UEFA Youth League – Quarter-finals

10 March 2015
Chelsea – Atletico Madrid
Referee: Andreas Ekberg (SWE, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Per Brogevik (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Magnusson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Kevin Johnson (ENG)
Referee Observer: Stephen Lodge (ENG)

17 March 2015
Benfica – Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee: Bastian Dankert (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Seidel (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Dominik Schaal (GER)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Baixinho (POR)
Referee Observer: Carlos Matos (POR)

AS Roma – Manchester City
Referee: Paweł Raczkowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Michal Obukowicz (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Kamil Wójcik (POL)
Fourth Official: Fabio Maresca (ITA)
Referee Observer: Cosimo Bolognino (ITA)

18 March 2015
Anderlecht – Porto
Referee: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Laurent Stien (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mathieu Grosbost (FRA)
Fourth Official: Lawrence Visser (BEL)
Referee Observer: Marcel Vanelshocht (BEL)

Referee exchange between Australia and Japan

Following on from last year's inaugural referee exchange program between the FFA and JFA, two of Japan's top referees, Yudai Yamamoto (photo) and Kazuyoshi Enomoto, will referee two A-League matches each. Yamamoto, a professional FIFA Referee who was recently in Australia as a match official for the AFC Asian Cup 2015, will referee the A-League Round 20 match between Brisbane Roar and Western Sydney Wanderers on Sunday 8 March and the Round 21 match between Adelaide United and Central Coast Mariners on Thursday 12 March. Enomoto, a Class 1 referee in the J.League, will referee the A-League Round 23 match between Newcastle Jets and Adelaide United on 29 March and the Round 24 match between Brisbane Roar and Central Coast Mariners on Thursday 2 April. As part of the reciprocal agreement, two Australian referees, Jarred Gillett and Chris Beath, will referee two J.League matches each between 27 April and 3 May.
In addition to the exchange program in the respective domestic competitions, a team of Australian match officials made up of Ben Williams, Matthew Cream, Peter Cetrangolo and Strebre Delovski will officiate at the Kirin Cup in Japan in March, taking charge of Japan - Tunisia (27 March) and Japan - Uzbekistan (31 March).
FFA Director of Referees Ben Wilson believes these exchanges provide significant development opportunities for Australian and Japanese referees and enhance the strong relationship between the JFA and FFA. "The exchange program is designed to help referees from both countries gain valuable international experience as well as expose players in the Hyundai A-League and J.League to different styles of officiating," said Wilson. "As part of our referee's strategic plan, one of the important aspects is to offer our referees meaningful international experience which will enable them to become better referees. This will be the first time that Australian referees have been invited to officiate in the J.League which will provide us with an excellent opportunity to showcase our referees in another top quality domestic league".

Source: FFA

CONCACAF Champions League – Quarter-finals (Second Leg)

3 March 2015
Montreal Impact – CF Pachuca
Referee: Henry Bejarano (CRC, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavio Jara (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Leonel Leal (CRC)
Fourth Official: Jeffrey Solis (CRC)

4 March 2015
DC United – LD Alajuelense
Referee: Walter Lopez (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Gerson Lopez (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Lemus (GUA)
Fourth Official: Oscar Reyna (GUA)

Club America – Deportivo Saprissa
Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Zumba (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: William Torres (SLV)
Fourth Official: Elmer Bonilla (SLV)

5 March 2015
CS Herediano – CD Olimpia
Referee: Paul Delgadillo (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Marvin Torrentera (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Alberto Morin (MEX)
Fourth Official: Jose Penaloza (MEX)

CONCACAF U-17 Championship 2015

Honduras, 27 February - 15 March 2015

Referees 
1. Adrian Skeete (BRB, 1978)
2. Christopher Reid (BLZ, 1986)
3. Mathieu Bourdeau (CAN, 1980)
4. Drew Fischer (CAN, 1980)
5. Ricardo Montero (CRC, 1986)
6. Mario Escobar (GUA, 1986)
7. Oscar Moncada (HON, 1977)
8. Karl Tyrell (JAM, 1981)
9. Cesar Ramos (MEX, 1983, photo)
10. William Anderson (PUR, 1979)
11. Kimbell Ward (SKN, 1983)
12. Edvin Jurisevic (USA, 1975)

Assistant Referees
1. Ricardo Ake (BLZ, 1978)
2. Kenroy Willis (CAY, 1979)
3. Juan Mora (CRC, 1989)
4. Leonardo Sanchez (CUB, 1988)
5. Marco Diaz (GUA, 1984)
6. Omar Leiva (HON, 1979)
7. Richard Washington (JAM, 1980)
8. Miguel Hernandez (MEX, 1977)
9. Gabriel Victoria (PAN, 1973)
10. Zachari Zeegelaar (SUR, 1989)
11. Ainsley Rochard (TRI, 1981)
12. Adam Garner (USA, 1977)

Copa Libertadores – Group Stage (Matchday 3)

3 March 2015
Barcelona SC – Libertad
Referee: Daniel Fedorczuk (URU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Popovits (URU)
Fourth Official: Juan Albarracín (ECU)
Referee Observer: Juan Corozo (ECU)

Mineros de Guyana – Universitario de Sucre
Referee: Fernando Guerrero (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcos Quintero (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Rangel (MEX)
Fourth Official: Adrián Cabello (VEN)
Referee Observer: Nelson Rodriguez (VEN)

Cruzeiro – Huracán
Referee: Enrique Cáceres (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Cáceres (PAR)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Marques (BRA)
Referee Observer: Antonio Pereira (BRA)

4 March 2015
Colo Colo – Atlas
Referee: Raúl Orosco (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Humberto Paz (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Edwin Paredes (BOL)
Fourth Official: Jorge Osorio (CHI)
Referee Observer: Iván Guerrero (CHI)

Internacional – Emelec
Referee: Néstor Pitana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Lucas Germanotta (ARG)
Fourth Official: Leandro Vuaden (BRA)
Referee Observer: José Mocellin (BRA)

San Lorenzo – Corinthians
Referee: Carlos Vera (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Byron Romero (ECU)
Fourth Official: Mauro Vigliano (ARG)
Referee Observer: Juan Crespi (ARG)

5 March 2015
River Plate – Tigres
Referee: Sandro Ricci (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Fabio Pereira (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Fourth Official: Darío Herrera (ARG)
Referee Observer: Carlos Coradina (ARG)

Universidad de (CHI) – The Strongest
Referee: Wilson Lamouroux (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Humberto Clavijo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilmar Navarro (COL)
Fourth Official: Claudio Puga (CHI)
Referee Observer: Guido Aros (CHI)

Atlético Nacional – Estudiantes La Plata
Referee: Julio Bascuñán (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Mondria (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Barraza (CHI)
Fourth Official: Adrián Vélez (COL)
Referee Observer: Otalvaro Polanco (COL)

Juan Aurich – San José de Oruro
Referee: Eduardo Gamboa (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Claudio Rios (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: José Retamal (CHI)
Fourth Official: Henry Gambetta (PER)
Referee Observer: Manuel Yupanqui (PER)

IFAB delays video technology trials

The 129th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the International Football Association Board (The IFAB) was held on 28 February 2015, at the Culloden Hotel in Craigavad, near Northern Ireland’s capital Belfast.

Following further analysis of the so-called “triple punishment” (Law 12) of sending off, penalty and suspension for the denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity within the penalty area, The IFAB agreed that the punishment is too harsh and that a solution must be found. The proposal put forward by UEFA, including a provision that detailed specific instances where a referee should issue a caution instead of a red card, was rejected. After much debate, The IFAB agreed in principle that one element of the triple punishment may be removed and that this element should be the automatic one-match suspension that is currently defined in the FIFA Disciplinary Code. The IFAB has tasked FIFA and its Disciplinary and Legal Committees to investigate the feasibility of administering on a global level the removal of the automatic one-match suspension for offences relating to the denial of an obvious goal-scoring possibility that are not considered serious infringements. Subject to the outcome of that analysis, FIFA will submit a proposal for potential changes to the FIFA Disciplinary Code to the FIFA Executive Committee in March for decision.
In relation to Law 3 – The Number of Players, The IFAB made a ground-breaking decision to allow for return substitutions in the lowest levels of football. It follows the success of two separate pilot programs run by The Football Association and The Scottish Football Association, the results of which demonstrated substantial increases in participation levels across the game. The new provision outlines that the use of return substitutes will be subject to agreement of the member association concerned. Also in relation to Law 3, The IFAB remains of the view that a total of three substitutions is the appropriate number for a football match. It was agreed that the proposal for a fourth substitution in extra time, which was on the agenda today, should be assessed by the advisory panels before any further discussion by The IFAB.
On the matter of electronic performance and tracking systems, The IFAB approved in principle the use of such devices, on the condition that the data is not made available to anyone inside the technical area during a match. The next step will be the introduction of a quality programme in order to categorize such devices, to regulate their use, and to ensure the validity and reliability of the collected data, before any changes to the Laws of the Game can be considered by The IFAB.
With regard to the potential use of video to support match officials, an extensive discussion took place during the AGM including feedback from the two advisory panels. The IFAB decided that this topic should continue to be discussed by the panels in more detail.
Other topics to be referred to the panels include handling the ball, the potential use of “sin bins” and the interpretation of the offside law. A proposal from US Soccer regarding stopping the clock was not approved.
The modifications to the Laws of the Game made at today’s AGM will come into effect on 1 June 2015. The 130th Annual General Meeting is set to take place in Cardiff, Wales, on 4-6 March 2016.

Source: FIFA/IFAB

UEL match Feyenoord - Roma halted twice by referee Turpin

Football was hit by a fresh racism storm after the referee was forced twice to stop Feyenoord's highly-charged Europa League tie against Roma following apparent incidents of racism. Referee Clement Turpin briefly held up the match towards the end of the first half after an inflatable banana landed on the pitch near Roma's Ivory Coast forward Gervinho on Thursday.

The 32-year-old French official spoke to both managers and a UEFA official before resuming the match. But Turpin was forced to take both teams off the pitch amid concerns for the safety of the players in the 55th minute, following the controversial dismissal of Feyenoord's Mitchell Te Vrede for a challenge on Kostas Manolas, which angered many Dutch supporters, who threw missiles on the field.

The teams returned about 10 minutes later, the match continued in a tense atmosphere and almost immediately substitute Elvis Manu equalised for the Dutch side but Gervinho put Roma 2-1 in front three minutes later which was the final score, giving them a 3-2 win on aggregate. A few seconds earlier, the Feyenoord’s substitute goalkeeper Erwin Mulder had been sent off by the referee, from the bench, for unknown reasons.

“It was right to suspend play as we could have opened a shop with all the objects that were thrown from the stands”, Roma coach Rudi Garcia told Italy's Mediaset channel. “It doesn't help the club, and I'll never cheer that”, Feyenoord coach Fred Rutten said. “Those sorts of things only hurt Feyenoord. It's a shame it happened”.

Source: Daily Mail