UEFA Champions League – Third Qualifying Round (First Leg)

28-29 July 2015

HJK Helsinki – Astana
Referee: Alexandru Tudor (ROU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Sovre (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)
Fourth Official: George Gaman (ROU)
Referee Observer: John Ward (IRL)

Milsami – Skënderbeu
Referee: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Orkun Aktaş (TUR)
Fourth Official: Süleyman Abay (TUR)
Referee Observer: Gylfi Orrason (ISL)

Midtylland – Apoel Nicosia
Referee: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Bojan Ul (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomaž Klančnik (SVN)
Fourth Official: Bojan Mertik (SVN)
Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)

RB Salzburg – Malmö FF
Referee: Luca Banti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Gianluca Vuoto (ITA)
Fourth Official: Gianpaolo Calvarese (ITA)
Referee Observer: Gaetano De Gabriele (SMR)

CSKA Moskva – Sparta Praha
Referee: Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Francisco Martin Garcia (ESP)
Fourth Official: Eduardo Prieto Iglesias (ESP)
Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin (SVN)

Maccabi Tel Aviv – Viktoria Plzen
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitry Zhuk (BLR)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleh Maslianka (BLR)
Fourth Official: Dzianis Shcharbakou (BLR)
Referee Observer: Zdravko Jokić (SRB)

Panathinaikos – Club Brügge
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolai Golubev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Maksim Gavrilin (RUS)
Fourth Official: Igor Fedotov (RUS)
Referee Observer: Nicolae Grigorescu (ROU)

Fenerbahçe – Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee: Manuel De Sousa (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Alvaro Mesquita (POR)
Fourth Official: Carlos Xistra (POR)
Referee Observer: László Vagner (HUN)

Young Boys – AS Monaco
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Gregor Rojko (SVN)
Fourth Official: Nejc Kajtazovic (SVN)
Referee Observer: Nikolai Levnikov (RUS)

Videoton – Bate Borisov
Referee: Aleksandar Stavrev (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Marjan Kirovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Dejan Kostadinov (MKD)
Fourth Official: Dimitar Meckarovski (MKD)
Referee Observer: Vaclav Krondl (CZE)

Dinamo Zagreb – Molde FK
Referee: Serge Gumienny (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Jimmy Cremers (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Yves De Neve (BEL)
Fourth Official: Christof Dierick (BEL)
Referee Observer: Georgios Bikas (GRE)

Steaua Bucuresti – Partizan Belgrad
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Bas van Dongen (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Fourth Official: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Referee Observer: Asim Khudiyev (AZE)

Celtic – Qarabag
Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthias Winsauer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Hübler (AUT)
Fourth Official: Dominik Ouschan (AUT)
Referee Observer: Raymond Ellingham (WAL)

Lech Poznán – FC Basel
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: John Brooks (ENG)
Fourth Official: Jonathan Moss (ENG)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

Rapid Wien – Ajax Amsterdam
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Damien MacGraith (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Francis Connor (SCO)
Fourth Official: John Beaton (SCO)
Referee Observer: Markus Nobs (SUI)

Pan American Games Finals 2015

26 July 2015

Men
Uruguay – Mexico
Referee: Oscar Reyna (GUA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Frank Anderson (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Jairo Morales (PUR)
Fourth Official: Javier Santos (PUR)

Women
Brazil – Colombia
Referee: Mirian Leon (SLV)
Assistant Referee 1: Lixy Enriquez (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Felisha Mariscal (USA)
Fourth Official: Tatiana Guzman (NCA)

CONCACAF: "Refereeing errors impacted the outcome of the game"

CONCACAF President Alfredo Hawit statement regarding the officiating of the Gold Cup 2015 semi-final match between Mexico and Panama:

“We met with both the Referee Department leadership and referee Mark Geiger. Mr. Geiger (photo), one of the best regarded referees in the region, with vast international experience and a proven track record, accepted that refereeing errors had been made during Wednesday’s match and that these impacted the outcome of the game. We, at CONCACAF, regret these circumstances, but accept that such human errors are part of the game.” (Source: CONCACAF)

CONCACAF Gold Cup Final 2015: Aguilar (SLV)

26 July 2015

Final
Jamaica – Mexico
Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Zumba (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Morgante (USA)
Fourth Official: John Pitti (PAN)
Fifth Official: Leonel Leal (CRC)

Match for Third Place
USA – Panama
Referee: Oscar Moncada (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Garnet Page (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Ramirez (HON)
Fourth Official: David Gantar (CAN)
Fifth Official: Octavio Jara (CRC)

Panama and Costa Rica request urgent changes in the CONCACAF Referees Committee

Following the Gold Cup 2015 semi-final Panama – Mexico, refereed by Mark Geiger (USA), the Panamanian Football Federation (FEPAFUT) demands the complete and urgent removal of all members of the CONCACAF Referees Committee. “What happened Wednesday, in the semi-final match against Mexico, proved to be the straw that broke the glass of a repetitive situation that occurred since the first game of our team during the group stage and continued during the following matches. We demand a prompt response to this request because it debunks all the effort and sacrifice made by every one of our players wearing the national shirt, the work of our coaching staff, as well as planning to management level. It was clear and everyone is witness to this, that the Panamanian team was superior to that of Mexico on the field. The opponent had no football arguments to counter the good technical and tactical nature of Panamanians so, with the clear intention to harm our team, the referee of the match unreasonably sent-off our starring front Luis Tejada and invented a totally non-existent penalty kick, just one minute from the end of the game, when it appeared that Panama would play the final against Jamaica, sending it to extra time. It is mainly for our players, coaches, their families and, finally, for our entire country that we make public our disagreement with refereeing decisions that have damaged not only our team, but others as well, as Costa Rica was also a victim of this situation. The CONCACAF refereeing left our team out of the Gold Cup final 2015, so the whole Panama deplores the poor performance of the refereeing body of the CONCACAF and hopes that the necessary measures are taken to prevent such situations to be repeated in the future. It is imperative that these changes are in place to carry out the most important football idea: Fair-Play”. (Source: FePaFut)

Costa Rican football officials sent a letter to CONCACAF’s Executive Committee President Alfredo Hawit asking that every member of the CONCACAF Referees Committee be fired. The football federation also listed the names of five officials, including Walter Lopez (GUA), who called the suspect penalty on Roy Miller in the loss to Mexico, that it requests never be assigned to a Costa Rican match again. Secretary General Rafael Vargas Brenes signed off on the letter that reads as a list of indictments against CONCACAF officiating, citing examples of improper refereeing from as far back as 2011. “We consider that Costa Rica has been directly affected by the poor work of the officials and we present as evidence, an analysis of the irregularities that occurred in our national team’s games, in search of a clear and conclusive response on the part of your Executive Committee,” the letter reads. “As international football remains clouded by allegations of corruption within its highest governing body, two officiating controversies in four days at the Gold Cup have cast even more doubt over the sport’s integrity.” One high-ranking official at Costa Rica’s Football Federation (FEDEFUTBOL) said he has had enough and wants the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) to restructure its referee committee. The request follows questionable calls in Mexico’s favor throughout the Gold Cup tournament, namely a 121st minute penalty kick in Sunday’s match against Costa Rica and Wednesday night’s debacle in which referees awarded a pair of penalty kicks to Mexico in its 2-1 win over Panama. “The damage this has done to football at the world level and at the level of CONCACAF is going to take many years to repair,” FEDEFUTBOL treasurer Rodolfo Villalobos told television reporters on Thursday afternoon. “But now is the time to begin this reparation process.” Villalobos, who also serves on CONCACAF’s referee committee, said he would hand in his resignation if the necessary changes aren’t made to improve the region’s officiating. “If immediate restructuring is not made then I will be presenting them with my resignation,” Villalobos said. “There’s no point in continuing there as a waste of space practically.” When reached by The Tico Times, FEDEFUTBOL press  representative Cristian Williams said the federation was analyzing the situation and preparing notes and videos that could be sent to CONCACAF as part of a formal complaint. (Source: The Tico Times)

CONCACAF Statement regarding official requests from Costa Rica Football Federation and Panama Football Federation
"CONCACAF has received the official requests from the Panamanian Football Federation and Costa Rican Football Federation and will review them carefully. The confederation takes these claims extremely seriously and will look into them immediately. As a first step toward addressing the request, this matter has been added to the agenda of tomorrow's CONCACAF Executive Committee meeting for discussion”.

UEFA Europa League – Second Qualifying Round (Second Leg)

23 July 2015

Hajduk Split – FC Koper
Referee: Marco Fritz (GER, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Dominik Schaal (GER)
Fourth Official: Benjamin Brand (GER)
Referee Observer: Vladimir Medved (SVK)

Rabotnicki – Jelgava
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Miklos Nagy (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)
Fourth Official: Lucian Rusandu (ROU)
Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)

IF Elfsborg – Randers FC
Referee: Andreas Pappas (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Polychronis Kostaras (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael Karsiotis (GRE)
Fourth Official: Alexandros Aretopoulos (GRE)
Referee Observer: John Ward (IRL)

FC Shirak – AIK
Referee: Sándor Andó-Szabó (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: György Ring (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Oszkar Lemon (HUN)
Fourth Official: Péter Solymosi (HUN)
Referee Observer: Eyjolfur Olafsson (ISL)

Alashkert FC – Kairat Almaty
Referee: João Santos (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Nuno Pereira (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Rui Teixeira (POR)
Fourth Official: Tiago Lopes (POR)
Referee Observer: Paulius Malzinskas (LTU)

Dinamo Minsk – Cherno More Varna
Referee: Anatolii Zhabchenko (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Volodymyr Volodin (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Oleg Pluzhnyk (UKR)
Fourth Official: Ievgenii Aranovskyi (UKR)
Referee Observer: Marcel Vanelshoch (BEL)

Debreceni VSC – Skonto FC
Referee: Vitaliy Meshkov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Anton Averyanov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Demeshko (RUS)
Fourth Official: Vladimir Moskalev (RUS)
Referee Observer: Brian Lawlor (WAL)

FK Trakai – Apollon Limassol
Referee: Padraigh Sutton (IRL)
Assistant Referee 1: Dermot Broughton (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wayne McDonnell (RL)
Fourth Official: Bernard Connolly (IRL)
Referee Observer: Andrejs Sipailo (LVA)

İnter Bakı – FH
Referee: Yaroslav Kozyk (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Semen Shlonchak (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Igor Al'okhin (UKR)
Fourth Official: Sergii Boiko (UKR)
Referee Observer: Gerrard Perry (IRL)

Spartaks Jūrmala – FK Vojvodina
Referee: Richard Liesveld (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Rob Van de Ven (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Fourth Official: Martin Van den Kerkhof (NED)
Referee Observer: Drago Kos (SVN)

AC Omonia – Jagiellonia Białystok
Referee: Danilo Grujić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Dejan Petrović (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Vladimir Jovanović (SRB)
Fourth Official: Dejan Dimitrijević (SRB)
Referee Observer: Ferenc Székely (HUN)

Qəbələ İK – FK Čukarički
Referee: Radek Příhoda (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivo Nádvorník (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Jakub Hrabovský (CZE)
Fourth Official: Pavel Orel (CZE)
Referee Observer: Andreas Schluchter (SUI)

FK Željezničar – Ferencvárosi TC
Referee: Orel Grinfeeld (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Amihay Mozes (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Miron Paz (ISR)
Fourth Official: Oren Simanian (ISR)
Referee Observer: Jiri Ulrich (CZE)

Nõmme Kalju – FC Vaduz
Referee: Raymond Crangle (NIR)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrew Neeson (NIR)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Donaldson (NIR)
Fourth Official: Keith Kennedy (NIR)
Referee Observer: Leif Sundell (SWE)

Brøndby IF – PFC Beroe
Referee: Nicolas Rainville (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Eric Danizan (FRA)
Fourth Official: Frank Schneider (FRA)
Referee Observer: Michael Ross (NIR)

Rosenborg – KR
Referee: Athanasios Giachos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Chasan Koula (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Dimitrios Gagas (GRE)
Fourth Official: Charalampos Kalogeropoulos (GRE)
Referee Observer: Erol Ersoy (TUR)

FC Botoşani – Legia Warszawa
Referee: Alexandre Boucaut (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Jimmy Cremers (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Rien Vanyzere (BEL)
Fourth Official: Christophe Delacour (BEL)
Referee Observer: Tony Asumaa (FIN)

PAOK FC – Lokomotiva Zagreb
Referee: Carlos Xistra (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Paulo Santos (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Antonio Godinho (POR)
Fourth Official: Vasco dos Santos (POR)
Referee Observer: Jan Carlsen (DEN)

University College Dublin – Slovan Bratislava
Referee: Ognjen Valjić (BIH)
Assistant Referee 1: Dalibor Drašković (BIH)
Assistant Referee 2: Goran Dujak (BIH)
Fourth Official: Admir Šehović (BIH)
Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)

Odds Ballklubb – Shamrock Rovers
Referee: Michael Tykgaard (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Henrik Sonderby (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Niels Høg (DEN)
Fourth Official: Jørgen Burchardt (DEN)
Referee Observer: Stefan Ormandjiev (BUL)

FC Astra – Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Referee: Artyom Kuchin (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 1: Yevgeniy Belskiy (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 2: Anatoliy Khodin (KAZ)
Fourth Official: Denis Izmailov (KAZ)
Referee Observer: Charles Agius (MLT)

IFK Göteborg – Śląsk Wrocław
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Angelo Boonman (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Davie Goossens (NED)
Fourth Official: Jeroen Manschot (NED)
Referee Observer: Luciano Luci (ITA)

Strømsgodset Toppfotball – Mladá Boleslav
Referee: Alexei Nikolaev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Tikhon Kalugin (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexei Vorontcov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Alexei Matiunin (RUS)
Referee Observer: Aleh Chykun (BLR)

FC Differdange – Trabzonspor
Referee: Marco Borg (MLT)
Assistant Referee 1: Duncan Sultana (MLT)
Assistant Referee 2: Luke Portelli (MLT)
Fourth Official: Trustin Farrugia (MLT)
Referee Observer: Igor Pristovnik (CRO)

Beitar Jerusalem FC – Racing Charleroi
Referee: Stephan Klossner (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Jean-Yves Wicht (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Sertac Kurnazca (SUI)
Fourth Official: Sascha Amhof (SUI)
Referee Observer: John Ferry (NIR)

FC Thun – Hapoel Beer Sheva
Referee: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: John Brooks (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Lee Betts (ENG)
Fourth Official: Jonathan Moss (ENG)
Referee Observer: Alfredo Trentalange (ITA)

MŠK Žilina – Dacia Chişinău
Referee: Sandro Schärer (SUI)
Assistant Referee 1: Sandro Pozzi (SUI)
Assistant Referee 2: Johannes Vogel (SUI)
Fourth Official: Alain Bieri (SUI)
Referee Observer: Mroslav Vitkovič (CRO)

Newtown AFC – FC København
Referee: Stanislav Todorov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivan Valchev (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Georgi Doynov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Tsvetan Krastev (BUL)
Referee Observer: Marian Ruzbarsky (SVK)

Wolfsberger AC – Shakhtyor Soligorsk
Referee: Dimitar Meckarovski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 1: Dejan Nedelkoski (MKD)
Assistant Referee 2: Nikola Karakolev (MKD)
Fourth Official: Dejan Jakimovski (MKD)
Referee Observer: Michael Argyrou (CYP)

Mladost Podgorica – FK Kukësi
Referee: Marius Avram (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Valentin Avram (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Mircea Orbulet (ROU)
Fourth Official: Adrian Comanescu (ROU)
Referee Observer: Neale Barry (ENG)

Linfield FC – Spartak Trnava
Referee: Laurent Kopriwa (LUX)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Fernandes (LUX)
Assistant Referee 2: David Santos (LUX)
Fourth Official: Alex Krueger (LUX)
Referee Observer: Jari Maisonlahti (FIN)

Aberdeen FC – HNK Rijeka
Referee: Marco Guida (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Claudio La Rocca (ITA)
Fourth Official: Piero Giacomelli (ITA)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

Birkirkara FC – West Ham United
Referee: Enea Jorgji (ALB)
Assistant Referee 1: Ridiger Çokaj (ALB)
Assistant Referee 2: Astrit Mahmuti (ALB)
Fourth Official: Kridens Meta (ALB)
Referee Observer: Paul Allaerts (BEL)

CONCACAF Gold Cup 2015 – Semi-finals

22 July 2015

USA – Jamaica
Referee: Ricardo Montero (CRC, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavio Jara (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Warner Castro (CRC)
Fourth Official: Henry Bejarano (CRC)

Panama – Mexico
Referee: Mark Geiger (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Belleau (CAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Philippe Briere (CAN)
Fourth Official: Joel Aguilar (SLV)