Uliana turns heads in Copa do Brazil

It's rare for a referee to become an internet sensation for anything other than a game-changing gaffe or amusingly falling over, but that can't be said of Fernanda Colombo Uliana. The 25-year-old assistant referee has been officiating high level football in Brazil for some time but turned heads while making a step up to the Copa do Brasil as Sao Paulo beat CRB 3-0. And this Sunday she'll be on the line for her first match in the Brazilian top-flight when Atletico Mineiro take on Cruzeiro. Uliana is among a host of women to have have recently made their way into male-dominated areas of football and is putting in the hard yards to be recognised for more than her appearance.

While supporting the progression of women into top refereeing roles, Brazil football hasn't exactly covered itself in anti-sexism glory of late. Lower league side Juventus de Santa Catarina's coach Celso Teixeira got in strife recently for calling assistant referee Maira Americano Labes ‘gostoso’ - which means 'tasty' in Portugese - after being sent off during a Catarinense championship game. Labes said she took no offence as she was concentrating on the game. Teixeira says the comment was made by someone from the crowd. On Instagram, Labes said: "Beauty should pass unnoticed. I’d like for the day to come for women to be recognized for their work just like men".

Italian official and part-time model Elena Tambini, also 25, is also on the rise in her home nation with Serie B, Serie A and international football predicted in her future.

Source: Daily Mail

UEFA Champions League Final 2014: Kuipers (NED)

Bjorn Kuipers will take charge of the 2013/14 UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid CF and Club Atlético de Madrid at the Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica in Lisbon on Saturday 24 May. The 41-year-old Dutchman, who was awarded his FIFA badge in 2006, has overseen 68 matches in UEFA competition, including four in this season's UEFA Champions League and three in the UEFA Europa League. He also oversaw the 2011 UEFA Super Cup, and Chelsea FC's win against SL Benfica in last term's UEFA Europa League final at the Amsterdam ArenA. Kuipers becomes the fourth Dutch official to take the whistle for a European Cup final after Leo Horn (1957, 1962), Charles Corver (1978) and Dick Jol (2001).

In Lisbon, Bjorn Kuipers (photo) will be assisted by fellow countrymen Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra. The fourth official will be Turkey's Cüneyt Çakır, and the two additional assistant referees, Pol van Boekel and Richard Liesveld, are also from the Netherlands. A Dutch reserve assistant referee – Angelo Boonman – completes the lineup of the refereeing team. (Source: UEFA)

24 May 2014

Real Madrid – Atletico Madrid

Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Additional AR 1: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Additional AR 2: Richard Liesveld (NED)
Fourth Official: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR)
Reserve AR: Angelo Boonman (NED)
Referee Observer: Herbert Fandel (GER)

UEFA Europa League Final 2014: Brych (GER)

The UEFA Referees Committee today announced the referee for the 2014 UEFA Europa League final between Sevilla FC and SL Benfica at Turin's Juventus Stadium next Wednesday at 20.45CET. The match will be handled by 38-year-old German referee Felix Brych, a FIFA badge holder since 2007 with 50 matches in UEFA competition to his name. He was a fourth official for last season's UEFA Europa League showpiece in Amsterdam and has officiated at six UEFA Champions League games this term, including the quarter-final first leg between FC Barcelona and Club Atlético de Madrid. A financial lawyer in his home city of Munich, Brych began refereeing in Germany's amateur leagues in 1999, stepping up to the 2. Bundesliga two years later and reaching the top flight in 2004. He was given his first assignments in UEFA club competition in 2007/08, and his group stage debut as a UEFA Champions League referee the following season. He oversaw two matches at the 2012 Olympic Games in London having taken charge of the Cypriot Cup final that May.

Referee Felix Brych (photo) will be assisted by his fellow countrymen Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp. The fourth official is Milorad Mažić from Serbia and the two additional assistant referees, Tobias Welz and Bastian Dankert, are both from Germany. A German reserve assistant referee – Thorsten Schiffner – completes the refereeing team lineup. (Source: UEFA)

14 May 2014

Sevilla – Benfica
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Additional AR 1: Tobias Welz (GER)
Additional AR 2: Bastian Dankert (GER)
Fourth Official: Milorad Mazic (SRB)
Reserve AR: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO)

Copa Libertadores – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

7 April 2014
Nacional – Arsenal
Referee: Wilmar Roldán (COL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Humberto Clavijo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Fourth Official: Ímer Machado (COL)
Referee Observer: Manuel Bernal (PAR)

San Lorenzo – Cruzeiro
Referee: Antonio Arias (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Cáceres (PAR)
Fourth Official: Julio Quintana (PAR)
Referee Observer: Juan Crespi (ARG)

8 May 2014
Lanús – Bolívar
Referee: Víctor Carrillo (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Johnny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Cesar Escano (PER)
Fourth Official: Miguel Santivañez (PER)
Referee Observer: Luis Pasturenzi (ARG)

Atlético – Defensor
Referee: Néstor Pitana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Hernan Maidana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Fourth Official: Germán Delfino (ARG)
Referee Observer: Otalvaro Polanco (COL)

UEFA U-17 Euro 2014

Malta, 9-21 May 2014

Referees
1. Aliyar Aghayev (AZE, 1987, photo)
2. Aleksandrs Anufrijevs (LVA, 1984)
3. Nikola Dabanović (MNE, 1981)
4. Andreas Ekberg (SWE, 1985)
5. Alexander Harkam (AUT, 1981)
6. Jonathan Lardot (BEL, 1984)

Assistant Referees
1. István Albert (HUN, 1980)
2. David Biton (ISR, 1978)
3. David Chigogidze (GEO, 1989)
4. Mesrop Ghazaryan (ARM, 1982)
5. Audrius Jagintavicius (LTU, 1984)
6. Oleksandr Korniyko (UKR, 1981)
7. Dag-Roger Nebben (NOR, 1980)
8. Jure Praprotnik (SVN, 1985)

Fourth Officials
1. Clayton Pisani (MLT, 1978)
2. Alan Sant (MLT, 1980)

Referee Observers
1. Marc Batta (FRA)
2. Hugh Dallas (SCO)
3. Kyros Vassaras (GRE)
4. Leif Lindberg (SWE)
5. Adrian Casha (MLT)

OFC Champions League – Semi-finals (Second Leg)

3 May 2014

AS Pirae – Auckland City
Referee: Isidore Assiene-Ambassa (NCL, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Didier Hmuzo (NCL)
Assistant Referee 2: Bertrand Brial (NCL)
Fourth Official: Averii Jacques (TAH)

Amicale FC – Ba FC
Referee: George Time (SOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Senca (SOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Noel Berry (SOL)
Fourth Official: Robinson Banca (VAN)

Shake-up in Russian refereeing

The Russian FA has suspended four top referees from officiating games in the Russian Premier League after the poor standard of their work raised concerns, the head of the FA’s refereeing department has told R-Sport. The most prominent of them, who will not be allowed to take part in any top-flight games for the remainder of the season, is Maxim Layushkin (photo), who has overseen Europa League games in each of the last five seasons and is one of just nine Russians who are qualified to work in international matches. “If someone can work, then he will work. These people’s work was not satisfactory,” Russian FA refereeing department head Valentin Ivanov said. Layushkin has overseen six Russian Premier League games this season, while two other suspended referees, Sergei Kuznetsov and Vladimir Kuzmenko, have been in charge of 11 and six top-flight games respectively. The other referee to be dropped, Sergei Kulikov, has only refereed lower-level matches.

The suspensions are the first major shake-up in Russian refereeing since Ivanov replaced renowned Italian referee Roberto Rosetti in charge of the country’s officials in December. Ivanov is a former referee who set a World Cup record in 2006 by doling out 16 yellow cards and four reds in a last-16 game between the Netherlands and Portugal. Since that infamous night in Nuremberg, where Ivanov's performance was criticized by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who later apologized after acknowledging Ivanov was simply enforcing FIFA's own toughened rules, no Russian official has been entrusted with a Euro or World Cup match. During his time in Russia, Rosetti failed to drastically boost the level of Russian officials, criticizing a shallow talent pool of referees that gave football bosses no choice but to promote officials who were not fit to oversee top-flight games. He also introduced a system of punishments for poor-performing referees in the Russian Premier League, who were forced to take charge of lower-division games.

Source: R-Sport