Nikolaev not considered for UEFA EL K.O. stage

As announced, I have received a list of eleven officials from UEFA's First Group who will oversee matches in the upcoming UEFA Europa League K.O. stage.

Not among the names: Aleksei Nikolaev. The Russian referee who has been demoted at the end of 2011 from Elite to First Group seems to have become immaterial in UEFA's future plans. The case Nikolaev is a difficult one. One does not really know what happened in the committees, one thing is clear, UEFA does not seem to have been content with his appearances in e.g. his only K.O. stage match in UCL (Valencia 1-1 Schalke, 2011). 

However, there are some young talents and some experienced men who will get their chance.
The list contains:

Manuel de Sousa, Portugal, 1975 (photo)
Laurent Duhamel, France, 1968
Antony Gautier, France, 1977 
Pawel Gil, Poland, 1976
Serge Gumienny, Belgium, 1972
Ovidiu Alin Hategan, Romania, 1980 
Stefan Johannesson, Sweden, 1971
Matej Jug, Slovenia, 1980 
Michael Koukoulakis, Greece, 1975
István Vad, Hungary, 1979
Alon Yefet, Israel, 1972

Apart from these 11 First Group refs, all the Elite and Elite Development officials may get EL matches in the 2nd half of 2011/12.

The results of the community's predictions can be found on the right hand side in the poll.