Tom Øvrebø has drawn a line under his career

A psychologist by profession, a psychologist on the football pitch: Former Norwegian international match official Tom Henning Øvrebø has rung down the curtain on his career as a referee due to injury. 

Having become a FIFA licensed referee in 1994, Øvrebø is able to look back on a bright development, having started with a participation in UEFA U-21 EURO 2002. Even though it took him a while to reach the peak, since he finished his university degree only in 1998, he managed his ultimate breakthrough by having been appointed to oversee two Europa League (former UEFA Cup) semifinals in 2006 and 2007. As a logical consequence, he attended UEFA EURO 2008 as one of twelve referees, where he was sent home early though because of a controversial performance in Italy vs Romania. In October 2008, Øvrebø was put onto the list of pre-selected referees for FIFA World Cup 2010.

A few months later, he made an important step forward when he was designated to handle the second leg of UEFA Champions League’s semifinal between Chelsea FC and FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge. Having rejected a handful of penalty appeals by the home side, his officiating team consisting of Geir Åge Holen and Dag-Roger Nebben on the sidelines faced a “third half” of this match. Øvrebø did not only have to bear the probably most severe protests ever seen during and after a match by Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba, but also received death threats which required a change of the hotel and police protection up to the airport. Of course, the players and media involved ignored the many acceptable and correct decisions taken by the referee team. 

Øvrebø never really recovered from that. Only one year later, further mistakes and controversies happened in the Round of 16 match between Bayern München and Fiorentina. As soon as he received the message that he had not been selected for the World Cup, he took the decision to finish his international career. Nevertheless, the then 44 year-old referee was ambitious enough to continue his occupation as a referee on domestic turf. In 2012 and 2013, he handled several matches in Norway’s 2nd division. 

Tom Øvrebø is still receiving mails containing death threats from some furious Chelsea fanatics, whom the Norwegian does not take serious though. He told The Times: “The death threats immediately find their way into the dustbin. I don’t take this serious. I am just surprised about those people. […] One guy referred to a Champions League final in Moscow some years ago. This says something about his intelligence.” This Champions League final was by the way refereed by Lubos Michel and not him. 

An intractable knee injury was needed to make this referee finish his passion he is still following on TV with plenty of joy. Undoubtfully, this referee would have deserved more support and fairness in the most difficult part of his career.

Match fixing plague has arrived in UEFA Europa League

Two Armenian match officials, 1984 born FIFA referee Andranik Arsenyan and FIFA assistant referee Hovhannes Agavyan, have received lifetime bans from their domestic FA after being found guilty of having influenced the 2013 Europa League First Qualifying Round match between FC Inter Turku (Finland) and Víkingur Gøta (Faroe Islands) on July 11th.

Armenian Andranik Arsenyan won't return onto the pitch (c) 101greatgoals

According to reports, a wager of 300,000 was placed with Betfair that both teams would score in the match, which initially triggered suspicions of something untoward. Then, when the match actually started, two dubious penalties were called one after another for both sides by the ref.

UEFA subsequently launched an investigation, and the findings were that two Armenian referees on duty in the game had been bought.

The twist in the tale is that the mystery fixer lurking in the shadows also lost.

Despite the two penalties to each side, hosts Inter Turku missed their spot-kick ending the match 0-1 to Víkingur. In this match, Arsenyan was assisted by Erik Arevshatyan and guilty Hovhannes Agavyan. Manuk Fahradyan completed the officiating team that was observed by English Stephen Bennett.

Watch footage of the two dodgy penalties below.

Official statement by UEFA

UEFA yesterday took note of the decision of the Executive Committee of the Football Federation of Armenia (HFF) with regard to the referee and assistant referee who officiated at the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round match between FC Inter Turku and Víkingur on 11 July 2013.

In a hearing at the HFF, referee Andranik Arsenyan and assistant referee Hovhannes Avagyan admitted having tried to manipulate the outcome of the second-leg game, which ended 1-0 in favour of Víkingur.

The UEFA betting fraud detection system (BFDS) – which monitors over 32,000 matches across Europe, including all first-division and UEFA competition games – had detected suspicious betting patterns around this fixture, and this prompted the start of an investigation by UEFA to which the HFF contributed closely.

UEFA is pleased with the excellent cooperation of the HFF, the local authorities and the betting operators during the investigation process.

Today, the chairman of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body has decided to suspend with immediate effect, and for any football-related activities, both match officials. At the same time, a disciplinary proceeding has been opened in accordance with Article 12 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (integrity of matches and competitions, and match-fixing).

The case will be dealt with by the Control and Disciplinary Body on Thursday 22 August at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland.

source: 101greatgoals

RefCam reveals football from the referee's perspective

US American referee Hilario Grajeda had the honour to be the first football referee wearing a so-called "RefCam" placed around his head during the match between an MLS All-Star Team and AS Roma on 2 August. 

Hilario Grajeda wearing the "RefCam" (c) givemesport.com

After this system had been deployed in rugby matches several times, the United States' soccer federation tested this technology to offer insights and new perspectives into what referees have in their area of vicinity on the pitch and the heat of emotions they sometimes have to deal with while coping with players.

Source: Jeugdscheidsrechter.nl

Dutch veteran stars honour deceased Richard Nieuwenhuizen

A team riddled with several former Dutch football stars have joined a benefit match against an amateur team and thus gained 56.000 € for the relatives of Dutch assistant referee Richard Nieuwenhuizen, who was bludgeoned to death by young amateur players after a match played in Almere in December 2012.

Ajax Amsterdam's current coach Frank de Boer had the idea to organize this match. Among others, Edwin van der Sar, Dennis Bergkamp, Pierre van Hooijdonk and Giovanni van Bronckhorst belonged to the team that won 8:1 and which was managed by Ronald Koeman, European champion in 1988, and Ajax legend Sjaak Swart.

Prior to the match, the chief officer of the Dutch football association KNVB, Michael van Praag, as well as Almere's mayoress Annemarie Jorritsma have plead in favour of a football that is clean of every form of violent behaviour.

The suspected culprits are remaining in custody until their trial that is expected for summer 2013. 

Following the outrage, there has been a widely supported campaign aimed at honouring and respecting the victim.

Turkish Football Federation controverts alleged interview given by Cüneyt Çakır

In the aftermath of last Tuesday's UEFA Champions League match between Manchester United and Real Madrid and of the Turkish officiating team's controversial performance, referee Cüneyt Çakır's media scolding does not come to a rest. 

Returning to his Turkish league duties: Cüneyt Çakır (c) metro.co.uk

Following a report concerning alleged statements given by Çakır to a newspaper, the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) has now controverted any form of medial statement given by the match official, since "...Cüneyt Çakır didn't give any interview to any journalist or to any media organisation". The statement furthermore said that he also didn't have any social media account on websites like Facebook, Twitter, etc, because of their rules.

Spanish newspaper AS reported that Çakır "didn't doubt his decisions" and claimed that sending off Nani for his challenge on Álvaro Arbeloa was the correct call. Quotes were also attributed to the 36-year-old which rubbished suggestions that he had an agenda against English clubs after sending off Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Mario Balotelli in previous Uefa competitions.

A UEFA spokesman has reinforced the football body's full support for the referee and his performance. In compliance with the report they received from Çakır, UEFA will desist from punishing ManU defender Rio Ferdinand for his derisive applause after the final whistle.

partial source: Goal.com

Lorenzo Manganelli escapes critical condition after car accident

Italian aspiring and talented FIFA assistant referee Lorenzo Manganelli (1974) has luckily escaped his critical health condition following a serious car accident in which he was involved along with three other cars and which claimed one fatal victim. 

Lorenzo Manganelli (c) La Nazione

Around 19:30 on Sunday, 24 February, he was returning home along with his colleague Filippo Bercigli and their girlfriends [...]. His car was involved in a terrible accident on the A1 stretch between Florence and Incisa. A dreadful collision where four cars, for reasons that are still to be determined, clashed in the chain. One of the occupants died instantly, while there were two seriously injured and five mild injured people. Among those in critical condition is Manganelli, who started an international refereeing career that took him to some of the most important matches of European football including several UEFA Champions League matches and friendlies such as Germany - France in 2012 and France - Germany in 2013. He is said to be the currently best Italian assistant referee, at least according to the shown performances.

Lorenzo Manganelli's condition is now stable, he is out of mortal danger. 

Let's hope that those who regret the loss of the accident's fatal victim are going to be able to cope with that severe and hard time as well as that Manganelli is going to regain his feet very soon. 

partial source: La Nazione

Hazard kicks ball-boy and is sent off

In Wednesday's English League Cup semifinal between Swansea City of Wales and Chelsea London of England, the Champions League winners' Eden Hazard was sent off for committing a violent conduct against a ball-boy.

Referee Chris Foy and Assistant Referee Simon Bennett took this decision based on the Laws of the Game which define violent offences against third parties as to be penalized with a straight red card:

"A player who commits a cautionable or sending-off offence, either on or off
the field of play, whether directed towards an opponent, a team-mate, the
referee, an assistant referee or any other person, is disciplined according to the nature of the offence committed."

In the meantime, Hazard has publicly apologized for his infringement and furthermore asked the ball-boy to be excused for that. Chelsea lost the encounter on aggregate (0:2) and has therefore failed to qualify for the League Cup final.

IFFHS honours Pedro Proença as the World's Best Referee 2012

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) has recently published its annual ranking of international match officials. For the past year 2012, Portugal's Pedro Proença has been honoured as the World's Best Referee.

Pedro Proença Oliveira Alves Garcia (Portugal) (c) kicker

Having been in charge of both UEFA Champions League and UEFA EURO 2012 final in Munich and Kyiv respectively, this choice does not pose a huge surprise. Cüneyt Çakır (Turkey) and Howard Webb (England) have come second and third place. 

In addition, two countries are represented twice, since Howard Webb and Mark Clattenburg (England) as well as Wolfgang Stark and Felix Brych (Germany) are included in the list.

Unfortunately, IFFHS' ranking again underlines its high extent of labouring under a fundamental misapprehension: although the headline "World's Best Referee" arouses the impression that this ranking would pose a Worldranking, the ranking itself cannot hold this promise:

1.   Pedro Proença - Portugal - 174 points (UEFA)

2.   Cüneyt Çakır - Turkey - 73 points (UEFA)

3.   Howard Webb - England - 72 points (UEFA)

4.   Viktor Kassai - Hungary - 50 points (UEFA)

5.   Wolfgang Stark - Germany - 40 points (UEFA)

6.   Ravshan Irmatov - Uzbekistan - 35 points (AFC)

7.   Damir Skomina - Slovenia - 26 points (UEFA)

8.   Wilmar Roldán - Colombia - 20 points (CONMEBOL)

9.   Felix Brych - Germany - 15 points (UEFA)

10. Stéphane Lannoy - France - 13 points (UEFA)

 ~   Nicola Rizzoli - Italy - 13 points (UEFA)

12. Milorad Mažić - Serbia - 11 points (UEFA)

13. Carlos Velasco Carballo - Spain - 8 points (UEFA)

14. Mark Clattenburg - England - 6 points (UEFA)

15. Carlos Vera - Ecuador - 5 points (CONMEBOL)

Gözübüyük and his way to teach coaches respect

Respecting the referee and his decisions means more than the officials' mere badge they e.g. wear on their upper arms in UEFA matches...doesn't it?

Obviously, FIFA referee Serdar Gözübüyük of the Netherlands has found his own method to exhort crazed coaches respect.

Dutch linesman bludgeoned to death

A Dutch man has died after being kicked and punched by a group of teenage football players for whom he acted as linesman in a Sunday league match. Richard Nieuwenhuizen, 41, collapsed and was taken to hospital hours after he was beaten by three players from Amsterdam club Nieuw Sloten. He died on Monday.

He had been officiating for Buitenboys club, in the town of Almere, and one of his own sons had been playing. Three teenagers, aged between 15 and 16, have reportedly been arrested.

Buitenboys club chairman Marcel Oost said Mr Nieuwenhuizen, 41, officiated as linesman for the team every week. "He enjoyed doing it. He was a real football man; he was always here," he told national broadcaster NOS. 

News of his death sparked shock in sporting circles around the Netherlands. The Dutch minister for sports, Edith Schippers, said: "It is absolutely terrible that something like this can happen on a Dutch sports field". Anton Binnenmars, of the Royal Netherlands Football Association, described it as "too crazy for words that somebody involved in a sporting hobby becomes a victim of this kind of aggression".

Nieuw Sloten said it was "deeply shocked" by what had happened, and intended to ban for life the players found to be responsible, had pulled their team from the league and temporarily suspended all its operations as a club. "Violence should not be on the football fields," it said.

source: BBC

One of many good reasons to become a referee

Despite all those challenges you encounter as a referee on the pitch, that is connected with a high level of responsibility and formation of your character, a further significant reason to become a referee certainly is that you are an immediate part of the game, which allows you to follow goals like that closer than everybody else out there, a goal of which you dream in your smartest dreams and that should be honoured with kind of award like "Best Goal of the Century" if you ask me.

I am envious of Frank Andas and Svein Oddvar Moen, the assistant referee and referee in the match between Sweden and England.

Clattenburg under the FA's spotlight

The FA has confirmed it has begun an investigation following allegations put forward after yesterday's Premier League top clash between Chelsea London and Manchester United (2-3) that accused FIFA referee Mark Clattenburg to have issued "inappropiate" statements against Chelsea's John Mikel and Juan Mata.

Mark Clattenburg (r.), facing severe allegations (c) Spox.com

After the match, Chelsea issued an official complaint to the Premier League, stating Clattenburg had made racial comments to two of their players. Apart from the statement given today about the started investigation, the FA has not issued any further comment on the case.

Clattenburg's assistants Mick McDonough and Simon Long are said to be potential witnesses, since they could have got the comments via the wire technique deployed by the officials.

In addition, the officials' performance has been generally criticized after the match, since Clattenburg controversially sent Fernando Torres off for an alleged dive despite a clear contact and as the decisive 2-3 goal followed a clear offside position.

Mark Clattenburg currently joins UEFA Elite Group and is on the short list for 2014 FIFA World Cup, as part of which he was already in charge of a U-20 World Cup and the final of 2012 Olympic Games in his mother country.

A quite similar case occurred in France's Ligue 1 last year, too.

Christian Fischer violently attacked by Benfica's Luisao

A friendly match between Benfica and Fortuna Düsseldorf was abandoned in the 39th minute on Saturday when the referee was knocked to the ground shortly after sending off a player.

Television footage showed Benfica captain Luisao protesting referee Christian Fischer's decision to eject teammate Javi Garcia. Brazilian international Luisao then appeared to shove Fischer.

Luisao approached the referee in a menacing manner and sent him falling backwards, where he lay for several seconds apparently unconscious before coming back to his senses after players and linesmen called for a doctor.

Fischer got back to his feet and decided to abandon the game.

Fortuna returned to play a further 45 minutes without their Portuguese opponents, splitting their squad into two sides of 11 men to ensure the fans at the Düsseldorf Arena were given some value for their money.

Speaking to Rheinische Post, Fortuna's chairman Peter Frymuth explained: "The ref was attacked and had to be treated by our doctors inside the locker room. Because of that attack the game was abandoned. I am shocked. I have been in football for many years and have never seen anything like it. I do not understand that players from a team with the reputation of Benfica, a team that play in the Champions League, have such an attitude. Let's get help from the German federation and talk with UEFA about Luisao and about what other Benfica players did. I hope they are severely punished. This should have been a day of celebration for us, but now it has becoming a depressing affair. We are sick at heart." Frymuth added that Fortuna Dusseldorf would approach UEFA over the event.
Benfica have stated on their official website that the match had been abandoned due to a "regrettable theatre" by the German referee. Portuguese newspapers are fearing Luisao's suspension by UEFA for two months.
 

Christian Fischer, a 2nd Bundesliga referee from Hemer who normally accompanies Thorsten Kinhöfer as assistant referee in Bundesliga, has officially informed against Luisao in the meantime.

sources: RP, FOX, ESPN

Jack Taylor has passed away

England, FIFA and surely the whole world of football (refereeing) are in deep mourning for Jack Taylor, referee of Munich's 1974 World Cup final between Western Germany and the Netherlands, who has passed away yesterday. 

Having refereed more than a thousand league matches in England and more than 100 international matches, he entered FIFA Hall of Fame in 1999. Born in Wolverhampton in 1930, Taylor is until today one of ten English officials having ever been in charge of a World Cup final.

David Elleray, Chairman of The FA Referees’ Committee, said: "The refereeing world is desperately sad to hear of Jack Taylor’s death. Jack was the third Englishman to referee a World Cup Final when in 1974 he officiated in the Final between Germany and Holland, awarding a penalty against the Germans before they had touched the ball."

Even Howard Webb emphasized his sorrow and described Taylor as a "true gentleman". Furthermore, he stated that Taylor had been an inspiration for him and many thousands of referees in England and across the world. 

Jack (actually John Keith) Taylor died at his Shropshire home on 27 July.

Babak Rafati has decided to retire

(c) KICKER

Former German FIFA referee Babak Rafati from Hannover has announced his final retirement after his psychological illness which led to a suicide attempt prior to a Bundesliga match in November 2011.

DFB stated that they were "sad about having lost one of their best referees", even though they "certainly understood his reasons".

Since 2005, the banker has been in charge of 84 Bundesliga matches. Felix Zwayer and Marco Fritz had replaced him on the FIFA list at the start of 2012.