Match Situations - Handball 3 - Solutions

The following solution is supposed to clarify the incident having occurred in the Bundesliga match between Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia M'gladbach, refereed by Felix Brych, that was put up for debate in this blog post.

The official assessment issued by DFB's referee committee member Lutz Michael Fröhlich upon The Third Team's request:

No deliberate handball and therefore no penalty, because the player who handled the ball (Arango, white 18), raised his arm above his head as a part of a natural movement while jumping and because the player was unable to see the ball coming from his back. Therefore the correct decision would have been letting the play go on.

87 % of the voters in the poll have disagreed with this interpretation - including me. A further post on this current issue in refereeing will follow in due course.

Jonas Eriksson reflects on Super Cup honour (UEFA.com)

Having officiated in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League semi-final matches, Jonas Eriksson is well used to the big occasion, making him the ideal choice to take charge of the UEFA Super Cup between FC Bayern München and Chelsea FC on Friday evening. The Swedish spoke to UEFA.com about his pride at being appointed for the UEFA Super Cup, what inspired his decision to become a match official and what motivates him. 

Jonas Eriksson looking forward to Prague final

Speaking to UEFA.com, the Swedish referee revealed his pride at being selected for such a prestigious match, his reasons for taking up refereeing in the first place and the driving factor behind his success, on and off the field.

UEFA.com: Jonas Eriksson, how much are you looking forward to refereeing the UEFA Super Cup?

Jonas Eriksson: A lot, of course. I've been refereeing since I was 14 or 15 years old and of course at that age you dream of officiating at one of the biggest finals – and this is one of them.

UEFA.com: You've already refereed some important matches in your career, where does the UEFA Super Cup rank among your highlights?

Eriksson: A final is a final – a winner will be decided. To be appointed for a one-off, knock-out match is always something significant. I try not to rate the matches in terms of importance, I'm just delighted to have been appointed for this match and that UEFA have put their trust in me.

UEFA.com: What inspired you to become a referee?

Eriksson: I felt a lot of referees didn't have the kind of communication skills I expected as a player at a young age – referees who could explain their decisions. Often they didn't have the fitness to be in the right spot. The quality of the refereeing was not good at the level I played at and I felt I could do better. They told me to do a course and do it myself – so I did.

UEFA.com: Who were your role models as a young referee?

Eriksson: I spent a lot of time with Anders Frisk, Sweden's top referee until 2005. I followed him to a number of matches as a fourth official, but I also looked at other referees. I don't think you could copy one referee. It's too much about personality, but I learned bits and pieces from Anders and I looked at other European referees, Pierluigi Collina being one, Markus Merk being another, Hugh Dallas a third. All of them had different skills which I looked at and tried to adopt and develop.

UEFA.com: How important are man-management skills when you're out on the field refereeing 22 players?

Eriksson: Of course it has a lot to do with man-management, the way you approach the players, the way you communicate with them and also prevent things from happening. You have to sell them the decision and get them to accept it. Sometimes you don't make the best decisions but you have to be very good at selling the decisions, otherwise you're going to have a very tough time out there.

UEFA.com: It must also take a lot of character and mental strength…

Eriksson: I think self-confidence and the ability to sell your decisions – that means looking self-assured and being able to convince the players that I made the right decision – is very important. If you don't have that personality and trust in yourself, I don't think you can do the job.

UEFA.com: As well as becoming a successful referee, you also became a successful businessman. What is it that gives you the drive to get to the very top?

Eriksson: I love football and I love to referee. Every week when I step out onto the grass I'm doing what I love most. I've had a fantastic life as a businessman as well, but since 2011 I've dedicated myself to being a professional referee and I'm having the time of my life.   

UEFA.com: How are you and your assistants going to prepare for tomorrow's game?

Eriksson: We received the appointments a few days ago. I've been studying the two teams technically. These are two well-known teams, we’ve all seen them before. Of course there are a few new things – they have new managers for example – but we've watched previous matches. We had a preparatory talk today and we'll have another tomorrow. We've done matches together in our domestic competition, too, and we've been doing some training together too. We're going to warm up, take a walk around the pitch and look at various positions to enhance our cooperation for Friday's match.

interview taken from uefa.com

Europa League - Referee Appointments for Play-Offs (II)

Just to avoid that the UEFA Europa League Referee Appointments for the second legs fade away from the spotlight: you can comment on them underneath this extra post.

Danny Makkelie (NED)

Second Legs  (29 August 2013)

Feyenoord - Kuban Krasnodar
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Jones (ENG)
UEFA Referee Observer: Alfredo Trentalange (ITA)
UEFA Delegate: John McBeth (SCO)

APOEL - Zulte Waregem
Referee: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Jake Collin (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Long (ENG)
Fourth Official: Jonathan Moss (ENG)
UEFA Referee Observer: Cosimo Bolognino (ITA)
UEFA Delegate: Luis Cuervas Del Real (ESP)

Dila - Rapid Wien

Referee: Pavel Cristian Balaj (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vasile Florin Marinescu (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mihai Ovidiu Artene (ROU)
Fourth Official: Sebastian Coltescu (ROU)
UEFA Referee Observer: Martin Iseli (SUI)
UEFA Delegate: Miroslav Ryszka (POL)

Beşiktaş - Tromsø

Referee: Marcin Borski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafal Rostkowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Sebastian Mucha (POL)
Fourth Official: Daniel Stefanski (POL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Carlos Manuel Ferreira Matos (POR)
UEFA Delegate: Zoran Cvrk (CRO)

Braga - Pandurii
Referee: Liran Liany (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Shabtai Nahmias (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Oren Bornshtain (ISR)
Fourth Official: Alon Yefet (ISR)
UEFA Referee Observer: László Vagner (HUN)
UEFA Delegate: Kurt Zuppinger (SUI)

Nice - Apollon

Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: György Ring (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Tóth (HUN)
Fourth Official: Mihaly Fabián (HUN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Roland Ospelt (LIE)

Dynamo Kyiv - Aktobe

Referee: Stephan Studer (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Jean-Yves Wicht (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Sladan Josipovic (SUI)
Fourth Official: Alain Bieri (SUI)
UEFA Referee Observer: Dusan Krchnak (SVK)
UEFA Delegate: Ghenadie Scurtul (MDA)

Petrolul - Swansea

Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Dimitrios Saraidaris (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Christos Baltas (GRE)
Fourth Official: Stavros Tritsonis (GRE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jörn West Larsen (DEN)
UEFA Delegate: Joel Wolff (LUX)

AZ Alkmaar - Atromitos
Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Debart (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frédéric Haquette (FRA)
Fourth Official: Benoît Millot (FRA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Christakis Skapoullis (CYP)
UEFA Delegate: Peter Lundström (FIN)

KRC Genk - FH
Referee: Leontios Trattou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Soteriou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 2: Aristides Christou (CYP)
Fourth Official: Demetris Chrysostomou (CYP)
UEFA Referee Observer: Vasily Melnychuk (UKR)
UEFA Delegate: Tomás Gea (AND)

Nordsjælland - Elfsborg

Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Markus Häcker (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcel Pelgrim (GER)
Fourth Official: Bastian Dankert (GER)
UEFA Referee Observer: Muharrem Aksoy (TUR)
UEFA Delegate: Ionel Piscanu (ROU)

Śląsk - FC Sevilla

Referee: Fırat Aydınus (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Serkan Ok (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleks Tascioglu (TUR)
Fourth Official: Tolga Özkalfa (TUR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR)
UEFA Delegate: Bernd Barutta (GER)

Žalgiris - Salzburg
Referee: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Fourth Official: Laurent Duhamel (FRA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Pjetur Sigurdsson (ISL)
UEFA Delegate: Tugomir Frajman (SVN)

Eintracht Frankfurt - Qarabağ

Referee: Duarte Gomes (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Venâncio Raposo Tomé (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Luis André Ferreira Campos (POR)
Fourth Official: Bruno Esteves (POR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Robert Jeurissen (BEL)
UEFA Delegate: Nils Fisketjonn (NOR)

Standard Liège - Minsk

Referee: Simon Lee Evans (WAL)
Assistant Referee 1: Edward King (WAL)
Assistant Referee 2: John Bryn Roberts (WAL)
Fourth Official: Bryn David Markham-Jones (WAL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Emil Bozhinovski (MKD)
UEFA Delegate: Jozef Kliment (SVK)

Betis Sevilla - Jablonec

Referee: Aleksei Nikolaev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleg Tselovalnikov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Dmitry Mosyakin (RUS)
Fourth Official: Vitaly Meshkov (RUS)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)
UEFA Delegate: Jean-Louis Piette (FRA)

Stuttgart - Rijeka
Referee: Martin Hansson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Joakim Flink (SWE)
Fourth Official: Bojan Pandzic (SWE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Patritiu Abrudan (ROU)
UEFA Delegate: Christian Kofoed (DEN)

Skënderbeu - Chornomorets Odesa

Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devis (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jon Núnez Fernández (ESP)
Fourth Official: Juan Martínez Munuera (ESP)
UEFA Referee Observer: Eugen Strigel (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Charles Schaack (LUX)

Spartak Moskva - St Gallen

Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Angelo Boonman (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Fourth Official: Tom van Sichem (NED)
UEFA Referee Observer: Vítor Melo Pereira (POR)
UEFA Delegate: Metin Tunçer (TUR)

Rubin - Molde

Referee: Sascha Kever (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Charles Helbling (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Devis Dettemanti (SUI)
Fourth Official: Sascha Amhof (SUI)
UEFA Referee Observer: Rusmir Mrkovic (BIH)
UEFA Delegate: Richard Havrilla (SVK)

Sheriff - Vojvodina
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Laurent Stien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephan Luzi (FRA)
Fourth Official: Wilfried Bien (FRA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Valentin Ivanov (RUS)
UEFA Delegate: Jaroslav Dudl (CZE)

Trabzonspor - Kukës

Referee: Libor Kovařik (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Krystof Mencl (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Jiri Molacek (CZE)
Fourth Official: Jiri Jech (CZE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Dani Koren (ISR)
UEFA Delegate: Oleg Harlamov (EST)

St-Étienne - Esbjerg

Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolay Golubev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Vyacheslav Semenov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Aleksei Eskov (RUS)
UEFA Referee Observer: Shmuel Shteif (ISR)
UEFA Delegate: Michael Appleby (ENG)

Fiorentina - Grasshoppers

Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomislav Petrovic (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Miro Grgic (CRO)
Fourth Official: Domagoj Vuckov (CRO)
UEFA Referee Observer: Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE)
UEFA Delegate: George Koumas (CYP)

Astra - M. Haifa

Referee: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Emre Eyisoy (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Orkun Aktas (TUR)
Fourth Official: Süleyman Abay (TUR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Peter Mikkelsen (DEN)
UEFA Delegate: Dimitri Bokeria (GEO)

Liberec - Udinese

Referee: Tasos Sidiropoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Damianos Efthimiadis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Dimitrios Gagas (GRE)
Fourth Official: Ilias Spathas (GRE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Hans Reijgwaart (NED)
UEFA Delegate: Stanislaw Speczik (POL)

Tottenham - Dinamo Tbilisi

Referee: Luca Banti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicola Nicoletti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)
Fourth Official: Marco Guida (ITA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Miroslav Tulinger (CZE)
UEFA Delegate: Balázs Makray (HUN)

Pasching - Estoril

Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Derek Rose (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Alan Mulvanny (SCO)
Fourth Official: Kevin Clancy (SCO)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)
UEFA Delegate: Pavel Kolev (BUL)

Dnipro - Kalju
Referee: Gediminas Mazeika (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vytautas Simkus (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vladimir Gerasimov (LTU)
Fourth Official: Sergejus Slyva (LTU)
UEFA Referee Observer: John Ferry (NIR)
UEFA Delegate: Siarhei Ilych (BLR)

Thun - Partizan

Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Massimiliano Grilli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Fourth Official: Gianpaolo Calvarese (ITA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jan Fasung (SVK)
UEFA Delegate: Janis Mezeckis (LVA)

May Referees wear Jewellery?

During yesterday's Champions League play-off tie between PAOK Saloniki and FC Schalke 04, Dutch referee Björn Kuipers was caught by the TV camera while calming down some players making a gesture with his left hand that was adorned with a wedding ring. May a referee wear jewellery on the pitch?

The answer is a clear "No!". The Laws of the Game define in the guidelines for Law 4:

"All items of jewellery (necklaces, rings, bracelets, earrings, leather bands, rubber bands, etc.) are strictly forbidden and must be removed.
Referees are also prohibited from wearing jewellery (except for a watch or similar device for timing the match)."

Referee Kuipers should have removed his ring prior to the match - as he did not, he in a way infringed his duties as a match official. The idea behind the prohibition of jewellery is the try to ban this potential danger for players and referees colliding with each other. 

Contrary to former times, players and referees moreover must not deploy tape to cover their jewellery during the match. Law 4 also includes the annotation "using tape to cover jewellery is not acceptable."

You can find the match incident captured by the screenshot in this video (if not automatically redirected, fast-forward to 61:29 please).

Match Situations - Handball 3

This post is a part of the section in this blog called "Match Situations" that concentrates on specific match situations related to parts of the Laws of the Game, version 2013/14. Your participation is crucial to make this blog's element give some value for referees and football enthusiasts in general.

You can have your say by giving your assessment on these situations in form of a comment underneath the respective posts. These comments should include a precise assessment and an additional explanation that strengthens your view if needed. Directly quoting from the current version of the Laws of the Game can be useful in some cases.

 

 

Deliberate / Chargeable Handball (Penalty) or  

No Deliberate / Chargeable Handball (No Penalty) ???

You can also find a poll at the right top of the blog!

Match concerned: Bayer Leverkusen 4:2 Borussia M'gladbach (Bundesliga)
Referee involved: Felix Brych (Germany)

The video placed here is only posted for educational reasons (by Spanish League Goals on youtube). 

Good morning wallpaper

Bringing you fabulous unique good morning wallpapers that you will really love. These wallpapers are one of the best that you will find on the internet. They are your one stop place. You can save and download them.

1.  You must wake up with a winners attitude and courage should be your armor. You should embark on each day as if its going to be the best  Here is a good morning wallpaper with a quote which says what is important.

2. This above is another picture which is really beautiful for the morning and it will keep your heart full of happiness and joy. This wallpaper will inspire you to move forward and not die with the gift still buries in your heart. You must utilize all your god given talents to move ahead in life and reach your true destiny.

3. When you are tempted to think about yesterdays problems this lovely wallpaper will help you de-stress. It encourages you to leave the yesterdays behind and march into the day with hope and fortitude. Your morning will be wonderful once you seek to be happy. It is a wonderful reminder that the past is not what we must focus on but that the future along with the present is of importance to us.

Every page has a beautiful morning picture on this website. Check out the next page which also has a lovely morning picture just for you.

Next Page: The best morning quotes

Champions League - Referee Appointments - Play-Offs (IV)

English Mark Clattenburg has been appointed to oversee the sonorous tie between AC Milan and PSV Eindhoven at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. His officiating team is one of the following five crews who will take control over Wednesday's play-off second legs.

Mark Clattenburg to oversee AC Milan - PSV (c) THE FA

28/08/2013, 18:00 CET
Stadium: Stadion Petrovskiy, St. Petersburg, Russia
Zenit St. Petersburg - Paços de Ferreira
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Díaz Pérez Del Palomar (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Victoriano Díaz Casado (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Fourth Official: José Manuel Fernández Miranda (ESP)
UEFA Referee Observer: Drago Kos (SVN)
UEFA Delegate: Ivan Lekov (BUL)
UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Alexander Kudryavtsev (RUS)
Blog Referee Observer: Niclas (GER)

28/08/2013, 20:45 CET
Stadium: Stadion Ljudski vrt, Maribor, Slovenia
NK Maribor - Viktoria Plzen
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Marco Fritz (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Guido Winkmann (GER)
Fourth Official: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
UEFA Referee Observer: Sándor Piller (HUN)
UEFA Delegate: Eduard Dervishaj (ESP)
UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Silvo Borosak (SVN)
Blog Referee Observer: Albin (SWE)

28/08/2013, 20:45 CET
Stadium: Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland
Celtic FC - Shakhter Karagandy
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: Sven Erik Midthjell (NOR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: Milovan Djukanović (MNE)
UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Sandy Roy (SCO)
Blog Referee Observer: Chefren (ITA)

28/08/2013, 20:45 CET
Stadium: Estadio Municipal de Anoeta, San Sebastian, Spain
Real Sociedad - Olympique Lyon
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Bojan Ul (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Ponis (SVN)
Fourth Official: Primož Arhar (SVN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Andreas Schluchter (SUI)
UEFA Delegate: Barry Bright (ENG)
UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Jon Aguirre Huerga (ESP)
Blog Referee Observer: Hagi (GER)

28/08/2013, 20:45 CET
Stadium: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy
AC Milan - PSV Eindhoven
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Child (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Beck (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Lee Probert (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Kevin Friend (ENG)
Fourth Official: Darren Cann (ENG)
UEFA Referee Observer: Ryszard Wójcik (POL)
UEFA Delegate: Dennis Cruise (IRL)
UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Gregorio Dall'aglio (ITA)
Blog Referee Observer: Edward (GRE)