Latest Headlines

Diego Abal under fire

The promising referee from Argentina, who had also been in charge of two matches at FIFA U17 World Cup 2011 in Mexico, has been attacked by "fans" of the Argentine football club San Lorenzo. People unfolded his address and phone number in the web. What happened? In the 67th minute of the league game between San Lorenzo - Colón, the assistant referee 2 raised his flag for offside. Abal however rejected the call made by his colleague, unfortunately, the defenders did not recognize that and Colón easily scored the equalizer. After having watched the incident quite often, the tendency is more likely that Abal was wrong with overruling the assistant referee 2.

In the meantime, Abal has admitted his error based on a wrong interpretation of the offside rule. He has been suspended by the Argentine Referee Association for an indefinite period.
(source http://www.futbol.com.uy/notdeportes_163300_1.html)

UEFA Europa League - Round of 16 - 2nd legs Appts

15 March 2011, 19:00

AWD Arena, Hannover, 1st leg: 2-2
Hannover 96 - Standard Liège
Referee: Pavel Královec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Antonin Kordula (CZE)
4th Official: Libor Kovarik (CZE)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Radek Prihoda (CZE)
UEFA Observer: Rene H.J. Temmink (NED)

PSV Stadion, Eindhoven, 1st leg: 2-4
PSV Eindhoven - Valencia CF
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Derek Rose (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Cryans (SCO)
4th Official: Crawford Allan (SCO)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Alan Muir (SCO)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Robert Madden (SCO)
UEFA Observer: László Vagner (HUN)

San Mamés, Bilbao, 1st leg: 3-2
Athletic Bilbao - Manchester United
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR, r.)
Assistant Referee 1: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Emre Eyisoy (TUR)
4th Official: Süleyman Abay (TUR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Hüseyin Göcek (TUR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Bülent Yildirim (TUR)
UEFA Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR)

Friuli, Udine, 1st leg: 0-2
Udinese Calcio - AZ Alkmaar
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Radojcic (SRB)
4th Official: Bosko Jovanetic (SRB)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Vlado Glodjovic (SRB)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB)
UEFA Observer: Bertrand Layec (FRA)


15 March 2012, 21:05

Etihad Stadium, Manchester, 1st leg: 0-1
Manchester City - Sporting 
Referee: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dag-Roger Nebben (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andas (NOR)
4th Official: Brage Sandmoen (NOR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Tommy Skjerven (NOR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Espen Berntsen (NOR)
UEFA Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)

ArenaAufSchalke, Gelsenkirchen, 1st leg: 0-1
FC Schalke 04 - FC Twente
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN, r.)
Assistant Referee 1: György Ring (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Kispál (HUN)
4th Official: Mihaly Fabián (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: István Vad (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tamás Bognar (HUN)
UEFA Observer: Luciano Luci (ITA)

Inönü Stadyumu, Istanbul, 1st leg: 1-3
Besiktas Istanbul - Atlético Madrid
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Massimiliano Grilli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
4th Official: Antonio Damato (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Christian Brighi (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Gabriele Gava (ITA)
UEFA Observer: Dr. Vaclav Krondl (CZE)

Georgios Karaiskakis, Piraeus, 1st leg: 1-0
Olympiacos - Metalist Kharkiv
Referee: Ovidiu Alin Hategan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Zoltán Skékely (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Octavian Sovre (ROU)
4th Official: Sebastian Coltescu (ROU)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Pavel Cristian Balaj (ROU)
UEFA Observer: Iouri Baskakov (RUS)

UEFA Champions League - Round of 16 (IV) - Appointments

13 March 2012, 20:45, Allianz Arena, München, Germany
FC Bayern München - FC Basel
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Mike Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Child (ENG)
4th Official: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Andre Marriner (ENG)
UEFA Observer: Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE)

13 March 2012, 20:45, Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milano, Italy
Internazionale - Olympique Marseille
Referee: Pedro Proença (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)
4th Official: Joao Capela (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Manuel de Sousa (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Duarte Gomes (POR)
UEFA Observer: Vladimir Sajn (SVN)

14 March 2012, 20:45, Stamford Bridge, London, England
Chelsea London - SSC Napoli
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mike Pickel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Borsch (GER)
4th Official: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Florian Meyer (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
UEFA Observer: Johannes Reijgwaart (NED)

14 March 2012, 20:45, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain
Real Madrid - CSKA Moskva
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Eric Dansault (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frédéric Cano (FRA)
4th Official: Antony Gautier (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
UEFA Observer: Mike Riley (ENG)

Worst foul in this Bundesliga season has been heavily punished

Paolo Guerrero has been banned by the so called "DFB Schiedsgericht" for eight matches in Bundesliga after his serious foul against Stuttgart goalkeeper Ulreich. Hamburg lost the match by 0-4.

Referee Peter Sippel did not hesitate to send the Peruvian off. Due to the high pace, intensity and the fact that he accepted a serious injury of his opponent, he has been suspended for seven weeks until the 22nd April 2012. He is hence excluded from every official match in Germany.

The question of inhowfar this was more likely a malicious injury has to be allowed. I personally wait for the moment when a fouled player will finally inform against the player who committed such a foul.

Guerrero added on Sunday, one day after his dismissal, that he could not understand the trouble, because the goalkeeper "had just continued playing, so it could not have been that bad". Interesting point of view.

UEFA Europa League - Round of 16 - 1st leg - Appointments

8 March 2012, 19:00

Metalist Kharkiv - Olympiacos Piraeus
Referee: István Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabor Erös (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: György Ring (HUN)
4th Official: Sandor Andó-Szabó (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Mihaly Fabián (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tamás Bognar (HUN)
UEFA Observer: Fritz Stuchlik (AUT)

FC Twente - Schalke 04
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graham Chambers (SCO)
4th Official: Robert Madden (SCO)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: William Collum (SCO)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Steven McLean (SCO)
UEFA Observer: Guy Goethals (BEL)

Sporting - Manchester City
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Fermin Martínez Ibáñez (ESP)
4th Official: Javier Turienzo Alvarez (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Carlos del Cerro Grande (ESP)
UEFA Observer: Wilfried Heitmann (GER)


8 March, 21:05

Manchester United - Athletic Bilbao
Referee: Florian Meyer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Holger Henschel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
4th Official: Michael Weiner (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Markus Wingenbach (GER)
UEFA Observer: Nikolay Levnikov (RUS)

Atlético Madrid - Besiktas
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
4th Official: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Markus Strömbergsson (SWE)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
UEFA Observer: Slawomir Stempniewski (POL)

AZ Alkmaar - Udinese
Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Canelo Prieto (ESP)
4th Official: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Iturralde González (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP)
UEFA Observer: James McCluskey (SCO)

Standard Liège - Hannover
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fredji Harchay (FRA)
4th Official: Alexandre Castro (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Said Ennjimi (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Clément Turpin (FRA)
UEFA Observer: Zoran Petrovic (SRB)

Valencia CF - PSV Eindhoven
Referee: Manuel Gräfe (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Markus Häcker (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Guido Kleve (GER)
4th Official: Peter Sippel (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Christian Dingert (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tobias Welz (GER)
UEFA Observer: Vítor Melo Pereira (POR)

UEFA Champions League - Round of 16 (III) - Appointments

Time for UCL..

6 March 2012, 20:45, Emirates Stadium
FC Arsenal - AC Milan (1st leg: 0-4)
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Primoz Arhar (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Marko Stancin (SVN)
4th Official: Mitja Zganec (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Slavko Vincic (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Matej Jug (SVN)

6 March 2012, 20:45, Estadio da Luz
Benfica - Zenit St.Petersburg (1st leg: 2-3)
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Mike Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Child (ENG)
4th Official: Mike Dean (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)

7 March 2012, 20:45, GSP Stadium
APOEL - Olympique Lyon
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesús Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)
4th Official: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: César Muñiz Fernández (ESP)

7 March, 20:45, Camp Nou
FC Barcelona - Bayer Leverkusen
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andas (NOR)
4th Official: Tommy Skjerven (NOR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Ken Henry Johnsen (NOR)

Who the hell does need those "Friendlies"?!

International Friendly Matches do not deserve their designation anymore. While these matches, which are normally meant to test players, new line ups and new systems, are more and more characterized by a behaviour being quite common for a football match that implies a certain amount of unfair actions. The players have in many cases lost the awareness of what these matches were about in the last years. 

Less words, more acting

Schürrle (l.), a split second after the ellbow conduct by Debuchy (r.)

Yesterday, the responsibles and fans of the German clubs FC Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen and especially those of ManUnited were certainly trembling when Chris Smalling and Klaas Jan Huntelaar clashed with their heads. Nobody was at fault in this situation and finally, we at least could watch a very nicely scored goal by the Dutch striker. In Bremen, however, when Germany were beaten - even if five German regulars were unable to play - by good Frenchs, Andre Schürrle had to be substituted in the first half after a violent conduct of Debuchy. Latter had deliberately hit Schürrle with his ellbow. Diagnosis? Nasal bone fracture! Unable to play for months! He will miss the most important part of the season with matches against Bayern, Gladbach and Schalke. It is terrible enough that the French player committed this sort of foul, but what is even more shocking is that - again - the words are not converted into acting. The referee and assistant referee 1 from Italy - Paolo Tagliavento and Lorenzo Manganelli - both did not see any reason for a whistle. If there is no change in the future, if there are no consistently issued red cards for this, this kind of nuisance will never stop. In Bundesliga, there have been more than 15 players (!) who suffered from nasal bone fractures or the like during the past 23 matchdays. Referees have to recognize their responsibility to protect the players. It is nice that the instructions always lay much emphasis on it, as Collina did before the season, but words alone are certainly not enough. 

It equates stultification in deepest perfection to appoint test matches in the middle of a season when internationally, but also nationally acting football clubs must be able to inset their best players which are - by the way - not paid by FIFA. The European Club Association (ECA) has initiated steps against these senseless test matches.

Match fixing, a new kind of sports?

It has to be stressed that the following is mostly based on suspicions. There have been plenty of remarkable odds - to formulate it kindly - in international friendly matches - no, I will now refuse to utilize this expressions, "test matches" is more suitable. It started with Ibrahim Chaibou, an old referee from Niger who had been an international referee for quite a long time. He was in charge of the test match between Nigeria and Argentina. FIFA said that it had noticed a surge in betting across Asia predicting a fifth goal after the Super Eagles had gone up 4-0 early in the second half. Chaibou awarded the Albiceleste a questionable penalty when television replays showed that the ball had only struck Efe Ambrose’s thigh eight minutes into a scheduled five minutes of added time. For some reason, the investigation did not find a result.

Then there was a case in Turkey when Bulgarian referees seemed to have manipulated two friendly matches.

And yesterday, there were again striking examples of that which are actually too clear to be true. The day started with the FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifiers in the AFC zone. Most of the groups were already decided, but in two groups, everything was still possible: in Group D and in Group E. In the last group, Bahrain needed a 9-0 win and had to hope that Qatar would lose in Iran - what was actually very probable - to go through into the next round. With the aid of a large number of odd decisions made by Lebanon's official Andre El Haddad, Bahrain managed to win over Indonesia by 10-0. Indonesia's goalkeeper was sent off in the 4th minute for being the last man, replays however do not allow a clear judgement; four penalty kicks were awarded to Bahrain, they were not less doubtful. Thank Godness, Qatar managed to get a deserved point in Tehran so that we have not to be sorry for this team. FIFA has by the way started investigations, but there are other matches, some even in 2010 prior to the FIFA World Cup. Several matches of the host nations South Africa are under suspicion, those against Colombia, Thailand Bulgaria and Guatemala. And then, there were strange rumours about 2012's friendly Romania - Uruguay, but we have to wait to say more.

In fact, it is quite amazing that one of the most corrupt mobs of the world has to investigate in the area of match fixing and corruption. Paradoxical..