Friendly matches - Referee Appointments

After having unfortunately not been able to publish this post before, the following is a mixture between today's and yesterday's matches along their corresponding referee appointments.

Felix Brych will oversee the duel between the 5th and the 3rd of the world at Wembley Stadium

Match
Referee (Assistant Referee 1, Assistant Referee 2, 4th Official if available)

Bosnia 1-1 Brazil (Tuesday)  
Sascha Kever (SUI), Raffael Zeder (SUI), Devis Dettamanti (SUI), Nikolaj Hänni (SUI)

Armenia 0-2 Serbia (Tuesday)
Leontios Trattou (CYP), Michalis Sotiriou (CYP), Charalambos Charalambous (CYP), Christos Nikolaidis (CYP)

Austria - Finland
Paolo Valeri (ITA), Gianluca Cariolato (ITA), Mauro Tonolini (ITA), Rene Eisner (AUT)

Germany - France
Paolo Tagliavento (ITA), Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA), Riccardo di Fiore (ITA), Peter Gagelmann (GER)

Italy - USA
Firat Aydinus (TUR), Serkan Ok (TUR), Aleks Tascioglu (TUR), Andrea de Marco (ITA)

Denmark - Russia
István Vad (HUN), Zsolt Szpisják (HUN), István Albert (HUN) - Kenn Henry Hansen (DEN)

Georgia - Albania
Ghennadi Sidenco (MDA), Oleg Molceanov, Vitalie Gorbatov

England - Netherlands
Dr. Felix Brych (GER), Mark Borsch (GER), Guido Kleve (GER)

Ireland - Czech Republic
Manuel de Sousa (POR), Bertino da Cunha Miranda, Rui Licínio Barbosa Tavares

Northern Ireland - Norway
Huw Jones (WAL), John Bryn Roberts, Gareth Wyn Jones

Malta - Liechtenstein
Mark Whitby (WAL), Kim Fisher, Mark Dyson - Marco Borg

Montenegro - Iceland
Ognjen Valjić (BIH), Dalibor Drašković, Hrvoje Turudić

Poland - Portugal
Alon Yefet (ISR), Amihay Mozes (ISR), Nisan Davidi (ISR), Paweł Raczkowski

Romania - Uruguay
Viktor Kassai (HUN)

Croatia - Sweden
Mitja Zganec (SVN), Andrej Kokolj (SVN), Bojan Ul (SVN), Igor Pristovnik (CRO)

Slovenia - Scotland
Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD), Marjan Kirovski (MKD), Dejan Kostadinov (MKD)

Switzerland - Argentina
Florian Meyer (GER), Holger Henschel (GER), Christoph Bornhorst (GER), Cyril Zimmermann (SUI)

Hungary - Bulgaria
Jonas Eriksson (SWE), Fredrik Nilsson, Mathias Klasenius

Latvia - Kazakhstan
Lasha Silagava (GEO)

Wales - Costa Rica
Howard Webb (ENG), Edward James King, Philip Thomas - Simon Lee Evans

Turkey - Slovakia
Thorsten Kinhöfer (GER), Detlef Scheppe (GER), Stefan Lupp (GER), Tolga Özkalfa

Armenia - Canada
Marios Panayi (CYP), Athinodoros Ioannou, Aristeidis Christou - Ioannis Anastasiou

Spain - Venezuela
Andris Treimanis (LVA), Haralds Gudermanis, Aleksejs Spasjonņikovs, David Fernández Borbalán

Cyprus - Serbia
Bernie Raymond "Kevin" Blom (NED)

Luxembourg - FYROM
Raymond Crangle (NIR), Richard Storey (NIR), James Eakin (NIR), Serge Parage (LUX)


Greece - Belgium
Daniel Stålhammar - Joakim Flink, Daniel Wärnmark -

Israel - Ukraine
Szymon Marciniak - Paweł Sokolnicki, Tomasz Listkiewicz

Moldova - Belarus
Gediminas Mažeika - Saulius Dirda, Vytenis Kazlauskas - Nerijus Dunauskas



México vs Colombia
Ref: Terry Vaughn, Sean Hurd and Kermit Quinsenberry (USA)

Ecuador vs Honduras 
Imer Machado (COL)

Paraguay vs Panamá 
Patricio Polic (CHI), Carlos Astroza and Sergio Roman, Antonio Arias

Bolivia vs Cuba
Enrique Cáceres (PAR)


UEFA U21 EURO Qualifiers

Group 1, Halle
Germany - Greece
Danny Makkelie, Dave Goossens, Bas van Dongen, Reinold Wiedemeijer (NED)

Group 1, Serravalle
San Marino - Cyprus
Enea Jorgji (ALB)

Group 3, Wrexham
Wales - Andorra
Vitali Sevostyanik, Dmitry Zhuk, Stanislau Savitski, Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)

Group 8, Baku
Azerbaijan - Iceland
Emir Aleckovic (BIH), Momir Sirko (BIH), Dmitry Mosyakin (RUS), Darko Obradovic (BIH)

Group 8, Middlesbrough
England - Belgium
Liran Liany, Danny Krasikow, David Elias Biton, Ziv Adler (ISR)

Group 10, Praisley
Scotland - Netherlands
Clément Turpin, Husseyin Ocak, Nicolas Danos, Sébastien Moreira (FRA)

Alon Yefet under suspicion

Some people were already surprised that Yefet was one of those referees who did not get a match by UEFA in February, as he was actually one of the referees from UEFA First Group nominated to referee a EL K.O. stage match.

 

Officials from the Israel Football Association and the Referees Union are keeping close tabs on developments in the tax evasion case against senior Israeli referee Alon Yefet. A recent report in Haaretz that the Tax Authority intends to indict Yefet over his failure to pay tax on overseas earnings was greeted with shock and consternation in both organizations. The chairman of the Referees Union, Benzion Salman, said that he hoped Yefet, like the dozen other referees who were found to owe taxes, would be able to reach some agreement with the Tax Authority and avoid having an indictment filed. “Obviously, ignorance of the law is no excuse”, Salman told Haaretz, “but according to what several referees have told me, they did not know that tax was not deduct

Alon Yefet, FIFA referee, classified as First Group referee by UEFA

ed at the source. I would like to believe that if the Tax Authority has reached an agreement with most of them, they recognize that they are guilty of nothing more than making an innocent error and not of systematically evading taxes”. Salman described Yefet as “one of the top international referees”, stating, “Our decision − despite the report that he is facing an indictment − is to allow him to continue to officiate matches until a final decision is made. Alon knew that the Tax Authority is planning to indict him and he still took charge of one of the toughest games in Israeli soccer − Beitar Jerusalem against Maccabi Tel Aviv. He ran the game perfectly and there were no signs that he was distracted or under any kind of pressure. We will continue to assign him to games as usual”, Salman added. “At the moment, there is no question of suspending him. When we get all the details of the charges from the Tax Authority, we will reconsider our position”.
The Tax Authority, meanwhile, is to submit a summary of the arrangement it has reached with 13 referees to the Israel Football Association and the Israel Basketball Association. If, as reported in Haaretz, it is proven that the 13 referees named in the report paid an out-of-court settlement to the Tax Authority, the respective associations are likely to suspend them, pending internal disciplinary action. However, since the 13 officials are considered the top soccer and basketball referees in Israel, it is unlikely that they will be expelled or suspended for any length of time. 

text taken from haaretz.com

A big issue: "ghost goals"

The following column has been written by one of the most intense followers of this blog, by Chefren from Italy.

He focuses on one of the biggest issues in modern football that still affects matches and refereeing.

In the fascinating world of refereeing, one of the most controversial issues is certainly the “ghost goal”.

During a football match, what is the difference between this situation and other situations like fouls, incidents and so on? Simply said. This is the only case in which the referee has to take a decision based on an objective assessment, and not, as it happens in the case of other fouls and infractions, just on his discretion.  A ball has crossed the line or it has not, easily said, but very difficult to see.  You cannot have a different  opinion, from one referee to another. This is the crucial point. We can discuss about a foul, a wrong offside (even it’s just of millimetres) and so on, but we cannot discuss about a goal missed by the referee. It is  a big mistake, and it could affect the match and its result in a heavy way.

The referee team (assistant referees and additional ones)  cannot be blamed: the human eye is powerful, but it cannot perform miracles. Some people try to justify and minimize this problem, they always say that football is a fascinating world based on humane actions and errors where everything might happen. So – they say – one should accept ghost goals with fairness. To my mind, this is a big mistake, because we can easily solve the problem:   We can take a look at a famous case of “ghost goal”, which happened at the last FIFA World Cup, as everyone will remember.

1966: the famous "Wembley goal"....

The latest and most resounding incident was in fact the unseen goal scored by Frank Lampard, in the knouckout round of 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. It was the round-of-16 match between England and Germany. England would have drawn 2-2 with this goal, but after the goal had not been given,  they lost the match by 4-1. Referee Jorge Larrionda was forced to leave the tournament along with his assistant referees. It was a needed decision, but not a totally fair one.  FIFA put the blame on the assistant referee, but we should underline that this was not a correct behaviour.  Helping the referee team in the “ghost goal”-case is absolutely needed, especially nowadays. After mentioning this example, it is also useful to lay further emphasis on the fact that technology can and must  be introduced in the pitch. Electronic tools on the goal line could solve this long-standing issue. 

....and 44 years later, history has repeated

According to the latest news we have received, FIFA is ready to introduce this new experiment, but for now we have only heard words. I hope, for a better football, to see this needed technology being applied in the pitch – as soon as possible!  We would certainly experience a better football. The technological support in this case would not undermine the authority of the referee in the match at all. Many referees, according to several interviews, are absolutely willing  to receive that support!

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

Wednesday, 22 February 2012, 18:00, Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England
Manchester City - FC Porto
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER)
4th Official: Marco Fritz (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Florian Meyer (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Jean-Francois Crucke (BEL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Zoran Petrovic (SRB)
Blog Referee Observer: Niclas E. (GER)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 19:00, Mestalla, Spain
Valencia - Stoke City
Referee: Markus Strömbergsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
4th Official: Johan Hamlin (SWE)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Martin Hansson (SWE)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tobias Mattsson (SWE)
UEFA Delegate: Rudolf Repka (CZE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Christakis Skapoullis (CYP)
Blog Referee Observer: Pascal J. (SUI)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 19:00, San Mamés, Bilbao, Spain
Athletic - Lokomotiv Moskva
Referee: Pawel Gil (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Piotr Sadczuk (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcin Borkowski (POL)
4th Official: Robert Malek (POL)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Hubert Siejewicz (POL)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
UEFA Delegate: Nodar Akhalkatsi (GEO)
UEFA Referee Observer: Alan Snoddy (NIR)
Blog Referee Observer:

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 19:00, Twente Stadion, Enschede, Netherlands 
Twente - Steaua Bucuresti
Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Alain Hoxha (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Armin Eder (AUT)
4th Official: Alexander Harkam (AUT)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Rene Eisner (AUT)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Thomas Gangl (AUT)
UEFA Delegate: Antoine Portelli (MLT)
UEFA Referee Observer: Stefano Farina (ITA)
Blog Referee Observer:

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 19:00, Stadio Toumba, Saloniki, Greece
PAOK - Udinese
Referee: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andas (NOR)
4th Official: Dag Vidar Hafsas (NOR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Tommy Skjerven (NOR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Espen Berntsen (NOR)
UEFA Delegate: Balázs Makray (HUN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Manuel Diaz Vega (ESP)
Blog Referee Observer: Edward A. (GRE)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 19:00, PSV Stadion, Eindhoven, Netherlands
PSV - Trabzonspor
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Eric Dansault (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fredji Harchay (FRA)
4th Official: Alexendre Castro (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Clément Turpin (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Said Ennjimi (FRA)
UEFA Delegate: Benny Jacobsen (DEN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Vítor Melo Pereira (POR)
Blog Referee Observer: Cagatay I. (TUR)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 19:00, Jan Breydelstadion, Brugge, Belgium
Club Brugge - Hannover 96
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Derek Rose (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graham Chambers (SCO)
4th Official: Crawford Allan (SCO)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Alan Muir (SCO)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Robert Madden (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Pat Quigley (IRL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)
Blog Referee Observer: Niclas E. (GER)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 19:00, Stade Maurice Dufrasne, Liège, Belgium
Standard Liège - Wisla Kraków
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Radojcic (SRB)
4th Official: Vlado Glodjovic (SRB)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Bosko Jovanetic (SRB)
UEFA Delegate: Milovan Djukanovic (MNE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Sándor Piller (HUN)
Blog Referee Observer:

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 21:05, Inönü, Istanbul, Turkey
Besiktas - Braga
Referee: István Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabor Eros (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Kispál (HUN)
4th Official: Sandor Andó-Szabó (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Mihaly Fabián (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tamás Bognar (HUN)
UEFA Delegate: Patrick Wattebled (FRA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Pierluigi Collina (ITA)
Blog Referee Observer: Filipe T. (POR)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 21:05, Old Trafford, Manchester, England
Manchester United - Ajax Amsterdam
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Primoz Arhar (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Matej Zunic (SVN)
4th Official: Roberto Ponis (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Matej Jug (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Slavko Vincic (SVN)
UEFA Delegate: Tryvge Bornö (NOR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Leif Sundell (SWE)
Blog Referee Observer: Mohammed A.Fattah (EGY)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 21:05, José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal
Sporting - Legia 
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolay Golubev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Vyacheslav Semenov (RUS)
4th Official: Stanislav Sukhina (RUS)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Vladimir Kazhmenko (RUS)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Vitaly Meshkov (RUS)
UEFA Delegate: Dag Steinar Vestlund (NOR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Luis Medina Cantalejo (ESP)
Blog Referee Observer: Qudamah N. (POL)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 21:05, VeltinsArena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Schalke 04 - Viktoria Plzen

Referee: Alan Kelly (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Damien Macgraith (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marc Douglas (IRL)
4th Official: Neil Doyle (IRL)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Padraigh Sutton (IRL)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tomas Connolly (IRL)
UEFA Delegate: Christian Kofoed (DEN)
UEFA Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)
Blog Referee Observer: Niclas E. (GER)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 21:05, Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv, Ukraine
Metalist - Salzburg
Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Annonier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frédéric Cano (FRA)
4th Official: Hervé Piccirillo (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
UEFA Delegate: Ivan Lekov (BUL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)
Blog Referee Observer:

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 21:05, Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Piraeus, Greece
Olympiacos - Rubin Kazan
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Sjöblom (SWE)
4th Official: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Michael Lerjeus (SWE)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Martin Strömbergsson (SWE)
UEFA Delegate: Yoav Strauss (ISR)
UEFA Referee Observer: Costas Kapitanis (CYP)
Blog Referee Observer:

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 21:05, Constant Vanden Stock, Brussels, Belgium
Anderlecht - AZ Alkmaar
Referee: Pedro Proenca (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)
4th Official: Hugo Miguel (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Manuel de Sousa (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Duarte Gomes (POR)
UEFA Delegate: Andrian Ixari (MDA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Stephen Bennett (ENG)
Blog Referee Observer: Philipp S. (GER)

Thursday, 23 February 2012, 21:05, Estádio Vicente Calderón, Madrid, Spain
Atlético Madrid - Lazio Roma
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Child (ENG)
4th Official: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Michael Oliver (ENG)
UEFA Delegate: Ainar Leppänen (EST)
UEFA Referee Observer: Francesco Bianchi (SUI)
Blog Referee Observer: Chefren (ITA)

UEFA Champions League - Referee Appointments - Round of 16 (II)

Tuesday, 21 February 2012, 18:00, Luzhniki, Moskva, Russia
CSKA Moskva - Real Madrid 
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin E. J. Zeinstra (NED)
4th Official: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Richard Liesveld (NED)
UEFA Delegate: Jean Louis Piette (FRA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Alfredo Trentalange (ITA)
Blog Referee Observer: Philipp S. (GER)

Tuesday, 21 February 2012, 20:45, San Paolo, Napoli, Italy
SSC Napoli - Chelsea London 
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
4th Official: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: Dr. Rainer Koch (GER)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)
Blog Referee Observer: Niclas E. (GER)

Wednesday, 22 February 2012, 20:45, Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France
Olympique Marseille - Internazionale 
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
4th Official: Tolga Özkalfa (TUR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Hüseyin Göcek (TUR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Bülent Yildirim (TUR)
UEFA Delegate: David Findlay (SCO)
UEFA Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE)
Blog Referee Observer: Carlos S. (COL)

Wednesday, 22 February 2012, 20:45, St.Jakob-Park, Basel, Switzerland
FC Basel - FC Bayern München
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
4th Official: Mauro Bergonzi (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
UEFA Delegate: Petr Fousek (CZE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Zdravko Jokic (SRB)
Blog Referee Observer: Chefren (ITA)

Stuart Attwell has lost his EPL slot

 

Referee Stuart Attwell has been taken from the select group of Premier League officials after a four-year spell dogged by controversy.

Attwell became the youngest referee to officiate in the top flight when, aged 25, he took charge of a match between Blackburn and Hull in 2008 after one season in the Football League.

However, a month later he awarded a 'ghost' goal in a Championship match between Watford and Reading. 

In 2010, he awarded Liverpool a controversial goal against Sunderland at Anfield when the away team believed the ball to be dead.

Most recently, he came under fire in December for sending off former Bolton defender Gary Cahill for denying Tottenham's Scott Parker a goalscoring opportunity, despite the offence taking place near the halfway line.

The red card was rescinded. Attwell, 29, will return to the national list to continue his development in the Football League.

In a statement, Professional Game Match Officials Limited general manager Mike Riley backed Attwell to improve as a referee and return to the top level.

'Throughout his career in the Select Group Stuart has demonstrated great courage and mental strength in responding to the challenges that he has faced,' Riley said.

'He has shown many of the attributes of a top flight official but the Premier League is an exacting standard with huge demands. It is imperative that PGMOL deliver the best officiating possible to the English game at all levels.

'This is not the end for Stuart. There are several match officials who have returned to the National List and benefited from it.
'Stuart has a high level of maturity and responsibility and I'm convinced that he has a long-term future as a referee at the very highest level.
'PGMOL sincerely hopes to be welcoming Stuart back to the Select Group in the future.'
Attwell said: 'I have learned a great deal from my involvement in the Select Group over the last four years and I am now looking forward to building on that valuable experience.
'I strongly believe I have a lot to offer refereeing, and I now look forward with commitment and enthusiasm to the new challenge that I am undertaking.
'This is supported by a determination to continue my career development, and return to the Select Group as soon as possible.'

Attwell spent only one year on the national list prior to his promotion to the select group four years ago.
He made his Premier League debut as a referee in the 1-1 draw between Blackburn and Hull in August 2008.
Following the Watford-Reading game, further controversies followed when he was accused of 'losing control' of a Derby-Nottingham Forest derby, having disallowed two Derby goals in the final stages, booking eight players and sending off Forest's Lewis McGugan.
He has also attracted the ire of Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, who accused the referee of lying about his reasons for sending off Gary Caldwell in April 2010, while Stoke's Danny Higginbotham claimed Attwell could be too easily influenced by players.
Later that year, he awarded Liverpool a highly controversial goal against Sunderland. He had awarded the Black Cats a free-kick inside their own half and Michael Turner touched the ball back to Simon Mignolet, apparently for the goalkeeper to take the set-piece.
But Attwell ruled the ball active, allowing Fernando Torres to steal it and set up Dirk Kuyt to finish into an empty net.

source: dailymail

WC 2002 referee Jun Lu goes to prison

After Byron Moreno's conviction in the last year, the next referee who participated at 2002 FIFA World Cup has been put into jail, however, for a completely different reason: 

The most famous Chinese referee, Jun Lu, who had joined the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney and who had overseen two matches at 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan/South Korea (see his statistics here), was sentenced by the Chinese justice for having fixed seven matches in the Chinese league for money (810.000 Yuan = 98.000 €). He has to go to prison for five years and six months.

Due to his good international reputation, he was mostly called "golden whistle".

Furthermore, Huang Junjie and Wan Daxue have been arrested as well.

The conflict that is linked with these convictions has been apparent in China for three years; the lawsuit counts to the most intense in football's history ever.

About the appointments...

The appointments UEFA had to make during the last days are more important than others are. They indicate who will assist the main referees,we already know, at EURO 2012:

According to a source, UEFA applies a certain procedure in this K.O. stage with regard to the assistant referees' nominations: if a referee who will join EURO 2012 gets a CL match, he will be assisted by the planned referees for the final competition. If a referee considered as no.2 or 3 of a certain country gets a EL match, he will be assisted by the planned AR2 along with the Reserve AR. An example? David Fernández Borbalán has been appointed for EL with Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez and Jesús Calvo Guadamuro. This means that UEFA has selected Yuste Jiménez as AR2 for the final tournament in Poland and Ukraine at Velasco's (and probably Alonso Fernández' side) while Calvo Guadamuro is the reserve AR for the finals.

Therefore, a closer look on the appointments UEFA made can be useful.

UEFA Champions League

It will be a special match tonight for the Italian Paolo Tagliavento (r.). After having recently been promoted to UEFA Elite Group, he will make his CL K.O. stage bow when overseeing Olympique Lyon against APOEL Nicosia. The Cypriots are surely the biggest surprise in the pool of teams that have reached the K.O. stage of this season's edition of the most popular league of the world, whereas Lyon can be lucky that they have even the opportunity to listen to the CL anthem this year again. What happened in Zagreb was for many nothing else than falsification of the match, for less it was a normal football match, also Platini felt called to be one of this small group.

Tagliavento already knows Stade de Gerland: he accompanied Nicola Rizzoli in Olympique Lyon - Real Madrid on Matchday 4. The same counts for one of his assistant referees: Renato Faverani surely does not have the best associations with this stadium. In addition to him, Luca Maggiani joins the team as AR2. Here we can apply the same procedure again: The planned AR2 of Rizzoli's EURO Team assists another referee from the same country along with the reserve AR, therefore, Andrea Stefani should be the AR1 of the EURO team, Renato Faverani the AR2 and Maggiani will potentially remain in standby. Luca Banti and Andrea de Marco will complete the team as Additional Assistant Referees, Paolo Valeri will function as Fourth Official. Juan Antonio Fernandez Marin from Spain will observe the Italian team.
My bet: 0-0

The most surprising appointment was probably Craig Thomson's nomination for Leverkusen - Barcelona. Of course, it is a good test for the EURO team, but Thomson has already refereed a match with Leverkusen's involvement, it was MD3, the match between Leverkusen and Valencia was also played in the same stadium. Alasdair Ross and Derek Rose seem to be the names who will appear in Poland/Ukraine, too. While Steven McLean has lost his slot as AAR - he will now act as Fourth Official - William Collum and Euan Norris assist Thomson as AARs. Surely no surprise.

Thomson in Serbia, minutes before the match was abandoned

Taking all his performances and especially the amount of matches he received in 2011 into consideration, one has to emphasize that Thomson has really developed to a very good ELITE referee. I am not sure how much he will get in this CL season, his big advantage is that no Scottish team will probably be involved in the next decade's UCL semifinals. One thing is clear: UEFA needs (at least) six referees  they will not appoint anymore after the Group Stage of EURO as main referees. Guys like Thomson have to show something, so he should use the chance today; Horst Brummeier from Austria will expect a lot from the team.
My bet: 1-1

Jonas Eriksson from Sweden will have presumedly no problem with the weather conditions in St. Petersburg. Even though most parts of Europe are finally defrosting, the thermometers still show a temperature of -13°C in St.Petersburg. The multimillionaire from Sigtuna will be able to cope with that. To my mind, Eriksson was the best referee of the CL group stage, he got the highest amount of matches (4), although this was due to an injury of Strömbergsson.

from left: Eriksson, Wittberg, Fernandez Marin, ..., Klasenius.

Unfortunately, Mathias Klasenius will not run his lines in this match which also means that he is not considered as AR at EURO. Klasenius has accompanied Eriksson for years, joined several youth tournaments and - one has to say that - better performances than the selected AR2 Fredrik Nilsson who did not make good impressions in e.g. Bayern - Villarreal. Anyway, Stefan Wittberg's participation at EURO should not be in danger, the last "remnant" of the great generation "Frisk" and "Fröjdfeldt". Eriksson has established himself at the peak of UEFA refereeing, I think that he can reach a lot this year, perhaps even a final appointment in UEFA Europa League or at least a semifinal. Zenit St.Petersburg - Benfica is probably not such a big match like others, but two teams which are on one level and which will do everything to win guarantee a good match. Daniel Stalhammar as Fourth Official, Markus Strömbergsson and Stefan Johannesson as AARs will assist him; the team is observed by the Czech Dr. Vaclav Krondl, certainly no "no-name" in the UEFA referee observers' pool.
My bet: 1-2

Viktor Kassai at Wembley, cautioning Valdés

History sometimes repeats itself: Viktor Kassai's "opener match" into the new international season will be held again in Giuseppe Meazza, again it is the first leg of a round of 16 match (last year Internazionale - Bayern), but this time, AC Milan will be the hosts when meeting Arsenal London from "the Island". In the last year, this round of 16 match was enough for UEFA to appoint Kassai for the CL final, that cannot be the case this time, but without any doubt, the world's best referee of 2011 is one of the favourites for EURO 2012's final match. He will be assisted by Gabor Eros and György Ring. According to the statistics I have at hand (they go back until EURO 1984), Ring will be the youngest assistant referee ever at EURO finals aged 31 when the final competition will take place. Tamás Bognar has been appointed as Fourth Official while the two EURO AARs should be clear by now, too: István Vad, to my mind the biggest talent which is currently in UEFA's First Group, and Mihaly Fabián will be the men at the goallines.

Even though UEFA should actually know Kassai by hard, they have sent a committee member to evaluate him: the German Herbert Fandel will be the UEFA referee observer.
My bet: 2-2

UEFA Europa League - Referee Appointments - Round of 32 (I)

Tuesday, 14 February 2012, 12:00, Luzhniki, Moskva, Russia
The match has been rescheduled due to extreme temperatures in Kazan.
Rubin Kazan - Olympiacos Piraeus
Referee: Dr. Milorad Mazic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristic (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Radojcic (SRB)
4th Official: Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Bosko Jovanetic (SRB)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Vlado Glodjovic (SRB)
UEFA Delegate: Khennet Tallinger (SWE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR)
Blog Referee Observer: Edward A. (GRE)

Tuesday, 14 February 2012, 18:30, Estádio Municipal, Braga, Portugal 
Braga - Besiktas
Referee: Bernie Raymond "Kevin" Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Norbertus Josephus "Berry" Simons (NED)
4th Official: Tom van Sichem (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Reinold Wiedemeijer (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Ed Janssen (NED)
UEFA Delegate: Roland Ospelt (LIE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Rodger Gifford (WAL)
Blog Referee Observer: Cagatay I. (TUR)

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 18:00, Luzhniki, Moskva, Russia
Lokomotiv Moskva - Athletic Bilbao
Referee: Ovidiu Alin Hategan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Zoltán Székely (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 Delegate: Kuanysh Kanapyanov (KAZ)
UEFA Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)
Blog Referee Observer:

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 19:00, Stadion Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
RB Salzburg - Metalist Kharkiv
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Sinisa Premuzaj (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Krmar (CRO)
4th Official: Ante Vucemilovic-simunovic jr (CRO)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Igor Pristovnik (CRO)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Damir Batinic (CRO)
UEFA Delegate: Bujar Kasmi (ALB)
UEFA Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)
Blog Referee Observer:

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 19:00, Amsterdam ArenA, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ajax Amsterdam - Manchester United
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
4th Official: Andrea Gervasoni (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Christian Brighi (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Gabriele Gava (ITA)
UEFA Delegate: Andreas Akkelides (CYP)
UEFA Referee Observer: Manuel Lopez Fernandez (ESP)
Blog Referee Observer: Qudamah N. (POL)

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 19:00, Stadion Plzen, Plzen, Czech Rep.
Viktoria Plzen - Schalke 04
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 Delegate: Gijs de Jong (NED)
UEFA Referee Observer: Vladimir Hrinak (SVK)
Blog Referee Observer: Niclas E. (GER)

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 19:00, Stadio Olimpico, Roma, Italy
Lazio Roma - Atlético Madrid
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 Delegate: Dennis Cruise (IRL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO)
Blog Referee Observer: Chefren (ITA)

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 19:00, AZ Stadion, Alkmaar, Netherlands
AZ Alkmaar - Anderlecht
Referee: Florian Meyer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Borsch (GER)
4th Official: Peter Sippel (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tobias Welz (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Wolfgang Thierrichter (AUT)
UEFA Referee Observer: Georgios Bikas (GRE)
Blog Referee Observer:

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 19:00, Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warsaw
Legia - Sporting
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Marko Stancin (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Matej Zunic (SVN)
4th Official: Darko Ceferin (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Dragoslav Peric (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Davor Drecnik (SVN)
UEFA Delegate: Sándor Berzi (HUN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)
Blog Referee Observer:

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 21:05, Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy
Udinese - PAOK
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Fermin Martínez Ibañez (ESP)
4th Official: José Paradas Romero (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Javier Estrada Fernandez (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: Mike Foster (ENG)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)
Blog Referee Observer: Edward A. (GRE)

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 21:05, Estadio do Dragao, Porto, Portugal
Porto - Manchester City 
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Emre Eyisoy (TUR)
4th Official: Süleyman Abay (TUR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Huseyin Göcek (TUR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Bulent Yildirim (TUR)
UEFA Delegate: Panagiotis Chatzialexiou (GER)
UEFA Referee Observer: Peter Mikkelsen (DEN)
Blog Referee Observer: Carlos S. (COL) 

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 21:05, National Arena, Bucuresti, Romania 
Steaua Bucuresti - FC Twente
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Darren Cann (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jake Collin (ENG)
4th Official: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Mike Jones (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Lee Mason (ENG)
UEFA Delegate: René Eberle (SUI)
UEFA Referee Observer: Terje Hauge (NOR)
Blog Referee Observer: 

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 21:05, AWD Arena, Hannover, Germany 
Hannover 96 - Club Brugge
Referee: Manuel de Sousa (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: José Tiago Trigo (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)
4th Official: Artur Soares Dias (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Duarte Gomes (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Vasco Santos (POR)
UEFA Delegate: Barry Bright (ENG)
UEFA Referee Observer: Amit Klein (ISR)
Blog Referee Observer: 

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 21:05, Stadion Miejski, Kraków, Poland 
Wisla Kraków - Standard Liège
Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesús Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)
4th Official: Javier Turienzo Alvarez (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: César Muñiz Fernández (ESP)
UEFA Delegate: Steen Dahrup (DEN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Fritz Stuchlik (AUT)
Blog Referee Observer: 

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 21:05, Huseyin Avni Aker Stadyumu, Trabzon, Turkey 
Trabzonspor - PSV Eindhoven

Referee: Dr. Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mike Pickel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
4th Official: Guido Winkmann (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Christian Dingert (GER)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Markus Wingenbach (GER)
UEFA Delegate: Gerhard Sager (SWE)
UEFA Referee Observer: Sergey Zuev (RUS)
Blog Referee Observer: 

Thursday, 16 February 2012, 21:05, Stoke Stadium, Stoke on Trent, England 
Stoke City - Valencia CF
Referee: Peter Rasmussen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Henrik Sönderby (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Niels Hög (DEN)
4th Official: Michael Tykgaard (DEN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Lars Christoffersen (DEN)
UEFA Delegate: Ronald Zimmermann (GER)
UEFA Referee Observer: Eugen Strigel (GER)
Blog Referee Observer: Qudamah N. (POL)

UEFA Champions League - Referee Appointments - Round of 16 (I)

UCL Final 2009 Anthem... | vidup.de: Kostenlose hochqualitative Videospeicherung.

Tuesday, 14 February 2012, 20:45, Stade de Gerland, Lyon, France
Olympique Lyon - APOEL Nicosia

Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Luca Maggiani (ITA)
4th Official: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Luca Banti (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Andrea de Marco (ITA)
UEFA Delegate: Teuvo Holopainen (FIN)
UEFA Referee Observer: Juan Antonio Fernandez Marin (ESP)
Blog Referee Observer: Filipe T. (POR)
REFEREE OBSERVATION REPORT


Tuesday, 14 February 2012, 20:45, BayArena, Leverkusen, Germany
Bayer Leverkusen - FC Barcelona

Referee: Craig Alexander Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Derek Rose (SCO)
4th Official: Steven McLean (SCO)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: William Collum (SCO)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Euan Norris (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Pierino Lardi (SUI)
UEFA Referee Observer: Horst Brummeier (AUT)
Blog Referee Observer: Martin R. (NOR)
REFEREE OBSERVATION REPORT


Wednesday, 15 February 2012, 18:00, Petrovskiy Stadium, St.Petersburg, Russia
Zenit St.Petersburg - Benfica Lisbon

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
4th Official: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Markus Strömbergsson (SWE)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
UEFA Delegate: Michal Listkiewicz (POL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Dr. Vaclav Krondl (CZE)
Blog Referee Observer: Edward A. (GRE)


Wednesday, 15 February 2012, 20:45, Giuseppe Meazza, Milano, Italy 
AC Milan - Arsenal London

Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabor Eros (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: György Ring (HUN)
4th Official: Tamás Bognar (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: István Vad (HUN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Mihaly Fabián (HUN)
UEFA Delegate: Jacques Antenen (SUI)
UEFA Referee Observer: Herbert Fandel (GER)
Blog Referee Observer: Cagatay I. (TUR)

20 officials selected for CONCACAF Olympic Games-Qualifiers

CONCACAF has selected ten referees and ten assistant referees who will oversee the qualifiers of 2012 Olympic Games in CONCACAF zone.

CONCACAF Olympic qualifying will begin March 22 in Nasvhille, Tennessee, with a Group A doubleheader and continue the following night with a Group B twin-bill in Carson, California. The confederation's two Olympic qualifiers will be decided March 31 in Kansas City, Kansas, in the semifinals, with the tournament finishing two days later. The nations' U23 selections will play the finals.

Group A: Canada, Cuba, El Salvador, United States 

Group B: Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Trinidad & Tobago 

Referees:

Raymond Bogle (Jamaica)
Elmer Bonilla (El Salvador)
Hugo Cruz Alvarado (Costa Rica)
Roberto Garcia (Mexico)
Walter Lopez (Guatemala)
Jair Marrufo (United States, photo)
Jafeth Perea (Panama)
Héctor Rodriguez (Honduras)
Javier Santos (Puerto Rico)
Enrico Wijngaarde (Suriname)

Assistant Referees:

Eric Boria (United States)
Phillipe Briere (Canada)
Keytzel Corrales (Nicaragua)
Melvyn Cruz (Honduras)
Juan Lemus (Guatemala)
Antonio López (Puerto Rico)
Ramon Louisville (Suriname)
Dion Neil (Trinidad & Tobago)
Juan Rangel Maya (Mexico)
Héctor Recinos (El Salvador) 

source: CONCACAF