Pedro Proença in charge of 2012 UEFA EURO final

Portuguese official Pedro Proença will take control over Sunday's 2012 UEFA EURO final between Spain and Italy at Kyiv's Olympic Stadium. UEFA has confirmed his nomination being the first Portuguese ever appointed for a final of one of the major competitions (FIFA World Cup and UEFA EURO).

Proença, who works as a financial director in Pinhal Novo, a small town between Lisbon and Setubal, made his FIFA bow in 2003 and has been joining the UEFA Champions League roster since 2007. He has already overseen a total amount of 42 UEFA club competition matches. The Portuguese is able to speak apart from his mother tongue also French and English. Enjoying reading, writing and movies as well as skiing as leisure time activties, he has taken a significantly rising development since his participation at the 2009 UEFA U21 EURO Sweden. Before that, he also joined the 2004 UEFA U19 EURO Switzerland, where he refereed his thus far first international final between Turkey and Spain. 

One of his biggest successes is the nomination for the 2012 UEFA EURO Poland/Ukraine, after having refereed this year's UEFA Champions League final at Munich Arena between Bayern and Chelsea.
As part of the qualification mode, he took control over the playoff's 2nd leg between Croatia and Turkey as well.
Besides, he refereed the 2007 and 2010 Portuguese Cup finals and also ran the rule over two FC Porto successes in the domestic Super Cup in August 2003 and 2006.
Related to his previous insets, the Portuguese team had already come across both teams Italy and Spain. His personal opener match was the Group C duel between Spain and Ireland. After his second match (Sweden - France), he has overseen the quarterfinal match between England and Italy, when the squadra azzurra won after penalty shoot-out. In all three matches, he has performed (very) well according to our observation reports - and obviously also from UEFA's point of view.
The tie between Spain and Italy was already held at 10 June in Gdansk, when Viktor Kassai from Hungary took charge of the 1-1 draw. 

Final countdown for Spain, Italy and Pedro Proença (POR) (c) ZIMBIO

In compliance with the decision made by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), there will be a team of six officials, as it has been a common practice at the highest level of European club football, plus one reserve assistant referee. 

Bertino Miranda and Ricardo Santos will act as assistant referees, whereas Manuel de Sousa and Duarte Gomes (themselves UEFA First Group referees) will serve as additional assistant referees. Cüneyt Çakır of Turkey will function as fourth official, whereas his countryman Bahattin Duran has been selected as reserve assistant referee.
The team will be observed by English official David Elleray.

Overview:

UEFA EURO 2012 final
1 July 2012, 20:45 CET - Kyiv (Olympic Stadium)
Spain - Italy
Referee: Pedro Proença (POR)
Assistant Referees: Bertino Miranda (POR), Ricardo Santos (POR)
Additional Assistant Referees: Manuel de Sousa (POR), Duarte Gomes (POR)
Fourth Official: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
UEFA Delegate: Janis Mežeckis (LVA)
UEFA Referee Observer: David Elleray (ENG)
Blog Referee Observers: Edward A (GRE), Çagatay Iris (TUR)

Senes Erzik likes UNICEF

Further to several media reports and a public yell of indignation within the Portuguese media scene and even among officials of the Portuguese federation FPF, containing apprehensions that Turkish official Cüneyt Çakır, who will take charge of tonight's 2012 UEFA EURO semifinal between Portugal and Spain, could encounter the match in a biased way, I would like to congratulate these reporting brain-dwarves for having assured one of the best - but also easiest excuses for a potential loss against the Iberian neighbours in advance.

He likes UNICEF: Senes Erzik.. (c) trtspor

The reason for these worries was - no joke - that Senes Erzik, a member of the UEFA referee committee, would be in deep friendship with Spanish chairman Ángel María Villar Llona, that he would get something out of FC Barcelona and therefore liked their sponsors and international aid organization UNICEF. 

I would like to wish Çakır and his team all the best for the pending match and I furthermore hope that - if he performs excellently - that the Portuguese responsibles and media representatives will find another excuse for a potential loss, perhaps the pitch might pose an adequate plea.

Cüneyt Çakır and Stéphane Lannoy receive EURO semifinal call-up

UEFA has announced the two teams of match officials who will take control over 2012 UEFA EURO's semifinals on 27 June, respectively 28 June 2012.

(c) ZIMBIO

Cüneyt Çakır (photo above) of Turkey has been assigned for the all-Iberian duel between Portugal and Spain, which will be held in Ukraine's metropole Donetsk at Donbass Arena, the home of Shakhtar Donetsk. Turkish officials Bahattin Duran and Tarik Ongun will serve as assistant referees, while Hüseyin Göçek and Bülent Yıldırım will function as additional assistant referees standing at the bylines. Damir Skomina from Slovenia has been named fourth official, whereas his countryman Matej Žunič will be the reserve assistant referee. Jozef Marko from Slovakia has been appointed as UEFA referee observer, Janis Mežeckis from Latvia as the UEFA delegate.

For the 35 year-old policy broker from Istanbul, it is the third semifinal appointment in a row, after his engagements in 2010 UEFA Europa League' semifinal between FC Fulham and Hamburger SV, at 2011 FIFA Under 20 World Cup Colombia, when Portugal defeated France, and finally the recently played UEFA Champions League semifinal between FC Barcelona and Chelsea London at Camp Nou. His previous matches have been the group stage encounters between Ukraine and Sweden at Kyiv's final stadium, where he also acted as the fourth official in the quarterfinal between England and Italy, and between Italy and Ireland in Poznán.

(c) ZIMBIO

Besides, French official Stéphane Lannoy (photo above) will be in charge of the traditional clash between Germany and Italy at Warsaw's opener match stadium. He will be accompanied by Frédéric Cano and Michaël Annonier as assistant referees; Fredy Fautrel and Ruddy Buquet will serve as additional assistant referees. The team is completed by English officials Howard Webb (fourth official), who may be considered as the most probable referee for the final match at Kyiv Olympic Stadium, and Mike Mullarkey as reserve assistant referee. Hugh Dallas of Scotland, himself a former successful referee, will be the UEFA referee observer, while Iceland's Geir Thorsteinsson will function as UEFA delegate, who has also executed 2011 UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.

Born in 1969, Lannoy is the oldest of the twelve referees who commenced the competition. He has already taken charge of the first match of the German side, when they defeated Portugal in Lviv. His second match was the Group A clash between Czech Republic and Greece in Wroclaw. Both matches were refereed in a very solide manner. His tournament experience is - despite of his advanced age - not that big. After a brief participation at 2008 Olympic Games China and after having accompanied the last EURO in Austria and Switzerland as one of the eight fourth officials, he experienced a quite poor 2010 FIFA World Cup. This appointment means the biggest success in UEFA competitions so far.


Overview:

SF1 - 27 June 2012, 20:45 CET -  Donbass Arena, Donetsk, UKR
Portugal - Spain
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Assistant Referees: Bahattin Duran (TUR), Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Additional Assistant Referees: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR), Bülent Yıldırım (TUR)
Fourth Official: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Matej Žunič (SVN)
UEFA Delegate: Janis Mežeckis (LVA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)

SF2 - 28 June 2012, 20:45 CET - National Stadium, Warsaw, POL
Germany - Italy
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA)
Assistant Referees: Frédéric Cano (FRA), Michaël Annonier (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referees: Fredy Fautrel (FRA), Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Fourth Official: Howard Webb (ENG)
Reserve Assistant Referees: Mike Mullarkey (ENG)
UEFA Delegate: Geir Thorsteinsson (ISL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO)

2012 UEFA U19 EURO Estonia - Match Officials

Group A: Estonia, Greece, Portugal, Spain
Group B: Croatia, England, France, Serbia
Tournament to be held from 3 - 15 July.


Referees:
Alain Bieri, SUI, 13/03/1979
Vadims Direktorenko, LVA, 31/01/1981
Kenn Hansen, DEN, 29/05/1980
Arnold Hunter, NIR, 15/03/1979
Danny Makkelie, NED, 28/01/1983
Paolo Valeri, ITA, 16/05/1978 (photo)

Assistant Referees:
Anatolie Bodean, MDA, 02/03/1974
Yves de Neve, BEL, 11/06/1975
Johann Gudmundsson, ISL, 08/09/1978
Ivo Kolev, BUL, 25/06/1979
Aleksei Lebedev, RUS, 17/07/1980
Tomasz Listkiewicz, POL, 06/10/1978
Marco Tropeano, LUX, 30/12/1974
Dmitry Zhuk, BLR, 22/04/1986

Fourth Officials:
Kristo Tohver, EST, 1981
Eiko Saar, EST, 1978

UEFA Referee Observers:
Juan Antonio Fernandez Marin, ESP
Jozef Marko, SVK
Are Habicht, EST
Uno Tutk, EST

Information without engagement.

Osses and Roldán in charge of Libertadores finals

The South American confederation's (CONMEBOL) referee committee has announced this year's match officials who will take control over the finals between Boca Juniors and Corinthians SP in Copa Santander Libertadores, the South American Champions League. 

Enrique Osses (c) Árbitro Internacional

Enrique Osses of Chile will take charge of the first leg of the Argentine-Brazilian final that will be played at La Bombonera, Buenos Aires. The 38 year-old referee, who is also on FIFA's prospective list of referees for 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, will be supported by his regular assistant referees Francisco Mondria (39) and Carlos Alexis Astroza (35), while Patricio Polic (40) will function as fourth official at the benches. Probably joining the top3 of South American referees at the moment, Osses has already overseen eight Copa Libertadores clashes in this season, including one involvement each of both teams: Corinthians SP defeated the Paraguayans of Club Nacional in March (2-0) and Boca Juniors managed to achieve a very late and important draw at Fluminense Rio de Janeiro in the quarterfinal's second leg (1-1). In addition, he "only" exhibits a card average of 4,3 yellow cards and 0,25 sending-offs per match, which is quite low in the competition.

It will be the Chilene's 31st match as a referee in the most important South American club competition, played at 27 June.

Roldán and Clavijo (c) futbolred

Only one week later, the return match will be held at Sao Paulo's Pacaembú Stadium. Colombian official Wilmar Roldán has been appointed to blow the real final whistle in this match. It will be his first international final in a club competition after last year's semifinal. Assisted by Abraham González (41) and Humberto Clavijo (38) as assistant referees and José Buitrago (41) as the fourth official, 32 year-old Roldán is considered as the best Colombian referee ever along with Oscar Ruíz. His total number of Copa Libertadores appointments in this season is 10, so that he equals the respective record established by three officials in 2006. It will be his 25th inset in a Copa Libertadores match after only four years of international refereeing. His appointment follows kind of rule of thumb, as it has frequently been the case that a referee, who had been in charge of a semifinal's first leg, will referee the final's second leg. And this rule has again proven to be right. Roldán refereed the semifinal tie between Boca Juniors and Universidad de Chile in Buenos Aires (2-0). Moreover, he also refereed the Argentine side in the round of 16, when they had beaten the Chilenes of Unión Española by 3-2. His only involvement in a match of Corinthians SP was in this season as well, when they achieved a draw in a match against Deportivo Táchira of Venezuela. Roldán issued averagely five yellows in his matches along with a total amount of four sending-offs in nine matches. He will be also active at 2012 FIFA Olympic Games London, which implies his appearance on 2014 World Cup's short list, too.

Both appointments underline the widely open future of these referees and the leading role they possess at the moment in South America.

Overview:

First leg:

27 June 2012, La Bombonera, Buenos Aires

Boca Juniors - Corinthians SP

Referee: Enrique Osses (CHI)

Assistant Referees: Francisco Mondria (CHI), Carlos Alexis Astroza (CHI)

Fourth Official: Patricio Polic (CHI)

Second leg:

04 July 2012, Pacaembú, Sao Paulo

Corinthians SP - Boca Juniors

Referee: Wilmar Roldán (COL)

Assistant Referees: Abraham González (COL), Humberto Clavijo (COL)

Fourth Official: José Buitrago (COL)

Altemir Hausmann's "spray-technique"

Despite of the fact that a great Brazilian assistant referee, Altemir Hausmann, had his last Copa Libertadores game yesterday, his usage of the spray bottle inset in the South American club competition did not merely arouse unnecessary attention, but made my day as well. At least a honourable trial to accelerate the match in the last minutes of play. Glorious ;)

Four referees have left UEFA EURO 2012

UEFA has today announced the four officials who have been sent home apart from the fourth officials and reserve assistant referees. After a long list of match influencing mistakes, Viktor Kassai (Hungary), Björn Kuipers (Netherlands), Wolfgang Stark (Germany) and Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain) have been sent home.

Björn Kuipers (NED) (C) ZIMBIO

On a press conference in Warsaw, UEFA refereeing chief officer Pierluigi Collina has furthermore announced the quarterfinals' appointments.

#25, QF1, 21 June 2012, 20:45 CET, Warsaw
Czech Republic - Portugal
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Mike Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Fourth Official: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
UEFA Delegate: Geir Thorsteinsson (ISL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)

#26, QF2, 22 June 2012, 20:45 CET, Gdansk
Germany - Greece
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Primož Arhar (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Matej Jug (SVN)
Fourth Official: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Frédéric Cano (FRA)
UEFA Delegate: Christian Schmöelzer (AUT)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jaap Uilenberg (NED)

#27, QF3, 23 June 2012, 20:45 CET, Donezk
Spain - France
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Renato Faverani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Fourth Official: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Alasdair Ross (SCO)
UEFA Delegate: Armen Minasyan (ARM)
UEFA Referee Observer: Kyros Vassaras (GRE)

#28, QF4, 24 June 2012, 20:45, Kyiv
England - Italy
Referee: Pedro Proença (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 1: Manuel de Sousa (POR)
Additional Assistant Referee 2: Duarte Gomes (POR)
Fourth Official: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
UEFA Delegate: Janis Mežeckis (LVA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)