Webb promoted to Performance Director in England

Howard Webb has been handed the task of selecting officials for Premier League matches. The 43-year-old, who refereed the 2010 World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands, has been promoted to performance director for the Select Group of Referees.

Since retiring last season, Webb has been working as technical director for Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and will now take responsibility for managing the select group of 17 full-time professional officials. He takes over from 69-year-old Keren Barratt, who had been due to retire but is moving into a different role. PGMOL will also appoint an additional referee coach to work directly with Webb. Webb will continue to report to PGMOL general manager Mike Riley who said: "Howard's role as technical director this season has enabled him to obtain an excellent understanding of the organization, our officials and the strong work of our support team. What has also become clear is that Howard has a natural flair for coaching and his extensive experience of the Premier League means he's expertly placed to lead and further develop the high standards of the select group".

Source: Sky Sports

UEFA Europa League – Round of 16 (Second Leg)

19 March 2015

Ajax – Dnipro
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitry Zhuk (BLR)
Assistant Referee 2: Vitali Maliutsin (BLR)
Additional AR1: Siarhei Tsynkevich (BLR)
Additional AR2: Dzianis Shcharbakou (BLR)
Fourth Official: Aleh Maslianka (BLR)
Referee Observer: Gylfi Orrason (ISL)

Dinamo Moskva – SSC Napoli
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Rob Van de Ven (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Schaap (NED)
Additional AR1: Kevin Blom (NED)
Additional AR2: Ed Janssen (NED)
Fourth Official: Bas Van Dongen (NED)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

AS Roma – AC Fiorentina
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarık Ongun (TUR)
Additional AR1: Halis Özkahya (TUR)
Additional AR2: Süleyman Abay (TUR)
Fourth Official: Cem Satman (TUR)
Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)

Dynamo Kyiv – Everton
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Holger Henschel (GER)
Additional AR1: Marco Fritz (GER)
Additional AR2: Robert Hartmann (GER)
Fourth Official: Christoph Bornhorst (GER)
Referee Observer: Ilkka Koho (FIN)

Torino – Zenit
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Žunić (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Bojan Ul (SVN)
Additional AR1: Mitja Žganec (SVN)
Additional AR2: Dejan Balažic (SVN)
Fourth Official: Gregor Rojko (SVN)
Referee Observer: Hans Reijgwart (NED)

Internazionale – VfL Wolfsburg
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Beck (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Jake Collin (ENG)
Additional AR1: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Additional AR2: Kevin Friend (ENG)
Fourth Official: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Referee Observer: Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE)

Sevilla FC – Villarreal CF
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Child (ENG)
Additional AR1: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Additional AR2: Lee Probert (ENG)
Fourth Official: Darren England (ENG)
Referee Observer: Luciano Luci (ITA)

Beşiktaş – Club Brugge
Referee: Sergei Karasev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Anton Averyanov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Tikhon Kalugin (RUS)
Additional AR1: Sergey Lapochkin (RUS)
Additional AR2: Sergey Ivanov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Nikolai Golubev (RUS)
Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)

UEFA U-21 Euro 2015

Czech Republic, 17-30 June 2015

France
Referee: Clement Turpin (1982, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Frederic Cano (1973)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Danos (1980)
Additional AR 1: Fredy Fautrel (1971)
Additional AR 2: Benoit Bastien (1983)

Greece
Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Damianos Efthymiadis (1973)
Assistant Referee 2: Polychronis Kostaras (1983)
Additional AR 1: Michael Koukoulakis (1975)
Additional AR 2: Stavros Tritsonis (1977)

Netherlands
Referee: Danny Makkelie (1983)
Assistant Referee 1: Mario Diks (1977)
Assistant Referee 2: Hessel Steegstra (1978)
Additional AR 1: Kevin Blom (1974)
Additional AR 2: Jochem Kamphuis (1986)

Poland
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (1981)
Assistant Referee 1: Paweł Sokolnicki (1980)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (1978)
Additional AR 1: Paweł Raczkowski (1983)
Additional AR 2: Tomasz Musial (1981)

Russia
Referee: Sergey Karasev (1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Anton Averyanov (1973)
Assistant Referee 2: Tikhon Kalugin (1974)
Additional AR 1: Sergey Lapochkin (1981)
Additional AR 2: Sergey Ivanov (1984)

Spain
Referee: Javier Estrada Fernández (1976)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Martínez Munuera (1986)
Assistant Referee 2: Teodoro Sobrino Magán (1978)
Additional AR 1: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (1982)
Additional AR 2: Jesús Gil Manzano (1984)

Fourth Officials
1. Jan Patak (CZE, 1982)
2. Ondrej Pelikan (CZE, 1980)

Referee Observers
1. Marc Batta (FRA)
2. Hugh Dallas (SCO)
3. Vladimir Sajn (SVN)

Cypriot referee Trattou targeted again

A car used by Cypriot referee Leontios Trattos was set on fire, police said, the second time he has been targeted in just over a year. The incident is the latest in a string of threats and attacks against referees and their families which led to calls for the officials to boycott games. Police said the car, which was parked in the basement of Trattou's residence at an apartment block in a suburb of the capital Nicosia, was destroyed. Authorities suspect the vehicle, a company car belonging to Trattou's employers, was doused with inflammable fluid and set alight.

One of the Mediterranean island's most high-profile referees, Trattou (photo) was also targeted in February last year when a bomb destroyed a car parked outside his home. That incident, among a string of attacks against referees, led to a brief suspension of fixtures on the island. The attacks have continued, however, and in January a bomb went off outside the home of a referee's mother, and last month a car belonging to a referee's wife was damaged by a pipe bomb. There have been no injuries reported from any of the attacks.

Source: Reuters

US player sentenced to 8 years in prison for killing a referee

A Michigan soccer player who killed a referee with a single punch to the face was sentenced to eight to fifteen years in prison. Bassel Saad, 36, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter last month after admitting he struck John Bieniewicz during a game at a Livonia park. The 44-year-old referee was about to call a penalty that would have booted Saad, who already had a yellow card, from the match last summer when he was dealt the blow that would eventually kill him two days later.

Bieniewicz's widow Kris pulled out a red card as she spoke on the stand to symbolize her husband's last action before his untimely death, and said she will always see the act as murder. ‘Before I go the one final thing that I want to do is I would like to serve Mr. Saad with the red card that he was entitled to,' she said in her closing remarks. Bieniewicz previously told reporters that she hoped Saad 'never sees the light of day', and that she believed her husband's life was 'worth more than eight years'. Saad faced second-degree murder charges before he took a plea deal. He will be eligible for parole after eight years and his maximum punishment is 15 years in prison. He was also ordered to pay more than $9,200 for restitution and the father-of-two's funeral expenses, according to the Detroit News. Mrs. Bieniewicz said her only consolation was knowing that her husband died doing something he loved. Wayne County Judge Thomas Cameron told Saad during sentencing that his 'childish and senseless act' had destroyed both the Bieniewicz family's life - as well as his own. Saad, an auto mechanic and a native of Lebanon, has lived in the US legally for 15 years but is not a citizen. The father-of-three could face deportation after he serves his time. 

A number of players testified in court last year that Saad had been issued a yellow card, or an official warning, following a foul in the first half of the June 29 game. Bieniewicz was about to issue him a second yellow card for being verbally abusive. That's when the referee was struck, the players said. Saad's punch landed in the head and neck area, causing Bieniewicz to fall and stop breathing. Dr. Jamal Saleh said he rushed toward Bieniewicz, who was on his back grasping a yellow card in one hand and a red card in the other. A skirmish erupted between players following the attack. Saleh said he quickly checked on Bieniewicz and the referee initially was not breathing but had a pulse. Saleh said he performed CPR and told the unconscious Bieniewicz: 'Wake up, buddy. You're going to be OK.' Player Scott Herkes testified that Saad removed his jersey and left the field with another man as Bieniewicz was being tended to. Herkes said he followed the men into the parking lot and took down the license plate number of the vehicle in which they left. In 2005, Saad was involved in another assault on a soccer field. Court documents obtained by Detroit Free Press indicate that he repeatedly struck another player in the head. Saad pleaded no contest in that case and was sentenced to five days of community service and 12 months of probation. Mrs. Bieniewicz recently testified at Michigan's Capitol in support of proposed legislation that would make it a felony to assault a sports official in the state. Referees ‘are out there on an island with no one to defend them,' she said. 'Something more than a misdemeanor should be in place.'

Source: Daily Mail

CONCACAF Champions League – Semi-finals (First Leg)

17 March 2015
CS Herediano – Club America
Referee: John Pitti (PAN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Williamson (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Keytzel Corrales (NCA)
Fourth Official: Jafeth Perea (PAN)

18 March 2015
Montreal Impact – LD Alajuelense
Referee: Jair Marrufo (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Frank Anderson (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Eric Boria (USA)
Fourth Official: Ricardo Salazar (USA)

FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers - AFC (Round 1, Second Leg)

17 March 2015 

Nepal – India
Referee: Khamis Al-Marri (QAT, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Abu Al-Amri (OMA)
Assistant Referee 2: Abdullah Al-Jardani (OMA)
Fourth Official: Mahmood Al-Majarafi (OMA)

Mongolia – Timor
Referee: Wang Di (CHN)
Assistant Referee 1: Ma Ji (CHN)
Assistant Referee 2: Xiang Shi (CHN)
Fourth Official: Ma Ning (CHN)

Bhutan – Sri Lanka
Referee: Marai Al Awaji (KSA)
Assistant Referee 1: Fahad Al Umri(KSA)
Assistant Referee 2: Abbas Gholoum (KUW)
Fourth Official: Shukri Al Hunfush (KSA)

Pakistan – Yemen
Referee: Ali Adday (IRQ)
Assistant Referee 1: Luay Subhi (IRQ)
Assistant Referee 2: Humond Alsahu (KUW)
Fourth Official: Falah Saad (IRQ)

Macau – Cambodia
Referee: Yaqoob Abdul Baki (OMA)
Assistant Referee 1: Hamed Al Mayahi (OMA)
Assistant Referee 2: Rashid Al Ghaithi (OMA)
Fourth Official: Khalid Al Shaqsi (OMA)

Brunei – Taipei
Referee: Turki Al-Khudhayr (KSA)
Assistant Referee 1: Badr Al-Shumrani (KSA)
Assistant Referee 2: Khalaf Al-Shammari (KSA)
Fourth Official: Mohammed Al-Hoish (KSA)