World’s Best Futsal Referee 2012: Gutierrez (ESP)

Spanish referee Fernando Gutierrez Lumbreras has been named by AGLA/Futsal Planet the world’s best futsal referee of 2012 with 206 points, ahead of the Brazilian Renata Leite (120) and English Marc Birkett (88) and is the second Spanish referee getting this award, after Pedro Galan in 2004. Gutierrez Lumbreras, 42, started his refereeing career in 1986, at the young age of 16. In the season 1995/1996 he had his debut in the top flight of the National Futsal in Spain. Ten years later, in January 2006, he received his FIFA badge. He has achieved almost everything possible: in Spain has refereed the finals of major competitions: League, Cup of Spain, Copa SM El Rey and Supercopa, while internationally has participated in the UEFA Futsal Cup, Euro 2012 in Croatia and the 2012 FIFA World Cup in Thailand. In Spain, he has been chosen five times as the best referee of the National Futsal League.

Since 1996, when FIFA introduced the list of FIFA Futsal Referees, Spain is the only country in Europe that has had at least one representative at all World Cup editions. Before Fernando Gutierrez in Thailand 2012, Pedro Galan (the current chairman of the Futsal Referees Committee) refereed at three FIFA World Cups, in Spain 1996, Guatemala 2000 and Taipei 2004, while Roberto Gracia did the same in Brazil 2008. (Source: Valladolid Deporte)

AGLA World’s Best Futsal Referees

1. Fernando Gutierrez (ESP, photo) 206

2. Renata Leite (BRA) 120
3. Marc Birkett (ENG) 88
4. Gabor Kovacs (HUN) 83
5. Danijel Janosevic (CRO) 81
6. Eduardo Fernandes (POR) 73
7. Ivan Shabanov (RUS) 73
8. Hector Rojas (PER) 72
9. Nurdin Bukuev (KGZ) 33
10. Scott Kidson (AUS) 17

AFC Asian Cup 2015 Qualifiers

6 February 2013

Iran – Lebanon

Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (JPN, photo)

Assistant Referee 1: Toru Sagara (JPN)

Assistant Referee 2: Ming Chung (HKG)

Fourth Official: Pratap Patwal (IND)

Saudi Arabia – China

Referee: Ravshan Irmatov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Abduxamidullo Rasulov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Bakhadyr Kochkarov (KGZ)
Fourth Official: Dmitriy Mashentsev (KGZ)

Qatar – Malaysia
Referee: Alireza Faghani (IRN)
Assistant Referee 1: Hassan Kamranifar (IRN)
Assistant Referee 2: Reza Sokhandan (IRN)
Fourth Official: Ashkan Khorshidi (IRN)

Oman – Syria
Referee: Tan Hai (CHN)
Assistant Referee 1: Huo Weiming (CHN)
Assistant Referee 2: Han Wei (CHN)
Fourth Official: Ma Ning (CHN)

Thailand – Kuwait
Referee: Ryuji Sato (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: Toshiyuki Nagi (JPN)
Assistant Referee 2: Satoshi Karakami (JPN)
Fourth Official: Tayeb Shamsuzzaman (BAN)

Jordan – Singapore
Referee: Valentin Kovalenko (UZB)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Ilyasov (UZB)
Assistant Referee 2: Mamur Saidkassimov (UZB)
Fourth Official: Vladislav Tseytlin (UZB)

Iraq – Indonesia
Referee: Minoru Tojo (JPN)
Assistant Referee 1: Akane Yagi (JPN)
Assistant Referee 2: Shinji Ochi (JPN)
Fourth Official: Jumpei Iida (JPN)

Yemen – Bahrain
Referee: Khalil Al-Ghamdi (KSA)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdullah Al-Shalwai (KSA)
Assistant Referee 2: Hamad Al-Mayahi (OMA)
Fourth Official: Fahd Al-Mirdasi (KSA)

Uzbekistan – Hong Kong
Referee: Ali Abdulnabi (BHR)
Assistant Referee 1: Abdulla Tulefat (BHR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ebrahim Saleh (BHR)
Fourth Official: Jameel Abdulhusin (BHR)

Vietnam – UAE
Referee: Strebre Delovski (AUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Cream (AUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Paul Adam (AUS)
Fourth Official: Christopher Beath (AUS)

International Friendly Matches

6 February 2013

England – Brazil

Referee: Pedro Proenca (POR, photo)

Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)

Assistant Referee 2: Tiago Trigo (POR)

Sweden – Argentina

Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA)

Assistant Referee 1: Frederic Cano (FRA)

Assistant Referee 2: Michael Annonier (FRA)

Spain – Uruguay

Referee: Fahad Al-Marri (QAT)

Assistant Referee 1: Salem Al-Naimi (QAT)

Assistant Referee 2: Taleb Al-Marri (QAT)

Netherlands – Italy
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahittin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)

Germany – France
Referee: Silvio Mazzoleni (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)

Greece – Switzerland
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Perez Del Palomar (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Raul Cabanero Martinez (ESP)

Turkey – Czech Republic
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)

Slovenia – Bosnia
Referee: Pavel Kralovec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Antonin Kordula (CZE)

Romania – Australia
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)
Assistant 1: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP)
Assistant 2: Juan Yuste Jimenez (ESP)

Portugal – Ecuador
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Sinisa Premuzaj (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Goran Pataki (CRO)

Croatia – Korea
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Darren Cann (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Long (ENG)

Norway – Ukraine
Referee: Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Aguilar Rodriguez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Teodoro Sobrino Magan (ESP)

Ireland – Poland
Referee: Sebastien Delferiere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Yves De Neve (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Gregory Crotteux (BEL)

Russia – Iceland
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrian Devis (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)

Cyprus – Serbia
Referee: Athanasios Giachos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Christos Akrivos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Ilias Alexeas (GRE)

Scotland – Estonia
Referee: Clement Turpin (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Laurent Stien (FRA)

Malta – Northern Ireland
Referee: Nikolay Yordanov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Diyan Valkov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Margaritov (BUL)

Belarus – Hungary
Referee: Bulent Yildirim (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Mehmet Satman (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Serkan Gencerler (TUR)

Armenia – Luxembourg
Referee: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Debart (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Haquette (FRA)

Belgium – Slovakia
Referee: Alon Yefet (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Nisan Davidy (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Oren Bornshtein (ISR)

Macedonia – Denmark
Referee: Nikola Dabanovic (MNE)
Assistant Referee 1: Veselin Radunovic (MNE)
Assistant Referee 2: Nikola Razic (MNE)

Moldova – Kazakhstan
Referee: Huseyin Gocek (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Orkun Aktas (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Kemal Yilmaz (TUR)

Albania – Georgia
Referee: Dimitar Meckarovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Isa Emurli (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Toni Stojanovski (MKD)

Guinea – Senegal
Referee: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emmanuel Boisdenghien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: David Benech (FRA)

Chile – Egypt
Referee: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Victoriano Diaz Casado (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Fernandez Miranda (ESP)

Guatemala – Colombia
Referee: Paul Ward (CAN)
Assistant 1: Philippe Briere (CAN)
Assistant 2: Peter Manikowski (USA)

Japan – Latvia
Referee: Kim Jong-Hyeok (KOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kang Do-Joon (KOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Seo Moo-Hee (KOR)

CAN Africa Cup of Nations 2013 – Semi-finals

6 February 2013

Nigeria – Mali
Referee: Bakary Gassama (GAM, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Angesom Ogbamariam (ERI)
Assistant Referee 2: Felicien Kabanda (RWA)
Fourth Official: Ghead Grisha (EGY)

Ghana – Burkina Faso
Referee: Slim Jedidi (TUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Bechir Hassani (TUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Anouar Hmila (TUN)
Fourth Official: Bouchaib El Ahrach (MAR)

IFAB: Clarifications of Laws 8 and 11

The 127th Annual General Meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) will take place on Saturday, 2 March 2013, under the chairmanship of The Scottish FA in Edinburgh, Scotland. Amongst the items on the agenda, the IFAB will discuss a clarification to the interpretation of Law 11 – Offside, following proposals developed by FIFA’s Refereeing department and the IFAB technical sub-committee. Other topics for discussion include the usage of electronic performance monitoring systems; the Dropped Ball (Law 8 – Start and Restart of Play) following a submission by the Danish FA; as well as an update report on Goal-Line Technology following the implementation of two systems at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan in December 2012. The IFAB will also discuss its future consultation and decision-making processes, as well as its future structure.

The main proposals and amendments on the agenda:

Law 8 – The Start and Restart of Play

Infringements and sanctions

If the ball enters the goal:

• if a dropped ball is kicked directly (not touched by another player) into the opponents’ goal, a goal kick is awarded

• if a dropped ball is kicked directly (not touched by another player) into the teams’ own goal, a corner kick is awarded to the opposing team"

Law 11 – Offside – Interpretation of the Laws of the Game

In the context of Law 11 – Offside, the following definitions apply:

- "interfering with play" means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate

- "interfering with an opponent" means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball

- "gaining an advantage by being in that position" means playing a ball

(i) that rebounds or is deflected to him off the goalpost, crossbar or an opponent having been in an offside position

(ii) that rebounds, is deflected or is played to him from a deliberate save by an opponent having been in an offside position.

A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent, who deliberately plays the ball (except from a deliberate save), is not considered to have gained an advantage.

Source: FIFA/IFAB

UEFA referees get their due

An unheralded team got the attention it deserved at the UEFA winter courses in Rome, with new officials thrilled to meet up with their senior peers and hone their refereeing skills. The players in UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League games may be the centre of attention, but never forget that there is a third team doing their level best to produce a performance of the highest quality – the referee team, comprising the match referee, two assistant referees, a fourth official, and the additional assistant referees standing on each goal line. This week, Europe's top referees have been offering proof of their abilities and gearing up for coming assignments in major club and national-team competitions at the UEFA winter courses in Rome. It was an impressive workout, not only for the elite referees but also for the newcomers to the FIFA international list. Another milestone arrived with a first-ever invitation to the gathering for Europe's leading women referees, some of whom will be officiating at UEFA Women's EURO 2013 in Sweden in July. All in all, a perfectly good reason to make Europe's refereeing elite UEFA.com's Team of the Week. The referees strive for the highest possible quality in their work and training. They are given expert help by the UEFA Referees Committee, comprising former international referees – many of whom have taken charge of the biggest matches on the planet – and a top-notch fitness training team headed by Belgian expert Werner Helsen.

Practical sessions included a fascinating eye-opener for many match officials as they watched specialist additional assistant referee training, giving some of the referees a first taste of what it means to work with the system, which became part of the Laws of the Game last summer and is now deployed in the major European club competitions. In addition to the on-field training programme, the referees analysed clips of European competition game situations, swapped opinions in group sessions, underwent fitness and medical checks as well as a visual test, and were also able to meet socially and exchange experiences and opinions – all of which can provide invaluable tips for future assignments. For the women referees in particular, the opportunity to come to Rome was a historic moment. UEFA's move was welcomed unanimously by the male and female match officials, and underlined the importance that UEFA places on women's refereeing – emphasising the massive leap forward that women's football as a whole has made in recent years. "I think it's been a fantastic experience, and definitely a positive one in that we can all come together, share experiences and learn from each other," the Republic of Ireland's Paula Brady told UEFA.com. "Women's football is growing very fast in popularity and awareness, and I think it's important that the standard of refereeing grows equally at the same rate. Courses like this provide that platform and help referees take further steps to the higher levels"."The winter course has been a great experience," added Spain's Carlos Del Cerro Grande. "This was my first time as a FIFA referee. It allowed me to spend time with my colleagues and to learn many things about refereeing. It was an amazing experience. Meeting colleagues from other countries is interesting, because you hear other points of view which might be different from your own". Part of the training in Rome demonstrated the work and preparation done by additional assistant referees, who are playing a crucial role in not just helping the referee make decisions on goal-line incidents, but also on penalty-area issues such as pulling or pushing at free-kicks and corners. Referees were asked to stand on the goal line and take the AARs' decisions themselves in specific situations – so experiencing what it means to have to make split-second calls under pressure. "The system can give support to the referee in taking the right decisions," said Del Cerro Grande. "It's a good way to improve refereeing." Brady added: "I'd had experience of being an assistant referee for some time before with FIFA, but this was new – and new is good".

Source: UEFA

CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2013 – Quarter-finals

2 February 2013
South Africa – Mali 
Referee: Neant Alioum (CMR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Evarist Menkouande (CMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Edibe (NGA)
Fourth Official: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM)

Ghana – Cape Verde 
Referee: Rajindraparsad Seechurn (MRI)
Assistant Referee 1: Songuifolo Yeo (CIV)
Assistant Referee 2: Jean-Claude Birmushahu (BDI)
Fourth Official: Ghead Grisha (EGY)

3 February 2013
Cote d'Ivoire – Nigeria 
Referee: Djamel Haimoudi (ALG)
Assistant Referee 1: Redouane Achik (MAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Jerson Dos Santos (ANG)
Fourth Official: Bouchaib El Ahrach (MAR)

Burkina Faso – Togo
Referee: Badara Diatta (SEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Djibril Camara (SEN)
Assistant Referee 2: El Hadji Samba (SEN)
Fourth Official: Bernard Camille (SEY)