CONCACAF zone - Olympic Games Qualifiers - Appointments

Group A, LP Field, Nashville, Tennessee

CONCACAF

Thursday 22 March
El Salvador - Canada (18.30)

Referee: Walter LÓPEZ (GUA, r1.)

Assistant Referee 1: Keytzel CORRALES (NCA)

Assistant Referee 2: Juan LEMUS (GUA)

Fourth Official: Hugo CRUZ (CRC)

USA – Cuba (21.00)

Referee: Roberto GARCÍA(MEX)

Assistant Referee 1: Juan RANGEL MAYA (MEX)

Assistant Referee 2: Dion NEIL (TRI)

Fourth Official: Jafeth PEREA (PAN)

Saturday 24 March
Cuba – El Salvador (16.30)

Referee: Héctor RODRÍGUEZ (HON)

Assistant Referee 1: Melvyn CRUZ (HON)

Assistant Referee 2: Juan RANGEL MAYA (MEX)

Fourth Official: Hugo CRUZ (CRC)

USA – Canada (19.00)

Referee: Jafeth PEREA (PAN)

Assistant Referee 1: Keytzel CORRALES (NCA)

Assistant Referee 2: Juan LEMUS (GUA)

Fourth Official: Walter LÓPEZ (GUA, r1.)


Monday 26 March
Canada – Cuba
Referee: Hugo CRUZ (CRC)
Assistant Referee 1: Keytzel CORRALES (NCA)
Assistant Referee 2: Melvyn CRUZ (HON)
Fourth Official: Walter LÓPEZ (GUA, r.1)


USA – El Salvador
Referee: Roberto GARCÍA (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan RANGEL MAYA (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Dion NEIL (TRI)
Fourth Official: Héctor RODRÍGUEZ (HON)

Group B, The Home Depot Center, Carson, California
Friday 23 March
Honduras – Panama (18.00)

Referee: Jair MARRUFO (USA)

Assistant Referee 1: Eric BORIA (USA)

Assistant Referee 2: Héctor RECINOS (SLV)

Fourth Official: Elmer BONILLA (SLV)

Trinidad and Tobago - Mexico (20.30)

Referee: Raymond BOGLE (JAM)

Assistant Referee 1: Ramon LOUISVILLE (SUR)

Assistant Referee 2: Phillipe BRIERE (CAN)

Fourth Official: Enrico WIJNGAARDE (SUR)

Sunday 25 March
Panama – Trinidad and Tobago (13.30)

Referee: Javier SANTOS (PUR)

Assistant Referee 1: Antonio LÓPEZ (PUR)

Assistant Referee 2: Ramon LOUISVILLE (SUR)

Fourth Official: Enrico WIJNGAARDE (SUR)

Mexico – Honduras (16.00)

Referee: Elmer BONILLA (SLV, r2.)

Assistant Referee 1: Héctor RECINOS (SLV)

Assistant Referee 2: Eric BORIA (USA)

Fourth Official: Jair MARRUFO (USA)


Tuesday 27 March
Honduras – Trinidad and Tobago
Referee: Jair MARRUFO (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Eric BORIA (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Phillipe BRIERE (CAN)
Fourth Official: Raymond BOGLE (JAM)

Mexico – Panama
Referee: Enrico WIJNGAARDE (SUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Ramon LOUISVILLE (SUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Antonio LÓPEZ (PUR)
Fourth Official: Javier SANTOS (PUR)
  

UEFA withdraws Matip's red card

Joel Matip (FC Schalke 04) had been sent off in the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 1st leg between FC Twente and FC Schalke 04 (1-0). Referee Craig Thomson from Scotland had issued the red card against the defender for an alleged professional foul on Twente's striker de Jong.

After Schalke had lost the match due to the wrongly awarded penalty as consequence, the responsibles of the German club entered a caveat at UEFA's arbitration court to abandon the mandatory minimum punishment of one match. UEFA rejected that. However, Schalke again raised an objection, so that UEFA decided to reschedule the negotiation after the 2nd leg which was won by Schalke (4-1).

Acquittal: Joel Matip may play for Schalke in 1/4 finals

Today, UEFA has announced that Matip will not be suspended for any match. A historical decision. Why?

One has to differ between an infringement made by the referee and a decision based on facts: while an infringement could mean that the referee e.g. issues a yellow card to the wrong player (cf. Wolfgang Stark in AC Milan - FC Barcelona) or sends a player off with the 2nd yellow card even though the player had not received a card before, a decision based on facts is - in accordance to FIFA statutes - final and inevitable. This has got plenty of reasons: According to FIFA, the referee is - along with his team - the sole decision maker, so that decisions that are obviously wrong have to be accepted though in order to avoid a lack of authority the officials have to pose. In addition to this, the regulations also clarify that this principle has to be applied in arbitration courts with regard to probable punishments and suspensions as well  (cf. Lauterbach, Kathrin, Universität Bayreuth, Veröffentlichung auf sportrecht.org, p. 13 ff.; cf. FIFA Laws of the Game p.24 "Decisions of the Referee" (1)). 

The incident in Enschede was certainly no infringement conducted by referee Thomson, as he was correctly applying the Laws of the Game, however, he had bad luck that there was no contact.

With this decision, UEFA has proved that they have not lost common sense yet, however, that there is kind of decline of sense of right and wrong. 

Anyway, not every breach of rules automatically harms football..

Rafati probably without return to the pitch

After his suicide attempt prior to last year's Bundesliga match between 1.FC Köln and FSV Mainz 05, after several months of cure, the former FIFA official Babak Rafati has left the hospital. 

SPOX.com

Nonetheless, DFB has emphasized that it is very unlikely that he will return as active Bundesliga referee, even though DFB has kept his slot clear.

As several newspapers reported, the risk, that Rafati again could crack under the enormous pressure, was too high. Rafati himself however stated that he wanted to continue active refereeing.

A new occupation at DFB is surely on the cards, e.g. working as referee observer or mentor seems to be possible.

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.