UEFA Europa League 2012/13 - Referee Appointments Play-Offs (1)

UEFA has already appointed full teams for next week's UEFA Europa League Play-Off First Legs. The full appointments for the Second Legs will follow in due course.

Appointed for Anzhi - Alkmaar: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)

(RUS) Anzhi Makhachkala			AZ Alkmaar (NED)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 18:00 CET, Lokomotiv Stadium, Moscow (RUS)
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE) Assistant Referee 1: Dimitrios Saraidaris (GRE) Assistant Referee 2: Damianos Efthimiadis (GRE) Fourth Official: Stavros Tritsonis (GRE) UEFA Delegate: István Huszár (HUN) UEFA Referee Observer: Juan Antonio Fernandez Marin (ESP)

(AZE) Neftci PFK			APOEL (CYP)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 18:00 CET, Dalga Arena, Baku (AZE)
Referee: Robert Malek (POL) Assistant Referee 1: Krzysztof Myrmus (POL) Assistant Referee 2: Maciej Wierzbowski (POL) Fourth Official: Tomasz Wajda (POL) UEFA Delegate: Leonid Kaloshin (RUS) UEFA Referee Observer: Sergei Zuev (RUS)

(GRE) Atromitos			Newcastle (ENG)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:00 CET, Municipal Stadium of Peristeri, Athens (GRE)
Referee: Alon Yefet (ISR) Assistant Referee 1: Amihay Mozes (ISR) Assistant Referee 2: Dvir Shimon (ISR) Fourth Official: Asaf Kenan (ISR)) UEFA Delegate: Alvaro Albino (POR) UEFA Referee Observer: Gudmunder Jónsson (ISL)

(NOR) Tromsö IL			Partizan (SRB)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 18:30 CET, Alfheim, Tromsö (NOR)
Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (AUT) Assistant Referee 1: Alain Hoxha (AUT) Assistant Referee 2: Matthias Winsauer (AUT) Fourth Official: Rene Eisner (AUT) UEFA Delegate: Philip Pritchard (WAL) UEFA Referee Observer: Oguz Sarvan (TUR)

(ROU) Vaslui			Internazionale (ITA)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Stadionul Ceahlaul, Piatra Neamt (ROU)
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED) Assistant Referee 1: Patrick Langkamp (NED) Assistant Referee 2: Nicolass George "Nicky" Siebert (NED) Fourth Official: Danny Makkelie (NED) UEFA Delegate: Michael Applevy (ENG) UEFA Referee Observer: Zdravko Jokic (SRB)

(SCO) Heart of Midlothian			Liverpool (ENG)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Tynecastle, Edinburgh (SCO)
Referee: Florian Meyer (GER) Assistant Referee 1: Holger Henschel (GER) Assistant Referee 2: Frank Willenborg (GER) Fourth Official: Günter Perl (GER) UEFA Delegate: Jean-Louis Piette (FRA) UEFA Referee Observer: Jan Fasung (SVK)

(ESP) Athletic Club			HJK Helsinki (FIN)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 21:00 CET, San Mamés, Bilbao (ESP)
Referee: Bülent Yildirim (TUR) Assistant Referee 1: Cem Satman (TUR) Assistant Referee 2: Erdinc Sezertam (TUR) Fourth Official: Koray Gencerler (TUR) UEFA Delegate: Léon Schelings (BEL) UEFA Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold (NOR)

(POR) Marítimo			Dila (GEO)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 21:00 CET, Estádio dos Barreiros, Funchal (POR)
Referee: Libor Kovarik (CZE) Assistant Referee 1: Krystof Mencl (CZE) Assistant Referee 2: Jiri Molacek (CZE) Fourth Official: Tomas Kocourek (CZE) UEFA Delegate: Bontcho Todorov (BUL) UEFA Referee Observer: Georgios Bikas (GRE)

(NOR) Molde FK			Heerenveen (NED)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 19:00 CET, Molde Stadion, Molde (NOR)
Referee: Pavel Balaj (ROU) Assistant Referee 1: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU) Assistant Referee 2: Radu Adrian Ghinguleac (ROU) Fourth Official: István Kovacs (ROU) UEFA Delegate: Patrick McGrath (IRL) UEFA Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)

(HUN) Debreceni			Club Brugge (BEL)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:30 CET, Sóstói út, Nyiregyhaza (HUN)
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN) Assistant Referee 1: Bojan Ul (SVN) Assistant Referee 2: Milan Kogej (SVN) Fourth Official: Davor Drecnik (SVN UEFA Delegate: Isak Mikladal (FRO) UEFA Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)

(MDA) Sheriff			Olympique Marseille (FRA)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 19:00 CET, Sheriff Stadium, Tiraspol (MDA)
Referee: Sascha Kever (SUI) Assistant Referee 1: Raffael Zeder (SUI) Assistant Referee 2: Devis Dettamanti (SUI) Fourth Official: Alain Bieri (SUI) UEFA Delegate: Miguel Galán Torres (ESP) UEFA Referee Observer: Paul Allaerts (BEL)

(TUR) Trabzonspor			Videoton (HUN)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:00 CET, Hüseyin Aker Stadium, Trabzon (TUR)
Referee: Euan Norris (SCO) Assistant Referee 1: Alan Mulvanny (SCO) Assistant Referee 2: Graham Chambers (SCO) Fourth Official: Brian Colvin (SCO) UEFA Delegate: Tryvge Bornö (NOR) UEFA Referee Observer: Dr. Vaclav Krondl (CZE)

(DEN) FC Midtjylland			Young Boys (SUI)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:15 CET, Herning Stadium, Herning (DEN)
Referee: Maksim Layushkin (RUS) Assistant Referee 1: Aleksei Lebedev (RUS) Assistant Referee 2: Alexey Vorontsov (RUS) Fourth Official: Alexander Egorov (RUS) UEFA Delegate: Adrian Ixari (MDA) UEFA Referee Observer: Dusan Krchnak (SVK)

(POL) Slask Wroclaw			Hannover (GER)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:45 CET, City Stadium, Wroclaw (POL)
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA) Assistant Referee 1: Massimiliano Grilli (ITA) Assistant Referee 2: Matteo Passeri (ITA) Fourth Official: Antonio Giannoccaro (ITA) UEFA Delegate: Roland Coquard (FRA) UEFA Referee Observer: Marinus Koopman (NED)

(ROU) Dinamo Bucuresti			Metalist (UKR)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 19:30 CET, National Arena, Bucharest (ROU)
Referee: Pawel Gil (POL) Assistant Referee 1: Piotr Sadczuk (POL) Assistant Referee 2: Marcin Borkowski (POL) Fourth Official: Hubert Siejewicz (POL) UEFA Delegate: Henk Kesler (NED) UEFA Referee Observer: Vítor Melo Pereira (POR)

(DEN) AC Horsens			Sporting (POR)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 21:00 CET, Arena Horsens, Horsens (DEN)
Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA) Assistant Referee 1: Michael Annonier (FRA) Assistant Referee 2: Philippe Jeanne (FRA) Fourth Official: Benoît Millot (FRA) UEFA Delegate: Florian Prunea (ROU) UEFA Referee Observer: Francesco Bianchi (SUI)

(LUX) Dudelange			Hapoel Tel-Aviv (ISR)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:00 CET, Stade Municipal de la Ville de Differdange (LUX)
Referee: Tommy Skjerven (NOR) Assistant Referee 1: Geir Age Holen (NOR) Assistant Referee 2: Sven Erik Midthjell (NOR) Fourth Official: Svein-Erik Edvartsen (NOR) UEFA Delegate: Michail Kassabov (BUL) UEFA Referee Observer: Muharrem Askoy (TUR)

(NED) Feyernoord			Sparta Praha (CZE)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:00 CET, Stadion Feijenoord, Rotterdam (NED)
Referee: Peter Rasmussen (DEN) Assistant Referee 1: Henrik Sönderby (DEN) Assistant Referee 2: Niels Hoeg (DEN) Fourth Official: Lars Christoffersen (DEN) UEFA Delegate: José Luis López Serrano (ESP) UEFA Referee Observer: Bertrand Layec (FRA)

(SCO) Motherwell			Levante UD (ESP)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Fir Park Stadium, Motherwell (SCO)
Referee: Antti Munukka (FIN) Assistant Referee 1: Matti Heininen (FIN) Assistant Referee 2: Jan-Peter Aravirta (FIN) Fourth Official: Dennis Antamo (FIN) UEFA Delegate: Jozef De Ryck (BEL) UEFA Referee Observer: Christos Skapoullis (CYP)

(SRB) Crvena zvezda			Girondins Bordeaux (FRA)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Stadium FK Crvena zvezda, Belgrade (SRB)
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP) Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Díaz Pérez Del Palomar (ESP) Assistant Referee 2: José Manuel Fernandez Miranda (ESP) Fourth Official: José Luis Paradas Romero (ESP) UEFA Delegate: Luca Zorzi (SUI) UEFA Referee Observer: Costas Kapitanis (CYP)

(BEL) Lokeren			Viktoria Plzen (CZE)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:30 CET, King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels (BEL)
Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz (ESP) Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrían Devis (ESP) Assistant Referee 2: Jon Núnez Fernández (ESP) Fourth Official: Alfonso Alvarez Izquierdo (ESP) UEFA Delegate: Velid Irnarnovic (BIH) UEFA Referee Observer: László Vagner (HUN)

(SVN) Mura			Lazio Roma (ITA)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 21:00 CET, Ljudski vrt, Maribor (SVN)
Referee: Mark Courtney (NIR) Assistant Referee 1: Paul Munn (NIR) Assistant Referee 2: Thomas Fairfield (NIR) Fourth Official: Raymond Crangle (NIR) UEFA Delegate: Yoav Strauss (ISR) UEFA Referee Observer: Cornelius Bakker (NED)

(SWE) AIK			CSKA Moskva (RUS)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 19:00 CET, Rasunda, Solna (SWE)
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED) Assistant Referee 1: Wilco W.A. Lobbert (NED) Assistant Referee 2: Davie DFJG Goossens (NED) Fourth Official: Dennis Higler (NED) UEFA Delegate: Adrian Titcombe (ENG) UEFA Referee Observer: Ryszard Wójcik (POL)

(POL) Legia			Rosenborg (NOR)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 19:00 CET, Legia Stadium, Warsaw (POL)
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD) Assistant Referee 1: Marjan Kirovski (MKD) Assistant Referee 2: Dejan Kostadinov (MKD) Fourth Official: Goran Spirkoski (MKD) UEFA Delegate: Alan McRae (SCO) UEFA Referee Observer: Horst Brummeier (AUT)

(TUR) Bursaspor			Twente (NED)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 19:30 CET, Bursa Atatürk Stadium, Bursa (TUR)
Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP) Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP) Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Canelo Prieto (ESP) Fourth Official: Pedro Pérez Montero (ESP) UEFA Delegate: Pertti Alaja (FIN) UEFA Referee Observer: Eugen Stigel (GER)

(LTU) Ekranas			Steaua (ROU)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 18:45 CET, LFF Stadium, Vilnius (LTU)
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR) Assistant Referee 1: Andrei Hetsikau (BLR) Assistant Referee 2: Dmitry Zhuk (BLR) Fourth Official: Dzianis Shcharbakou (BLR) UEFA Delegate: George Koumas (CYP) UEFA Referee Observer: Alan Freeland (SCO)

(CZE) Slovan Liberec			Dnipropetrovsk (UKR)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 19:00 CET, Stadion U Nisy, Liberec (CZE)
Referee: Pol van Boekel (NED) Assistant Referee 1: Angelo Boonman (NED) Assistant Referee 2: Rob van den Ven (NED) Fourth Official: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED) UEFA Delegate: Irakli Nakaidze (GEO) UEFA Referee Observer: Nicolae Grigorescu (ROU)

(GER) VfB Stuttgart			Dinamo Moskva (RUS)
Wednesday, 22 August 2012, 18:15 CET, VfB Arena, Stuttgart (GER)
Referee: William Collum (SCO) Assistant Referee 1: Martin Cryans (SCO) Assistant Referee 2: William Conquer (SCO) Fourth Official: Alan Muir (SCO) UEFA Delegate: Svein Johannessen (NOR) UEFA Referee Observer: Kaj Östergaard (DEN)

(GRE) PAOK			Rapid Wien (AUT)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 20:30 CET, Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki (GRE)
Referee: Andre Marriner (ENG) Assistant Referee 1: Simon Long (ENG) Assistant Referee 2: Simon Bennett (ENG) Fourth Official: Jonathan Moss (ENG) UEFA Delegate: David McDowell (SVN) UEFA Referee Observer: Charles Agius (MLT)

(SUI) Luzern			KRC Genk (BEL)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 19:30 CET, Luzern Arena, Luzern (SUI)
Referee: Antonio Damato (ITA) Assistant Referee 1: Nicola Nicoletti (ITA) Assistant Referee 2: Giulio Dobosz (ITA) Fourth Official: Domenico Celi (ITA) UEFA Delegate: Evangelos Mazarakis (GRE) UEFA Referee Observer: Bernardino González Vazquez (ESP)

(MNE) FK Zeta			PSV Eindhoven (NED)
Thursday, 23 August 2012, 21:00 CET, City Stadium, Podgorica (MNE)
Referee: Aleksei Nikolaev (RUS) Assistant Referee 1: Vitaly Drozdov (RUS) Assistant Referee 2: Dmitry Mosyakin (RUS) Fourth Official: Eduard Maliy (RUS) UEFA Delegate: Georg Prangl (AUT) UEFA Referee Observer: Rodger Gifford (WAL)

Markus Strömbergsson has quit international officiating

Sweden's Markus Strömbergsson has stopped his career as international FIFA referee for personal reasons, since he found himself unable to combine international refereeing with his private life including both job and family. Therefore, he will solely handle domestic matches in future.

He was suddenly removed from FIFA's international officials' database and did not appear in the current UEFA Elite Development Group anymore either.

1975 born Strömbergsson accompanied Jonas Eriksson at UEFA EURO 2012 as additional assistant referee. In addition, he was on the first prospective list for 2014 FIFA World Cup which included a nomination for 2011 FIFA U20 World Cup Colombia, where he oversaw three matches. His only Champions League match was Bayern München - Villarreal. Moreover, his brother Martin is ranked in UEFA's Second Group of referees.

First signs that indicated certain crudities were visible in the last UEFA season, when he had been appointed for a Europe League clash between Sporting and Lazio Roma, where Serge Gumienny suddenly replaced him. Besides, Jonas Eriksson had to replace him once in UEFA Champions League which led to four CL matches in last year's group stage for the Swedish no.1.

The current UEFA Referee Categories can be found here.

Significant novelties in UEFA Champions League refereeing

On the basis of sources and the UEFA Champions League Play-Off referee appointments that have been made public today, two significant novelties can be outlined.

UEFA's referee committee has obviously decided to appoint FIFA assistant referees for the task of the fourth official in matches where additional assistant referees are deployed. In case of an injured referee, the higher classified additional assistant referee will replace him.

Besides, it is the first time for years that UEFA has nominated an Elite Development referee to take control over a Champions League Play-Off. Marijo Strahonja (photo) of Croatia will oversee the important match between FC Kobenhavn (DEN) and OSC Lille (FRA). Based on other appointments in UEFA Europa League, it is quite probable that others will follow in tomorrow's appointments and next week. Probable bets are Tom Harald Hagen (NOR), Pavel Královec (CZE) and Milorad Mazic (SRB). These matches are mostly not the most sonorous ones, so that this decision appears logical. Nonetheless, specially last year's matches have remarkably shown their potentially high difficulty the officials have to cope with.

UEFA Champions League 2012/13 - Referee Appointments Play-Offs (1)

(RUS) Spartak Moskva			Fenerbahce (TUR)
Tuesday, 21 August 2012, 18:00 CET, Luzhniki Stadion, Moscow (RUS) REPORT
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG) Assistant Referee 1: Peter Kirkup (ENG) Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG) Fourth Official: Stephen Child (ENG) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Michael Oliver (ENG) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Michael Jones (ENG) UEFA Delegate: Rudolf Zavrl (SVN) UEFA Referee Observer: Andreas Schluchter (SUI) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Viacheslav Kharlamov (RUS)

(GER) M'gladbach			Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
Tuesday, 21 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Borussia Park, Mönchengladbach (GER)
Referee: Pedro Proença (POR) Assistant Referee 1: Tiago Bolinhas Trigo (POR) Assistant Referee 2: Venâncio Raposo Tomé (POR) Fourth Official: Rui Tavares (POR) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Duarte Gomes (POR) Additional Assistant Referee 2: João Capela (POR) UEFA Delegate: Scott Struthers (SCO) UEFA Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Günter Risse (GER)

(DEN) København			OSC Lille (FRA)
Tuesday, 21 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Parken, Copenhagen (DEN) REPORT
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO) Assistant Referee 1: Sinisa Premuzaj (CRO) Assistant Referee 2: Igor Krmar (CRO) Fourth Official: Goran Pataki (CRO) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Igor Pristovnik (CRO) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Ante Vucemilovic-Simunovic jr (CRO) UEFA Delegate: Panagiotis Chatzialexiou (GER) UEFA Referee Observer: Jaap Uilenberg (NED) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Bill René Hansen (DEN)

(SUI) Basel			CFR Cluj (ROU)
Tuesday, 21 August 2012, 20:45 CET, St. Jakob-Park, Basel (SUI) REPORT
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE) Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE) Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Wärnmark (SWE) Fourth Official: Stefan Wittberg (SWE) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Martin Strömbergsson (SWE) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Tobias Mattsson (SWE)  UEFA Delegate: Harry Been (NED) UEFA Referee Observer: Wilfried Heitmann (GER) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Jürg Burkhart (SUI)

(SWE) Helsingborg			Celtic (SCO)
Tuesday, 21 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Olympia, Helsingborg (SWE) REPORT
Referee: Olegário Benquerença (POR) Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR) Assistant Referee 2: João Santos (POR) Fourth Official: Ricardo Santos (POR) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Artur Soares Dias (POR) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Taborda Xistra (POR) UEFA Delegate: Roland Tis (BEL) UEFA Referee Observer: Peter Mikkelsen (DEN) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Martin Ingvarsson (SWE)

(BLR) BATE			Hapoel Kiryat (ISR)
Wednesday, 22 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Dinamo Stadion, Minsk (BLR) REPORT
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG) Assistant Referee 1: Mike Mullarkey (ENG) Assistant Referee 2: Darren Cann (ENG) Fourth Official: Simon Beck (ENG) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Anthony Taylor (ENG) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Kevin Friend (ENG) UEFA Delegate: Jozef Kliment (SVK) UEFA Referee Observer: Zoran Petrovic (SRB) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Vadim Zhuk (BLR)

(CYP) AEL Limasol			Anderlecht (BEL)
Wednesday, 22 August 2012, 20:45 CET, GSP Stadion, Nicosia (CYP) REPORT
Referee: Milorad Mazic (SRB) Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristic (SRB) Assistant Referee 2: Igor Radojcic (SRB) Fourth Official: Vladimir Jovanovic (SRB) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Milenko Vukadinovic (SRB) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Miodrag Gogic (SRB) UEFA Delegate: Steen Dahrup (DEN) UEFA Referee Observer: Mike Riley (ENG) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Michalis Ioannou (CYP)

(CRO) Dinamo Zagreb			NK Maribor (SVN)
Wednesday, 22 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Maksimir, Zagreb (CRO) REPORT
Referee: Cüneyt Cakir (TUR) Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR) Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR) Fourth Official: Orkun Aktas (TUR) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Süleyman Abay (TUR) UEFA Delegate: Balázs Makray (HUN) UEFA Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Ivica Modric (CRO)

(POR) Braga			Udinese (ITA)
Wednesday, 22 August 2012, 20:45 CET, Estádio Municipal de Braga, Braga (POR) REPORT
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER) Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER) Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (GER) Fourth Official: Guido Kleve (GER) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Tobias Welz (GER) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Marco Fritz (GER) UEFA Delegate: Andrey Medintsev (BLR) UEFA Referee Observer: Miroslav Liba (CZE) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: José Ramalho (POR)

(ESP) Málaga			Panathinaikos (GRE)
Wednesday, 22 August 2012, 20:45 CET, La Rosaleda, Málaga (ESP) REPORT
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA) Assistant Referee 1: Fredji Harchay (FRA) Assistant Referee 2: Huseyin Ocak (FRA) Fourth Official: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Said Ennjimi (FRA) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Olivier Thual (FRA) UEFA Delegate: Christian Schmölzer (AUT) UEFA Referee Observer: Alan Snoddy (NIR) UEFA Referee Liaison Officer: Manuel Díaz Morales (ESP)

POST MATCHDAY DOCUMENT

Olympic findings

Retrospectively summarized, the recently expired XXX Olympic Games at London were a total success, for the athletes, the billions of fans watching them all over the world and naturally also the games' sponsors. It was furthermore quite refreshing that there are still global sport events that can be held in a politically uncritical state, which will probably stay a rarity with regard to FIFA and UEFA being exceptionally talented concerning allocating World Cups and European Championships. 

As expected, the Olympic football tournament was quite overshadowed by the huge amount of other events. The football played at these Games was overall not at the highest level, tactically considered, it was even quite weak so that open matches with many goals were made possible. Considering the Olympic football refereeing, there are also some aspects to highlight that might be summarized in brief.

The appointment procedure

FIFA has again underlined the rule of confederation neutrality. If the teams that encounter each other are from two different confederations (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, UEFA), the referee and the team around him definitely come from another confederation. This rule was first established at 2010 FIFA World Cup and then applied at every following FIFA competition. The aim is probably to bolster the officials' formal neutrality, there practical neutrality is naturally guaranteed at any rate. As I have frequently stated before, this principle puts more obstacles in FIFA's and their committee's way than it of use, because not the best referee at the tournament is selected for a specific match, but the best referee who may referee this match. Another novelty is Ravshan Irmatov's appointment for the third place match between Japan and Korea Republic. All the three involved parties came from AFC zone. Normally, only UEFA officials may referee matches between two nations from their own confederation. It once happened that Martin Vazquez of Uruguay refereed Brazil - Argentina, also at Olympic Games (in 2008).

A lack in the evaluation system

Contrary to UEFA's and this blog's referee evaluation system, FIFA does neither know terms like important mistakes, nor crucial mistakes, nor poor control. If a referee makes a mistake with match decisive or influencing character, he should get a low mark as the adequate consequence, that is at least my conviction. FIFA only splits the performance into five classifications (very good, good, satisfactory, poor and very poor) and additionally defines the difficulty of the match (low, medium and high). It is therefore the observer's assessment whether a crucial mistake still allows a good mark or not. 

Wembley's final referee Mark Clattenburg missed a kung-fu-kick committed by a Senegalese defender into his Mexican opponent's face. He only issued a yellow card, despite of the fact that Simon Beck, his second assistant, obviously saw this situation (see video attached). This situation happened in the quarterfinals. FIFA's referee committee at London, having consisted of Carlos Batres of Guatemala at its peak and probably supervised by Massimo Busacca, obviously drew its own conclusion. Mark Clattenburg was ready for an Olympic final, after one decent group stage match of low difficulty and a crucial mistake in a quarterfinal. Perhaps it is an illness of English referees to show no red cards in situations that MUST entail them, remembering Howard Webb in several situations including 2010 FIFA World Cup final and 2011/12 UEFA Champions League semifinal. As long as there are no adequate consequences for that, there is little reason to change that. The same counts for Uzbekistan's Ravshan Irmatov, who showed a weak performance in his first group stage encounter including a match influencing mistake, when he and Bakhadyr Kochkarov missed a very clear penalty to Great Britain. Irmatov and his team were allowed to stay until the end, while German official Brych was sent home after this blog's best evaluated performance of the whole tournament (9,3) and the quarterfinal between Brazil and Honduras, which unfolded a high difficulty and where he made two doubtful decisions. 

The "Rodríguez-memory-match"

After Marco Rodríguez performance in 2010 FIFA World Cup's group H encounter between Chile and Spain, where the Mexican official had no control at all with the tense atmosphere, FIFA made the same decision again, only a week later. Carlos Batres of Guatemala was in charge of the quarterfinal tie between Paraguay and Spain. Again, no control. One may not generalize Latin teams and referees from a certain region either, but in the end, FIFA could have been warned that Latin-American referees are not the best choices for matches between Spain and a Latin-American team. Venezuela's Juan Soto showed by far the worst performance of the whole tournament, establishing an Olympic record with 13 issued yellow cards. Most of them were correct, but in the end, he nearly had less than zero control, missed a penalty to Spain and did not caution verbal and violent attacks by Spanish players on himself. Why did I know that it would eventuate in that kind of match? Why did not FIFA know it? Nonetheless, there is no need to shift responsibility to FIFA. A referee who wants to join a World Cup must keep that mob under control. It is therefore not FIFA's fault, but it is the players' and referee team's fault. FIFA only made the mistake to appoint him at all for this match. The consequence was at least clear, Soto left the tournament after group stage and doubts must be raised whether he will attend the next meeting of prospective referees for 2014 World Cup at Zürich.

The "Nishimura problem"

Again, Japanese Yuichi Nishimura certainly counted to the top3 of referees with the best performances at the tournament, however, like at 2011 AFC Asian Cup, he did not get any K.O. stage match. Thanks to the visible progress of Japanese football, their national teams reached a lot at both tournaments, but in both cases, it is not really understandable why the respective federations AFC and FIFA did not decide to appoint him for a quarterfinal (although, at Olympic Games, the assortment was not that big in quarterfinals, he could have only refereed Brazil - Honduras).

OFC referees are still only suitable for one match

Peter O'Leary is an Oceanian hope to finally reach something more than referees like Michael Hester: more than one group stage match at a World Cup. Nobody should deny the big efforts undertaken by the responsibles to push O'Leary and his crew (Jan-Hendrik Hintz and Ravinesh Kumar), to bring them closer to the international standard. But in the end, they did not manage it. O'Leary's performance in UA Emirates - Uruguay rather confirms FIFA's policy during the last years, giving them not too much. One may question whether OFC referees should participate in a World Cup at all, at least after this performance.

African referees can hold the others' pace

After many disappointing appearances by African referees at previous World Cups and FIFA tournaments in general, Gambia's talent Bakary Gassama and Tunisia's Slim Jedidi have made an enormous progress. Both managed to show satisfying performances and specially Gassama showed a lot of potential for more. His performance in Brazil - New Zealand did not only mean that a referee has received the same team twice in the group stage, which is quite untypical, but also contained a correctly taken crucial decision, when he sent a Brazilian off due to simulation.

Simulation consistently punished

Three significant dives have been detected by the Olympic referees. It started with Wilmar Roldán sending off a Suisse striker for a dive that was quite easy to detect, since the situation occurred in his free area of vicinity and since there was no contact at all. Svein Moen's and Bakary Gassama's decisions were harder to take. In either instance, there was a contact, but the players simply decided to fall too lately. They correctly and bravely detected that, which might have been an instruction to the referees before the tournament.

On the whole, the disciplinary management has been quite good, specially because there was a clear and consistent line in all the matches. The referees' approach was mostly lenient, offering the players room for hard but fair football, but inevitable bookings were directly issued.

With the Olympic Games having closed on last Sunday, the next Olympiad has commenced awaiting 2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro.

Remark: A document containing statistics about FIFA tournaments and these Olympic Games will follow in due course.

Overview with useful statistics and marks