UEFA Referees Committee updated

At the last Executive Committee meeting, UEFA updated the composition of its committees for the second part of their mandate (2011-2015). There was one change in the Referees Committee, where Youri Baskakov (RUS) was replaced with his countryman Nikolai Levnikov (photo), who refereed at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France and Euro 1996 in England, as well as the 1997 FIFA Confederations Cup in Saudi Arabia. Apparently, the change was caused by Baskakov’s departure from the RFU. Levnikov is now the chairman of the Russian Referees Committee, while Rosetti is the Head of the Refereeing Department.

   UEFA Referees Committee

Chairman

Angel Maria Villar Llona (ESP)
Vice-chairman

Senes Erzik (TUR)
Chief Refereeing Officer

Pierluigi Collina (ITA)
Refereeing Officers

Marc Batta (FRA), Hugh Dallas (SCO)
Members

Dagmar Damkova (CZE), David Elleray (ENG), Herbert Fandel (GER), Bo Karlsson (SWE), Nikolai Levnikov (RUS), Jozef Marko (SVK), Vladimir Sajn (SVN), Jaap Uilenberg (NED), Kyros Vassaras (GRE), Kurt Zuppinger (SUI).

UEFA Referee Convention Panel

Francesco Bianchi (SUI), Athanasios Briakos (GRE), Katrina Elovirta (FIN), James Finnegan (IRL), Keith Hackett (ENG), Peter Hegyi (HUN), Wilfried Heitmann (GER), Werner Helsen (BEL), Jorn-West Larsen (DEN), Donald McVicar (SCO), Kaj Ostergaard (DEN), Rune Pedersen (NOR), Michel Sablon (BEL), Oguz Sarvan (TUR), Charles Schaack (LUX), Alan Snoddy (NIR).

UEFA Champions League – Round of 16 (First Leg)

12 February 2013
Celtic – Juventus
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Diaz Del Palomar (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Calvo Guadamuro (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Cesar Muniz Fernandez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Raul Cabanero Martinez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)

Valencia – Paris St. Germain
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Andrea De Marco (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Antonio Damato (ITA)
Fourth Official: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Referee Observer: Donald McVicar (SCO)

13 February 2013
Real Madrid – Manchester United
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Additional AR 1: Marco Fritz (GER)
Additional AR 2: Tobias Welz (GER)
Fourth Official: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Referee Observer: Bertrand Layec (FRA)

Shakhtar Donetsk – Borussia Dortmund
Referee: Howard Webb (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Darren Cann (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Fourth Official: Stephen Child (ENG)
Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)

EPL: Three referees over 50

The English Premier League is the only professional league in the world with referees over 50 still active. "This weekend gave officials outside of the top rated list the opportunity to referee televised games and it was two of the oldest who took charge on Saturday, with Phil Dowd at Tottenham and Mark Halsey at Old Trafford on Sunday. Dowd (photo), celebrated his 50th birthday two weeks ago to join 51-year-old Chris Foy and Halsey, 51, in the over-fifties gang who are defying the years to continue refereeing at the very top level. There used to be a sensible retirement age of 48, but European law was cited to end the enforced retirement under the national retirement age. Now, as long as they pass the fitness test and achieve high enough marks from the assessors each game, they can continue", said former World Cup referee Graham Poll. According to the FIFA rules and regulations, the mandatory retirement age for international referees is 45.

Source: Daily Mail

Copa Libertadores – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

12 February 2013
Emelec – Velez Sarsfield
Referee: Wilmar Roldan (COL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Huberto Clavijo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Fourth Official: Carlos Vera (ECU)
Referee Observer: Rogger Zambrano (ECU)

Nacional – Barcelona
Referee: Enrique Osses (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Mondria (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Astroza (CHI)
Fourth Official: Daniel Fedorczuk (URU)
Referee Observer: Jorge Larrionda (URU)

Universidad de Chile – Deportivo Lara
Referee: Omar Ponce (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Alvarado (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Herrera (ECU)
Fourth Official: Jorge Osorio (CHI)
Referee Observer: Pablo Pozo (CHI)

13 February 2013
Deportes Iquique – Penarol
Referee: Enrique Caceres (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dario Gaona (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zorrilla (PAR)
Fourth Official: Carlos Ulloa (CHI)
Referee Observer: Gaston Castro (CHI)

Caracas – Fluminense
Referee: Jose Buitrago (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilson Berrio (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Rafael Rivas (COL)
Fourth Official: Mayker Gomez (VEN)
Referee Observer: Bernado Corujo (VEN)

Boca Juniors – Toluca
Referee: Victor Carrillo (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Cesar Escano (PER)
Fourth Official: German Delfino (ARG)
Referee Observer: Abel Gnecco (ARG)

Real Garcilaso – Santa Fe
Referee: Julio Bascunan (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Sergio Roman (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Maturana (CHI)
Fourth Official: Miguel Santivanez (PER)
Referee Observer: Gilberto Hidalgo (PER)

Atletico Mineiro – Sao Paulo
Referee: Marcelo Henrique (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Altemir Hausmann (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabricio Vilarinho (BRA)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Marques (BRA)

14 February 2013
Gremio – Huachipato
Referee: Diego Abal (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Hernan Maidana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Fourth Official: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
Referee Observer: Salvio Fagundes (BRA)

Newell Old Boys – Olimpia
Referee: Leandro Vuaden (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcio Santiago (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Van Gasse (BRA)
Fourth Official: Silvio Trucco (ARG)
Referee Observer: Juan Loustau (ARG)

The Strongest – Arsenal
Referee: Antonio Arias (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Hugo Martinez (PAR)
Fourth Official: Johnny Cuellar (BOL)
Referee Observer: Marcelo Ortube (BOL)

Palmeiras – Sporting Cristal
Referee: Martin Vazquez (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Taran (URU)
Fourth Official: Paulo Oliveira (BRA)
Referee Observer: Ednilson Corona (BRA)

Deportes Tolima – Cerro Porteno
Referee: Nestor Pitana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Bonfa (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Gustavo Rossi (ARG)
Fourth Official: Imer Machado (COL)
Referee Observer: Oscar Ruiz (COL)

Buckley has retired

Peruvian referee Georges Buckley De Meritens, 39, informed CONMEBOL about his resignation from refereeing, so he will be no longer appointed by the Referees Committee for international matches. 

Buckley has been a FIFA Referee since 2006 and refereed matches in Copa Libertadores, South American U-20 and U-17 Championships, as well as World Cup qualifiers. A few years ago, he was not allowed to enter Chile to referee a Copa Libertadores match because of his problems from the past. It is alleged that he was deported from Chile when he was a student with an interdiction to enter that country for several years. In 2010, Buckley was selected by FIFA for the Club World Cup, but, at the last minute, he was replaced by Victor Carrillo. According to Generaccion.com, Buckley was not able to attend the fitness tests, claiming that he had been kidnapped and all his belongings were stolen. He was asked to prove the incident by providing police reports. After that episode, he was never selected again for any FIFA tournament.

Source: Arbitro Internacional

CAF Africa Cup of Nations Final 2013: Haimoudi (ALG)

Final
10 February 2013
Nigeria – Burkina Faso
Referee: Djamel Haimoudi (ALG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Redouane Achik (MAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Jean-Claude Birumushahu (BDI)
Fourth Official: Rajindraparsad Seechurn (MRI)

Match for Third Place
9 February 2013
Ghana – Mali
Referee: Eric Otogo-Castane (GAB)
Assistant Referee 1: Evarist Menkouande (CMR)
Assistant Referee 2: Marwa Range (KEN)
Fourth Official: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM)

CAF not happy with Jedidi

Tunisian referee Slim Jedidi will be suspended by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) after his controversial performance in Wednesday’s African Nations Cup semi-final between Burkina Faso and Ghana.

"CAF was not happy with the standard of refereeing in the match", general secretary Hicham El Amrani told a media briefing on Thursday. "We know they can make mistakes but we expected a better level of refereeing. They are graded on each performance and based on his marks the referee from Tunisia is now suspended for a period of time still to be determined". Among the contentious issues during Wednesday’s match in Nelspruit was the red card given to Burkina Faso forward Jonathan Pitroipa that could mean he will miss Sunday’s final against Nigeria. Pitroipa received his second booking of the game, for simulation, in extra time after going down in the penalty area. The organising committee will decide on Friday whether the player can take part in the final. Burkina Faso launched an appeal, but El Amrani said the only way Pitroipa could avoid an automatic one-match ban will be if Jedidi acknowledges he made a mistake in his referee’s report. "The organising committee does not have the power to change a referee’s decision", El Amrani explained. "If the referee has admitted a mistake in his report the committee will consider it and make any decision if necessary. But that report … is final". Jedidi also awarded a soft penalty kick to Ghana in a display which threatened to overshadow an exciting encounter that Burkina Faso eventually won 3-2 on kicks from the penalty mark.

Source: All Sports