Champions League - Round of 16 - Referee Appointments (V)

UEFA Referee Committee's members responsible for referee appointments have assigned a Norwegian and an English officiating team to take charge of the first two return legs of Champions League's Round of 16: Svein Oddvar Moen will oversee the top clash between Bayern München and Arsenal FC at 2012 Champions League final's venue - for the Norwegian, it is the second time to handle this duel after last season's Round of 16 first leg in London -, whereas Mark Clattenburg will control the tense and important tie between Atlético Madrid and AC Milan.

11 March 2014, 20:45 CET
Allianz Arena, München, Germany
Bayern München - Arsenal FC [2:0]
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andås (NOR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Ken Henry Johnsen (NOR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Svein-Erik Edvartsen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Leif Erik Opland (NOR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jaap Uilenberg (NED)
UEFA Delegate: Balázs Makray (HUN)
Blog Referee Observer: Niclas (GER)
 
11 March 2014, 20:45 CET
Estadio Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain
Atlético Madrid - AC Milan [1:0]
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Beck (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Lee Probert (ENG)
Fourth Official: Jake Collin (ENG)
UEFA Referee Observer: Sergey Zuev (RUS)
UEFA Delegate: Roland Tis (BEL)
Blog Referee Observer: Stjepan N. (CRO)

UEFA Youth League - Quarterfinals Appointments

These are the officials appointed by UEFA.

Quarterfinal, 11 March 2014, 18:00 CET
Stadium: Charlety, Paris (FRA)

Paris Saint-Germain FC - Real Madrid

Referee: Petr Ardeleanu  (CZE)

Assistant Referee 1: Tomáš Mokrusch  (CZE)

Assistant Referee 2: Radek Kotik  (CZE)

Fourth Official: Alexandre Perreau Niel  (FRA)

UEFA Referee Observer: Vladimir Medved  (SVK)

UEFA Delegate: Scott Struthers  (SCO)

Quarterfinal, 16 March 2014, 14:30 CET
Stadium: Chelsea Football Club Training Ground, Surrey (ENG)

Chelsea - Schalke 04

Referee: Arnold Hunter  (NIR)

Assistant Referee 1: Richard Storey  (NIR) 

Assistant Referee 2: James Eakin  (NIR)

Fourth Official: Charles Breakspear  (ENG)

UEFA Referee Observer: Robert Sedlacek  (AUT)

UEFA Delegate: Tugomir Frajman  (SVN)

Quarterfinal, 18 March 2014, 18:00 CET
Stadium: Mini Estadi, Barcelona (ESP)

Barcelona - Arsenal

Referee:  Alexander Harkam  (AUT)

Assistant Referee 1: Andreas Witschnigg  (AUT)

Assistant Referee 2: Christian-Petru Ciochirca  (AUT)

Fourth Official: David Medie Jimenez  (ESP)

UEFA Referee Observer: Luis Medina Cantalejo  (ESP)

UEFA Delegate: João Morais  (POR)

Quarterfinal, 18 March 2014, 20:00 CET
Stadium: Ewen Fields, Hyde (ENG)

Manchester City - SL Benfica

Referee:  Mete Kalkavan (TUR)

Assistant Referee 1: Ceyhun Sesigüzel (TUR)

Assistant Referee 2: Esat Sancaktar (TUR)

Fourth Official: David Coote (ENG)

UEFA Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold  (NOR)

UEFA Delegate: Georg Pangl  (AUT)

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)

Good relationship quotes

Some people fade away after a few seconds in the crowd, others disappear after a season. But there are some who live in your heart forever with every little reason. ~ Janell Tweed

It is not just your relationship but almost all relationships go through hell & hard times. But people who understand that can always find a way to build lasting relations.

Good relationship quotes

This relationship that I have with you is one of the best that I have ever had. You make me laugh, you make me smile. Everything you do brings so much happiness to me.
~ Tony Mass

I cannot ask for anything more from you. All the love that you have brought in my life has made it so beautiful. With every heart beat I want you to know that I love you.
~ Jennifer Lawn

Relationships grow better when you have
feelings and emotions connected to them. Love the people who are important to you and you will see things get better.
~ Annie Johns

The key to a good relationship is realizing that no relation is ever perfect. You need to remove or adjust with the bad parts and focus on the things that are good. That is the simple secret.
~ Shane Lou

If you think about it, you will find that the happiest times and the saddest times have all come from relationships. That is why relationships are so important.
~ Henry Thor

Every relationship begins with a spark. If you maintain the spark for a long time, the relationship can flourish and become something really beautiful.
~ Sarah Jose

No matter how much we may fight in this relationship, I will always protect you and stand by you when you need it the most.
~ Mary Williams

The best relationships are the one which have no worries or cares in the world. They are free and happy with no care whatsoever.
~ Oliver Samuel

People are busy and tired but when a relationship is really special, they will find time somehow and be there for you.
~ Natasha Moe

Next Page: Good Morning Love Quotes

The IFAB has made clear: The Triple Punishment will persist

The best piece of news of last week’s 128th annual conference of the IFAB, the body that is responsible for defining and changing the Laws of the Game and their application, has certainly been that – for now – there will not be any form of technology in football exceeding Goalline Technology (GLT) that is to be deployed at FIFA World Cup 2014 and that was first tested last year. The usage of video replays was discussed in Zurich but luckily rejected. This counts for another vitally important issue on the agenda, too: the triple punishment. 

Nicola Rizzoli correctly sending off Szczesny for DOGSO

Following the proposal of Europe’s football governing body UEFA and its president, Michel Platini, the lawmakers discussed about the opportunity to avert the triple punishment as a consequence for players who have denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity in the penalty area. The three components subject to debate are the penalty kick awarded, the red card given and the match suspension that usually followed after the matchday. According to Mr Platini, “everybody fel[t] that as an injustice”. Since the Frenchman has often proven his extremely well-marked sense of justice – the surely universally, i.e. for every European club, effective Financial Fairplay Program is the best example of that … - this concern is definitely a noble and honest one. Though he has not defined yet who is “everybody”. In my humble opinion, the triple punishment is per sé no injustice and most referees actually feel so as well. The argument most frequently put forward is that, by awarding the penalty kick, the obvious goal-scoring opportunity was re-established. While this argument sounds logical and justified, it leaves open whether a red card is really shown to sanction the circumstance that an obvious goal-scoring opportunity was denied or to sanction the will and intent of a defender to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. In addition, the Laws of the Game clearly emphasize that it does not matter where the infringement occurred, whether it was outside the penalty area or inside. For this reason, having two different disciplinary sanctions for the same offense, depending on where exactly it occurred, is not adequate. As a compromise, the IFAB has now stated that referees should be more careful with issuing red card for DOGSO in the penalty area and that a council would attempt to specify Law 12 in terms of that. UEFA's attempt to create an own version of the Laws of the Game by instructing their referees to deal differently with dogso than their colleagues in the rest of the world do hence appears ridiculously with the benefit of hindsight.

In the end, the solution would have been quite easy, in my opinion. Most of those people loving football and having a sense of justice – at least I dare to say so – can accept that denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity is sanctioned with a red card regardless where it occurred. I would even say most of the supporters, players and specially managers would refuse to accept yellow cards for fouls that have denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity in the last minute of additional time – please imagine what would happen when a player misses a penalty kick, maybe because of a wet ground which makes him slip, and the offender has got away with a yellow card and saved his team the win…

Therefore, the real area for debate neither is the circumstance of the match sanction (the penalty kick), nor is the disciplinary sanction (the red card). What national associations could do themselves (UEFA would not have to interfere with FIFA and the IFAB), as it is their area of responsibility and jurisdiction, is to eliminate the third component of the triple punishment, i.e. the match suspension. Normally, at least in Germany, for example, players are banned for one match if they have committed a dogso in the penalty area, as long as the penalty kick was converted into a goal. If the forward failed to convert the penalty kick, the offender is usually banned for two matches (or more, depending on the severity of the offense, too). What they could do is not to ban the offender as soon as the penalty kick resulted in a goal. The team of the offender would have faced a double punishment in this case – the red card in the match and the penalty kick resulting in a goal. But there would not be a match suspension. If the attacking team however failed to convert the penalty kick into a goal, the offender could be banned for one or two matches. This would, from my point of view, meet the desires of the clubs but still maintain a certain level of justice and fairness in its true meaning – and not in Mr Platini’s one. That’s why I consider the debate on the triple punishment in its current form as much ado about nothing and not recognizing a possible area where things could be changed without necessarily changing the Laws of the Game.

IFAB has rejected UEFA proposal to avert the "Triple Punishment"

Swedish referee Jonas Eriksson sending off Martín Demichelis for DOGSO (c) dailymail.co.uk

Following an official request by UEFA, warmly supported by president Michel Platini (hereyou can find the news), IFAB has discussed in today’s meeting  the opportunity to change or avert the “Triple Punishment”.  The final decision is that nothing will change. The Triple Punishment has been confirmed, therefore a referee will have still to send off a player in case of DOGSO. The hope is  that a red card can occur only in mandatory situations, nevertheless everything will remain under the full discretion of the match officials. 

Apart from that, IFAB has also discussed further issues, deciding in this way: a player will be banned in case of messages under his shirt (especially after a celebration), the usage of head covers has been officially ratified,  no technology on the pitch to help the referee apart from the GLT already in use, the experiment about sin bins will continue at amateur level. 

Finally, FIFA secretary  Jérôme Valcke  has stated that LotG will be changed and  clarified in certain points, especially about the discussed topics, in order to make them even more detailed.

 

 

  

Europa League - Round of 32 - Referee Appointments (II)

These are the referee appointments for the second leg ties of UEFA Europa League's Round of 32. Among others, top-class referee Björn Kuipers will take charge of Eintracht Frankfurt - FC Porto and Poland's Szymon Marciniak (photo) will be observed by Marc Batta, vice Chief Officer  in UEFA's referee committee.

18:00 CET, Rubin, Kazan (RUS)
Rubin Kazan - Real Betis
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Darren England (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Jonathan Moss (ENG)
Fourth Official: Simon Beck (ENG)
Referee Observer: Georgios Bikas (GRE)
UEFA Delegate: Stanislaw Speczik (POL)
Blog Referee Observer: Edward (GRE)

19:00 CET, Stadio San Paolo, Napoli (ITA)
SSC Napoli - Swansea City
Referee: Ovidiu Alin Hategan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Sovre (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Sebastian Eugen Gheorghe (ROU)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Sebastian Coltescu (ROU)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: István Kovács (ROU)
Fourth Official: Radu Adrian Ghinguleac (ROU)
Referee Observer: Alain Hamer (LUX)
UEFA Delegate: George Koumas (CYP)
Blog Referee Observer: Philipp S. (GER)

19:00 CET, Donbass Arena, Donetsk (UKR)
Shakhtar Donetsk - Viktoria Plzen
Referee: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Davie Goossens (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Bas van Dongen (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Dennis Higler (NED)
Fourth Official: Rob van de Ven (NED)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Radoman (SRB)
UEFA Delegate: Michel Pralong (SUI)

19:00 CET, Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt (GER)
Eintracht Frankfurt - FC Porto
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Angelo Boonman (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin E.J. Zeinstra (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Richard Liesveld (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Ed Janssen (NED)
Fourth Official: Charles Schaap (NED)
Referee Observer: Levan Paniashvili (GEO)
UEFA Delegate: Michael Appleby (ENG)

19:00 CET, Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, Sevilla (ESP)
Sevilla CF - NK Maribor
Referee: Luca Banti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Sandro Pozzi (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Gervasoni (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Domenico Celi (ITA)
Fourth Official: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Referee Observer: László Vagner (HUN)
UEFA Delegate: Joël Wolff (LUX)

19:00 CET, Stadion Salzburg, Salzburg (AUT)
RB Salzburg - Ajax Amsterdam
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Antonio Damato (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Carmine Russo (ITA)
Fourth Official: Alessandro Constanzo (ITA)
Referee Observer: Patrick Kelly (IRL)
UEFA Delegate: Andrei Medintsev (BUL)

19:00 CET, Natsionalen Stadion Vasil Levski, Sofia (BUL)
Ludogorets - Lazio Roma
Referee: Olegário Benquerença (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Rui Tavares (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Manuel De Sousa (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Artur Soares Dias (POR)
Fourth Official: Nuno Tomás Pereira (POR)
Referee Observer: Rodger Gifford (WAL)
UEFA Delegate: Claude Runavot (FRA)

19:00 CET, St. Jakob-Park, Basel (SUI)
FC Basel - Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomislav Petrović (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Miro Grgić (CRO)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Tihomir Pejin (CRO)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Goran Gabrilo (CRO)
Fourth Official: Dalibor Conjar (CRO)
Referee Observer: Ilkka Koho (FIN)
UEFA Delegate: Pat Quigley (IRL)
Blog Referee Observer: Chefren (ITA)

21:05 CET, Estadi de Mestalla, Valencia (ESP)
Valencia CF - Dynamo Kyiv
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Markus Häcker (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Bastian Dankert (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Fourth Official: Mark Borsch (GER)
Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)
UEFA Delegate: Gerhard Sager (SWE)
Blog Referee Observer: Thomas H. (NED) 

21:05 CET, White Hart Lane, London (ENG)
Tottenham - Dnipro
Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Michaël Annonier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Philippe Jeanne (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Benoît Millot (FRA)
Fourth Official: Guillaume Débart (FRA)
Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR)
UEFA Delegate: José Aguilar (POR)
Blog Referee Observer: Niclas (GER)

21:05 CET, KRC Genk Arena, Genk (BEL)
KRC Genk - Anji
Referee: Manuel Gräfe (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Marco Fritz (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Robert Hartmann (GER)
Fourth Official: Holger Henschel (GER)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Vitković (CRO)
UEFA Delegate: Teuvo Holopainen (FIN)

21:05 CET, Hüseyin Avni Aker Stadyumu, Trabzon (TUR)
Trabzonspor - Juventus Turin
Referee: Pavel Královec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Roman Slyško (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Radek Příhoda (CZE)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Michal Patak (CZE)
Fourth Official: Ondrej Pelikan (CZE)
Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)
UEFA Delegate: Ronny Zimmermann (GER)

21:05 CET, Stade de Gerland, Lyon (FRA)
Olympique Lyon - Chornomorets Odessa
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Marjan Kirovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Dejan Kostadinov (MKD)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Dimitar Meckarvoski (MKD)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Dejan Jakimovski (MKD)
Fourth Official: Nikola Karakolev (MKD)
Referee Observer: Costas Kapitanis (CYP)
UEFA Delegate: Milovan Djukanovic (MNE)
Blog Referee Observer: Nur H. (ENG)

21:05 CET, Estádio da Luz, Lisbon (POR)
SL Benfica - PAOK
Referee:  Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Pawel Sokolnicki (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Pawel Raczkowski (POL)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Musial (POL)
Fourth Official: Radoslaw Siejka (POL)
Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)
UEFA Delegate: Danilo Filacchione (ITA)
Blog Referee Observer: Chefren (ITA)

21:05 CET, AZ Stadion, Alkmaar (NED)
AZ Alkmaar - Slovan Liberec
Referee: Serhiy Boiko (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Korniyko (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Volodymyr Volodin (UKR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Ievgenii Aranovskyi (UKR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Anatoliy Abdula (UKR)
Fourth Official: Oleksandr Voytyuk (UKR)
Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Ghenadie Scurtul (MDA)
Blog Referee Observer: Edward (GRE)

21:05 CET, Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence (ITA)
ACF Fiorentina - Esbjerg fB
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Sinisa Premuzaj (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Goran Pataki (CRO)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Ante Vučemilović-Šimunović jr (CRO)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Fran Jović (CRO)
Fourth Official: Ivica Modrić (CRO)
Referee Observer: Raymond Ellingham (WAL)
UEFA Delegate: Graham Hover (ENG)