR)
Prediction: Ivan Bebek (CRO)

Viktoria Plzen - CSKA Moskva (Group D)
UEFA Referee Observer: Stephen Bennett (ENG)
Prediction: Tom Hagen (NOR)


11 December 2013:

Schalke 04 - FC Basel (Group E)
UEFA Referee Observer: Athanassios Briakos (GRE)
Prediction: Damir Skomina (SVN) 

Chelsea FC - Steaua Bucuresti (Group E)
UEFA Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN)
Prediction: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)

SSC Napoli - Arsenal FC (Group F)
UEFA Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)
Prediction: Viktor Kassai (HUN)

Olympique Marseille - Borussia Dortmund (Group F)
UEFA Referee Observer: Gylfi Orrason (ISL)
Prediction: Milorad Mažić (SRB)

Austria Wien - Zenit St.Petersburg (Group G)
UEFA Referee Observer: David Elleray (ENG)*

Prediction: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP)

Atlético Madrid - FC Porto (Group G)
UEFA Referee Observer: Terje Hauge (NOR)
Prediction: Felix Brych (GER)

AC Milan - Ajax Amsterdam (Group H)
UEFA Referee Observer: Ryszard Wójcik (POL)
Prediction: Howard Webb (ENG)

FC Barcelona - Celtic FC (Group H)
UEFA Referee Observer: Stefan Ormandjiev (BUL)
Prediction: Pedro Proença (POR)

UEFA Officials for Champions League Matchday 5

The following UEFA officials will attend next week's Champions League ties and execute the matches or observe the referees appointed respectively.

26 November 2013:

Steaua Bucuresti - Schalke 04 (E)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)
UEFA Delegate: Eduard Dervishaj (ESP)

FC Basel - Chelsea FC (E)
UEFA Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Danilo Filacchione (ITA)

Arsenal FC - Olympique Marseille (F)
UEFA Referee Observer: Peter Mikkelsen (DEN)
UEFA Delegate: Léon Schelings (BEL)

Borussia Dortmund - SSC Napoli (F)
UEFA Referee Observer: Zdravko Jokic (SRB)
UEFA Delegate: Jacques Antenen (SUI)

FC Porto - Austria Wien (G)
UEFA Referee Observer: Karen Nalbandyan (ARM)
UEFA Delegate: Bontcho Todorov (BUL)

Zenit St. Petersburg - Atlético Madrid (G)
UEFA Referee Observer: Sokol Jareci (ALB)
UEFA Delegate: Jean Paul Mievis (BEL)

Celtic Glasgow - AC Milan (H)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jörn-West Larsen (DEN)
UEFA Delegate: Joao Morais (POR)

Ajax Amsterdam - FC Barcelona (H)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)
UEFA Delegate: Roy Cathcart (NIR)

27 November 2013:

Bayer Leverkusen - Manchester United (A)
UEFA Referee Observer: Juan Fernández Marín (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: Nodar Akhalkatsi (GEO)

Shakhtar Donetsk - Real Sociedad (A)
UEFA Referee Observer: Zbigniew Przesmycki (POL)
UEFA Delegate: Roland Coquard (FRA)

Juventus Turin - FC Kobenhavn (B)
UEFA Referee Observer: Christos Skapoullis (CYP)
UEFA Delegate: Scott Struthers (SCO)

Real Madrid - Galatasaray (B)
UEFA Referee Observer: Bertrand Layec (FRA)
UEFA Delegate: Dr. Rainer Koch (GER)

RSC Anderlecht - SL Benfica (C)
UEFA Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST, photo)
UEFA Delegate: Pat Quigley (IRL)

Paris SG - Olympiacos (C)
UEFA Referee Observer: Eugen Strigel (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Sándor Berzi (HUN)

CSKA Moskva - FC Bayern München (D)
UEFA Referee Observer: Stefan Messner (AUT)
UEFA Delegate: Jan Damgaard (DEN)

Manchester City - Viktoria Plzen (D)
UEFA Referee Observer: Wilfried Heitmann (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Sergio Di Cesare (ITA)

Two-year suspension for Emir Alečković

On the last 9 October the Bosnian FIFA referee has been sanctioned with a 24 months suspension by the disciplinary committee of the Bosnian Football Federation, at the end of the proceedings opened against him, about three months ago.

Alečković has been found guilty of having sent unappropriate text messages to certain students, regarding which he was a mentor.

The sentence can be appealed. On last July, the Bosnian referee was sent home while officiating at the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, following an official complaint by the parents of one of the students.

Source: Sport.ba
Related Item: Emir Alečković sent home from U19 tournament and officially suspended

Ovidiu Hategan acquitted of accusations

UEFA have ruled that referee Ovidiu Hategan did follow protocol when dealing with Yaya Toure's racism complaint against CSKA Moscow. The Manchester City midfielder raised the issue with the official after being subjected to taunts from home supporters during the UEFA Champions League fixture between the two sides in Russia last week.

 

European football's governing body have a three-step plan to tackle racism, with the second being that a statement should be made over a public address system once a complaint has been levied to the referee, before potentially a match being abandoned if such instances continue.

But stage two was not adhered to during the game, leading to an investigation by UEFA into Hategan's actions.

However, a ruling on Wednesday found the Romanian official followed guidelines and that the UEFA venue director for the match had failed to act on the advice and has subsequently been removed from his position.

UEFA have issued sanctions against CSKA, with parts of the Arena Khimki set to be closed for their next home Champions League fixture against Bayern Munich on November 27.

On the Hategan situation, a statement on UEFA's website read: "The referee (Hategan) immediately asked the fourth official to request an announcement to be made to the public.

"The venue director (the UEFA officer in charge of football operations), who had not heard the chanting himself, did not activate the procedure. As the chanting had ceased, the referee decided to resume the game with the free-kick.

"The conclusion of the investigation is therefore that the referee had correctly triggered the first step of the procedure by requesting the stadium announcement.

"The venue director acted inappropriately, though in good faith, so causing the failure in the activation of the first step of the standard procedure, as decided by the referee.

"The UEFA venue director [Peter Palencik of Slovakia] at the Arena Khimki has been relieved of his duties."

source: fourfourtwo.com

Referee Observers and Delegates for CL MD4

UEFA has appointed the following Referee Observers and Delegates to supervise matches at Matchday 4 of Champions League.

 
Groups A-D (5 November)

Shakhtar Donetsk - Bayer Leverkusen
Referee Observer: Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE), Delegate: Ivan Lekov (BUL)
Prediction: William Collum (SCO)

Real Sociedad - Manchester United
Referee Observer: Michel Vautrot (FRA), Delegate: Gunther De Saedeleer (BEL)
Prediction: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)

Juventus Turin - Real Madrid
Referee Observer: Paul Allaerts (BEL), Delegate: Pierino Lardi (SUI)
Prediction: Howard Webb (ENG)

FC København - Galatasaray
Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR), Delegate: Dennis Cruise (IRL)
Prediction: István Vad (HUN)

Paris SG - RSC Anderlecht
Referee Observer: Charles Agius (MLT), Delegate: Markus Stenger (GER)
Prediction: Sergei Karasev (RUS)

Olympiacos - SL Benfica
Referee Observer: Michael Riley (ENG), Delegate: Wolfgang Thierrichter (AUT)
Prediction: Damir Skomina (SVN)

Manchester City - CSKA Moskva
Referee Observer: Donald McVicar (SCO), Delegate: Isak Mikladal (FRO)
Prediction: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)

Viktoria Plzen - Bayern München
Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE), Delegate: Alvaro Albino (POR)
Prediction: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)

Groups E-F (6 November)

FC Basel - Steaua Bucuresti
Referee Observer: Manuel López Fernández (ESP), Delegate: Benny Jacobsen (DEN)
Prediction: Olegário Benquerença (POR)

Chelsea FC - Schalke 04
Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA), Delegate: Andrey Medintsev (BUL)
Prediction: Firat Aydınus (TUR)

Borussia Dortmund - Arsenal FC
Referee Observer: Georgios Bikas (GRE), Delegate: Dag Steinar Vestlund (NOR)
Prediction: Björn Kuipers (NED)

SSC Napoli - Olympique Marseille
Referee Observer: Wilfried Heitmann (GER), Delegate: Danijel Jošt (SVN)
Prediction: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)

Atlético Madrid - Austria Wien
Referee Observer: Alan Freeland (SCO), Delegate: Jacob Erel (ISR)
Prediction: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)

Zenit St. Petersburg - FC Porto
Referee Observer: Christakis Skapoullis (CYP), Delegate: Teuvo Holopainen (FIN)
Prediction: Milorad Mažić (SRB)

Ajax Amsterdam - Celtic Glasgow
Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST), Delegate: Luca Zorzi (SUI)
Prediction: Pedro Proença (POR)

FC Barcelona - AC Milan
Referee Observer: Vlado Sajn (SVN), Delegate: Janis Mežeckis (LVA)
Prediction: Martin Atkinson (ENG)

Hategan criticized after having ignored UEFA's Anti-Racism Protocol

UEFA is to investigate why its anti-racism protocol was not followed by Romanian referee Ovidiu Alin Hategan during Manchester City's game at CSKA Moscow. City midfielder Yaya Toure claims he was subjected to monkey chants by some home supporters during City's Champions League win in Moscow on Wednesday. 

UEFA has already begun disciplinary procedures against CSKA, and now its president Michel Platini has asked why referee Ovidiu Hategan did not halt the game according to the organisation's three-point plan.

A statement on the UEFA website confirmed the internal investigation and added: "UEFA will publish the findings once the disciplinary case has been dealt with by UEFA's independent Control and Disciplinary Body on October 30."

The first step in UEFA's protocol for dealing with racist incidents calls for the referee to stop play and make an announcement over the public address system. But Romanian official Hategan did not call a halt despite Toure clearly pointing out the alleged abuse from the stands.

The fallout from the incident has been far-reaching, with Toure even suggesting black players could boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia as a protest. He said: "If we are not confident coming to the World Cup in Russia, we don't come.

"I don't know why it happens in football. I don't know why you don't get something like this in rugby or handball or any other sport. If UEFA don't take action it will continue."

Toure's stance has received the support of FIFA anti-discrimination task force member Piara Power, who said: "I wouldn't blame them.

"In this era players are the most powerful force and if all the players said they are not going there wouldn't be a World Cup, or if there was it would be meaningless."

CSKA deny any of their fans were guilty of racist abuse, saying in a statement: "Having carefully studied the video of the game, we found no racist insults.

"On many occasions fans booed and whistled to put pressure on rival players but regardless of race."

Toure, meanwhile, is preparing for City's trip to Chelsea on Sunday, and his manager Manuel Pellegrini said: "I talked with Yaya, he is okay.

"I think Yaya did the right thing to say what happened and we will see what UEFA will do about it.

"UEFA is doing a special campaign against the racists and I think they do the right things for the future not to repeat it, but I don't know what they are going to do."

(source: SkySports)

UEFA's protocol that targets at combatting racism during football matches was dealt with this month in this post.

Irish Alan Kelly to become MLS Referee

The following news was provided by the football platform "backpage football" and its author James Clancy: one of the best UEFA First Group referee will leave us. Alan Kelly has decided to become referee in the United States of America.

 

Following more than 350 matches and 14 years as a League of Ireland referee, Alan Kelly has decided to bring his whistling skills to Major League Soccer in the United States.

Kelly took up refereeing in 1994 and joined the Cork Branch of the Irish Soccer Referees Society (ISRS). He refereed in local leagues including the Munster Senior League.

He joined the League of Ireland Referees Panel in 1999 while participating in the first FAI Referee’s School of Excellence.

In 2000 he was selected to referee the League of Ireland Cup Final between Derry City and Limerick City which was the first of four senior domestic Cup finals he refereed.

He refereed his first FAI Cup Final in 2003 when Longford Town beat St Patricks Athletic at Lansdowne Road and became one of only a handful of Irish referees to referee multiple FAI Cup Finals when he took charge of the game between Sporting Fingal and Sligo Rovers in 2009 at Tallaght Stadium.

The 38 year-old has been rising up the UEFA and FIFA ranks for many years now and has been on FIFA’s list of official referees since 2002.

In recent years Kelly has refereed Europa League games, Champions League group stage matches and some international qualifiers for both the World Cup and European Championships, as well as weekly League of Ireland ties.

According to the Irish Daily Star, the Corkman’s potential income will now increase dramatically. A League of Ireland referee earns €150 per game, while MLS match fees can rise to as high as $1,100 (or €810). He will officiate his final game in Ireland this weekend when Sligo Rovers face Shamrock Rovers in an FAI Cup semi-final.

Whilst working as a referee, Kelly has previously worked as a personal trainer/fitness instructor/gym manager in his native Cork but is likely to focus now on refereeing in a full time capacity.

His grandfather and father were both League of Ireland referees and Kelly has stated in the past that they were both the biggest influences on his career.

Back in 2006, Kelly handed out five red cards in the space of ten minutes to Russian players during an U-21 play-off second-leg between Denmark and the Russians. Kelly states that the spotlight shone on him in the aftermath of that game was “very unpleasant. All of the red cards I awarded were correct though.”

Kelly has stated that the highlights of his career so far are:  “The Champions League games were a major high for me: Cluj v Basel, Leverkusen v Genk, but the Real Madrid game at the Bernabeu will always stand out. It doesn’t really get any bigger than that in terms of club teams. It was a fantastic experience and one that, if I never refereed again, I would look back on for the rest of my life.

“The Spain v Argentina game (back in 2009) is also a career highlight. Coming face-to-face with one of my heroes, Diego Maradona. Even to say that, is something that is surreal.”

source: Backpage Football

Rizzoli and Webb as ambassadors for UEFA's Anti-Racism-Campaign

In the latest UEFA video message in terms of their Respect Campaign, two high-profile Elite referees are among those protagonists who say "No to Racism". Italian CL 2013 final referee Nicola Rizzoli and World Cup final referee Howard Webb of England are explaining the steps referees are instructed to take as soon as racist incidents occur during matches at UEFA level.

If the referee becomes aware of serious racist behaviour, or is informed of it by the fourth official, he will, as a first step, halt the match and ask for an announcement to be made over the public address system requesting the public immediately stop such racist conduct. As a second step, if the racist behaviour does not cease once the game has restarted, the referee will suspend play for a reasonable period of time, for example five to ten minutes, and request the teams go to the dressing rooms. A further announcement will be made over the public address system to the public.

As a third and final step, if the racist behaviour persists, the referee will definitively abandon the match.

UEFA briefs Assistant Referees in terms of Offside Law Amendments

UEFA's summer gathering for Europe's top male and female referees has primed match officials for their assignments in the coming season. This year special attention was also given at the course to the leading assistant referees as they will be ruling on new stipulations on offside which have been introduced to the Laws of the Game. 

In the spring football's lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), approved a clarification of the wording of Law 11 (Offside, Interpretation of the Laws of the Game). The IFAB agreed that the wording in force was not precise enough, regarding "interfering with an opponent/gaining an advantage". Consequently, European assistant referees received intensive training at the UEFA summer course in Nyon to familiarise themselves with the new provisions.

In the 2013/14 Laws of the Game, Law 11 stipulates that, "A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:

– interfering with play or
– interfering with an opponent or
– gaining an advantage by being in that position."

In the context of Law 11 on offside, the following definitions (changes in bold) now apply to the above:

• "interfering with an opponent" means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball
• "gaining an advantage by being in that position" means playing a ball
i. that rebounds or is deflected to him off the goalpost, crossbar or an opponent having been in an offside position
ii. that rebounds, is deflected or is played to him from a deliberate save by an opponent having been in an offside position

In addition, from this season: "A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent, who deliberately plays the ball (except from a deliberate save), is not considered to have gained an advantage."

UEFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina was on hand in Nyon to ensure that the training sessions featuring the assistant referees were carried out in line with the new provisions, and explained the amendments to UEFA.com.

"Last March, IFAB changed the instruction and guidelines of Law 11 concerning what is meant as interfering with an opponent, and what is meant as gaining an advantage from being in an offside position," he said.

"This course [was] very focused on offside, as it's important to have the assistant referees attuned to the new interpretation and to the new text of Law 11. Offside is such an important thing that it deserves to be carefully dealt with.

"The main things to be considered now with offsides, in assessing the position of a player as interfering with an opponent, [involve] clearly obstructing the line of vision of an opponent and challenging the opponent for the ball. So these are the two criteria to be assessed in order to deem a player who is in an offside position as punishable.

"Gaining an advantage from being in an offside position ... now the assistant referees and the referees should consider the nature of the play of the defender, because if the defender made a deliberate play, the outcome of the play doesn't matter – with the exception of a 'save' – and so being in an offside position and gaining an advantage from being in an offside position is not an offence any more."

Do these changes give referees different things to think about in match situations? "Certainly it's more important now to assess the intention of the player," Collina reflected. "It means the referee and the assistant referees must be very careful in assessing if the player deliberately played the ball or not."

With the offside law becoming increasingly important each year, UEFA has wisely decided to place even greater focus on the men with the flags. "We did something different before EURO 2012, involving specialists in coaching the assistant referees, and the outcome was very positive," Collina explained.

"We had a very successful EURO 2012, with very good decisions taken by assistant referees. We want to continue with this. We decided to involve three former top assistant referees in the preparation of UEFA assistant referees, and 46 of them [attended] this [UEFA] course.

"We are also implementing new tools to give the assistant referees support in their daily preparation. As it would be very difficult for them to be able to train on offside situations away from a match – they would need players to create the offside situations that occur during a match – UEFA has provided them with a web application that enables them to train by simulating the offside situations they could find in matches. The feedback we are receiving from the assistant referees is very positive."

source: UEFA.com

Furthermore, check out a video containing explanations given by Pierluigi Collina and statements issued by EURO 2012 final referee Pedro Proença.

UEFA Referee Summer Course - Participants

The following match officials have participated in UEFA's summer gathering for referees and assistant referees in Nyon from 2nd - 4th September 2013, which included fitness tests, practical tests, weighing sessions, discussions about current topics like the new offside law, group work and, for the female officials, a review of UEFA Women's Euro 2013. 

(c) UEFA.com

The seminar was basically organized and conducted by Pierluigi Collina (opening speech and offside feedback), Ángel Villar Llona (opening speech), Hugh Dallas (current topics, severity of offenses), Vlado Sajn (practical LotG test and feedback), Marc Batta (responsible for some ED referees' coaches), Bo Karlsson and Dagmar Damková (both responsible for the Women's Euro review).

Partipants ordered by function:

Male Referees

From Elite Group: Martin Atkinson (ENG), Olegário Benquerenca (POR), Felix Brych (GER), Cüneyt Çakır (TUR), Mark Clattenburg (ENG), William Collum (SCO), Jonas Eriksson (SWE), Viktor Kassai (HUN), Pavel Královec (CZE), Björn Kuipers (NED), Stéphane Lannoy (FRA), Milorad Mažić (SRB), Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR), Pedro Proença (POR), Nicola Rizzoli (ITA), Gianluca Rocchi (ITA), Damir Skomina (SVN), Wolfgang Stark (GER), Paolo Tagliavento (ITA), Craig Thomson (SCO), Alberto Undiano (ESP), Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP), Howard Webb (ENG)

From Elite Development Group: Firat Aydinus (TUR), Deniz Aytekin (GER), Ivan Bebek (CRO), David Fernández Borbalán (ESP), Antony Gautier (FRA), Manuel Gräfe (GER), Tom Harald Hagen (NOR), Ovidiu Alin Hategan (ROU), Matej Jug (SVN), Sergei Karasev (RUS),  Bas Nijhuis (NED), Daniele Orsato (ITA), Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD), Marijo Strahonja (CRO), István Vad (HUN)

From First Group: Serhiy Boiko (UKR), Ivan Kružliak (SVK), Liran Liany (ISR), Robert Madden (SCO), Danny Makkelie (NED), Szymon Marciniak (POL), Michael Oliver (ENG), Clément Turpin (FRA), Felix Zwayer (GER)

Male Assistant Referees

Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP), Frank Andås (NOR), Michael Annonier (FRA), Rui Barbosa Tavares (POR), Simon Beck (ENG), Mark Borsch (GER), Roland Brandner (AUT), Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP), Darren Cann (ENG), Frédéric Cano (FRA), Gianluca Cariolato (ITA), Stephen Child (ENG), William Conquer (SCO), Martin Cryans (SCO), Roberto Díaz Pérez Del Palomar (ESP), Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA), Dalibor Djurdjević (SRB), Bahattin Duran (TUR), Renato Faverani (ITA), Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR), Mathias Klasenius (SWE), Stefan Lupp (GER), Damien MacGraith (IRL), Bertino Miranda (POR), Mike Mullarkey (ENG), Alan Mulvanny (SCO), Tarik Ongun (TUR), Mike Pickel (GER), Sandro Pozzi (SUI), György Ring (HUN), Milovan Ristić (SRB), Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER), Ricardo Santos (POR), Roman Slyško (SVK), Andrea Stefani (ITA), Vencel Tóth (HUN), Tiago Trigo (POR), Bojan Ul (SVN), Sander van Roekel (NED), Daniel Wärnmark (SWE), Martin Wilczek (CZE), Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (ESP), Erwin Zeinstra (NED), Matej Žunič (SVN)

Female Referees

Jana Adamková (CZE), Teodora Albon (ROU), Esther Azzopardi (MLT), Christine Baitinger (GER), Cristina Dorcioman (ROU), Gyöngy Gaál (HUN), Kirsi Heikkinen (FIN), Riem Hussein (GER), Alexandra Ihringova (ENG), Katalin Kulcsár (HUN), Pernilla Larsson (SWE), Thalia Mitsi (GRE), Kateryna Monzul (UKR), Jenny Palmqvist (SWE), Christina Pedersen (NOR), Morag Pirie (SCO), Anastasia Pustovoytova (RUS), Silvia Spinelli (ITA), Esther Staubli (SUI), Bibiana Steinhaus (GER), Carina Vitulano (ITA)