Copa Libertadores – Group Stage (Matchday 10)

3 April 2012
Alianza Lima – Vasco da Gama

Referee: Saul Laverni (ARG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Hernan Maidana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ernesto Uziga (ARG)
Fourth Official: Henry Gambetta (PER)

Lanus – Olimpia

Referee: Victor Rivera (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Cesar Escano (PER)
Fourth Official: Pablo Lunati (ARG)

Deportivo Tachira – Cruz Azul
Referee: Dario Ubriaco (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Costa (URU)
Fourth Official: Marlon Escalante (VEN)

4 April 2012
Godoy Cruz – Universidad de Chile
Referee: Carlos Amarilla (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Cesar Franco (PAR)
Fourth Official: German Delfino (ARG)

Internacional – Santos
Referee: Sandro Ricci (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Braatz (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabricio Silva (BRA)
Fourth Official: Pericles Cortes (BRA)

Emelec – Flamengo
Referee: Martin Vazquez (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Pastorino (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Changala (URU)
Fourth Official: Daniel Salazar (ECU)

Junior – Universidad Catolica
Referee: Paulo Oliveira (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Altemir Hausmann (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Dibert Pedrosa (BRA)
Fourth Official: Juan Restrepo (COL)

5 April 2012
Libertad – Nacional
Referee: Omar Ponce (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Cedeno (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Herrera (ECU)
Fourth Official: Julio Quintana (PAR)

Juan Aurich – The Strongest
Referee: Alfredo Intriago (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Alvarado (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Byron Romero (ECU)
Fourth Official: Manuel Garay (PER)

Iturralde retired early: "My honesty is above all"

"I am very grateful to the football and refereeing, but my honesty and my credibility are above all", explains Eduardo Iturralde Gonzelez his farewell from refereeing. The referee with the most matches in Primera Division has decided to hang up his whistle early, although he would have been age-eligible until the end of 2012. The referee from Vizcaya has taken this decision after a disagreement with the Spanish Referees Committee following his injury during the game Betis Sevilla – Real Madrid. Iturralde suffered a puncture in the muscle during the first half of the match and was replaced at half time by the fourth official, Gorka Sagues. After recovering from the injury, he has not been appointed to any matches due to a somewhat surreal situation: the Referees Committee requested a medical proof for his injury, but Iturralde was not able to provide it because he had not requested any medical certificate.

"The truth has to be ahead of everything. I cannot provide a certificate because I do not have one. How can I cheat by submitting a certificate that did not exist in the first place? My honesty and my credibility are above all this", said Iturralde Gonzalez. After 31 years of refereeing, he chose to retire instead of providing a document that would distort the reality. The recommendations to reconsider this decision did not make ​​him change his mind. He had consulted with his wife and daughters, and always came to the same point: "Lying? Never!" Iturralde spent 15 years (1998 - 2012) on the FIFA List and was selected for the 2002 UEFA U-21 Euro, 2003 FIFA U-20 World Cup and 2004 OFC Nations Cup. He did El Clasico, Real – Barcelona, three times: 1999, 2005 and 2010. Iturralde goes into the history of Spanish refereeing with the record for the most games refereed in the Spanish First Division, 291, since his debut on 3 September 1995, Espanyol – Salamanca. It also carries two other records: the most yellow cards (1647), and most penalty kicks awarded (104). He hang up his whistle with a feeling of profound gratitude to the football and refereeing, but convinced that his conscience would not let him carry out what he was demanded by the Referees Committee. When he ended the first half of the Primera Division match Betis Sevilla – Real Madrid, on 10 March 2012, Iturralde Gonzalez blew the last whistle of his career.

Source: Marca

UEFA Europa League – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

29 March 2012
FC Schalke – Athletic Bilbao
Referee: Pedro Proenca (POR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Additional AR 1: Manuel De Sousa (POR)
Additional AR 2: Duarte Gomes (POR)
Fourth Official: Joao Capela (POR)

AZ Alkmaar – Valencia CF
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Michael Jones (ENG)
Fourth Official: Andre Marriner (ENG)

Atletico Madrid – Hannover

Referee Stephane Lannoy (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Eric Dansault (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Cano (FRA)
Additional AR 1: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)
Additional AR 2: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Fourth Official: Antony Gautier (FRA)

Sporting – Metalist
Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Guido Kleve (GER)
Additional AR 1: Florian Meyer (GER)
Additional AR 2: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Fourth Official: Manuel Grafe (GER)

CONCACAF Champions League – Semi-finals (First Leg)

28 March 2012
Toronto FC – Santos Laguna

Referee: Ricardo Salazar (USA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Kermit Quisenberry (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Wienckowski (USA)
Fourth Official: Terry Vaughn (USA)

Monterrey – Pumas
Referee: Jose Penaloza (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Victor Calderon (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Miguel Vizcaya (MEX)
Fourth Official: Fabricio Morales (MEX)

UEFA Euro 2012 Match Officials

UEFA has announced the full list of assistant referees and additional assistant referees who will join the 12 referees who were chosen by the UEFA Referees Committee last December. The committee has come to its decision on the assistant referees and additional assistant referees after closely monitoring their progress in recent UEFA club competition matches. Each team is made up of five match officials from the same country: one main referee, two additional assistant referees who are also FIFA referees, and two FIFA assistant referees. In addition, a third assistant referee from each country has also been named and he will remain on standby until the start of the tournament to take the place of a colleague if required. A total of 80 match officials – the six officials in each team, as well as the previously selected four fourth officials and four reserve ARs – will attend the UEFA Euro 2012 Referee Preparatory Workshop which will be held in Warsaw from 30 April to 3 May. During this course, on 2 May, all officials will undergo the FIFA fitness test and the final selection of quintets will follow that test.

England

Referee: Howard Webb (1971, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (1970)
Assistant Referee 2: Peter Kirkup (1970)
Additional AR 1: Martin Atkinson (1971)
Additional AR 2: Mark Clattenburg (1975)
Standby AR: Stephen Child (1973)

France

Referee: Stephane Lannoy (1969)
Assistant Referee 1: Eric Dansault (1968)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Cano (1973)
Additional AR 1: Fredy Fautrel (1971)
Additional AR 2: Ruddy Buquet (1977)
Standby AR: Michael Annonier (1972)

Germany

Referee: Wolfgang Stark (1969)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan-Hendrik Salver (1969)
Assistant Referee 2: Mike Pickel (1975)
Additional AR 1: Florian Meyer (1968)
Additional AR 2: Deniz Aytekin (1978)
Standby AR: Mark Borsch (1977)

Hungary
Referee: Viktor Kassai (1975)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabor Eros (1971)
Assistant Referee 2: Gyorgy Ring (1981)
Additional AR 1: Istvan Vad (1979)
Additional AR 2: Tamas Bognar (1978)
Standby AR: Robert Kispal (1969)

Italy
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (1971)
Assistant Referee 1: Renato Faverani (1969)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (1969)
Additional AR 1: Gianluca Rocchi (1973)
Additional AR 2: Paolo Tagliavento (1972)
Standby AR: Luca Maggiani (1968)

Netherlands
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (1973)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (1974)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (1977)
Additional AR 1: Pol van Boekel (1975)
Additional AR 2: Richard Liesveld (1973)
Standby AR: Berry Simons (1969)

Portugal
Referee: Pedro Proenca Oliveira (1970)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Cunha Miranda (1972)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Ferreira Santos (1973)
Additional AR 1: Manuel Moreira De Sousa (1975)
Additional AR 2: Duarte Pereira Gomes (1973)
Standby AR: Tiago Garcias Trigo (1972)

Scotland
Referee: Craig Thomson (1972)
Assistant Referee 1: Alasdair Ross (1975)
Assistant Referee 2: Derek Rose (1974)
Additional AR 1: William Collum (1979)
Additional AR 2: Euan Norris (1977)
Standby AR: Graham Chambers (1971)

Slovenia
Referee: Damir Skomina (1976)
Assistant Referee 1: Primoz Arhar (1968)
Assistant Referee 2: Marko Stancin (1968)
Additional AR 1: Matej Jug (1980)
Additional AR 2: Slavko Vincic (1979)
Standby AR: Matej Zunic (1983)

Spain
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (1971)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jimenez (1975)
Additional AR 1: David Fernandez Borbalan (1973)
Additional AR 2: Carlos Clos Gomez (1972)
Standby AR: Jesus Calvo Guadamuro (1968)

Sweden
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (1974)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (1968)
Assistant Referee 2: Mathias Klasenius (1975)
Additional AR 1: Markus Strombergsson (1975)
Additional AR 2: Stefan Johannesson (1971)
Standby AR: Fredrik Nilsson (1972)

Turkey
Referee: Cuneyt Cakir (1976)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (1975)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (1973)
Additional AR 1: Huseyin Gocek (1976)
Additional AR 2: Bulent Yildirim (1972)
Standby AR: Mustafa Eyisoy (1980)

Fourth Officials
1. Marcin Borski (POL, 1973)
2. Tom Harald Hagen (NOR, 1978)
3. Pavel Kralovec (CZE, 1977)
4. Viktor Shvetsov (UKR, 1969)

Reserve Assistant Referees
1. Marcin Borkowski (POL, 1979)
2. Damien MacGraith (IRL, 1980)
3. Roman Slysko (SVK, 1973)
4. Oleksandr Voytyuk (UKR, 1972)

UEFA Champions League – Quarter-finals (First Leg)

27 March 2012
Benfica Lisbon – Chelsea London

Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Andrea Stefani (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Luca Maggiani (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Additional AR 2: Luca Banti (ITA)
Fourth Official: Paolo Valeri (ITA)

Apoel Nicosia – Real Madrid

Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Additional AR 1: Markus Wingenbach (GER)
Additional AR 2: Peter Sippel (GER)
Fourth Official: Knut Kircher (GER)

28 March 2012
Olympique Marseille – Bayern Munchen
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernandez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jimenez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: David Fernandez Borbalan (ESP)
Additional AR 2: Carlos Clos Gomez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Fernando Teixeira Vitienes (ESP)

AC Milan – FC Barcelona
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Markus Strombergsson (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Daniel Stalhammar (SWE)

Bulgarian referee quits after being threatened by Stoichkov

Litex Lovech coach Hristo Stoichkov has been accused of threatening and insulting the referee in a telephone call after the Bulgarian champions' 1-0 league win over Slavia Sofia on Saturday. Bogomil Marinov said he had filed a police complaint after Stoichkov phoned him three days after the tense league match.

"He called me on Tuesday night, introduced himself and began to insult and threaten me," Marinov told the Association of Bulgarian football referees' website. "He told me that it had been my last match as a referee". Marinov, who said he now planned to give up refereeing professional games, sent off Litex striker Marcelo Nicasio early in the second half after the Brazilian made minimal contact with Slavia defender Daniel Zlatkov. Nicasio, who has scored six goals since joining Litex in January, had received a yellow card for shirt-pulling while celebrating his goal in the first half. Nicasio missed Litex's match at Beroe Stara Zagora on Wednesday after the Bulgarian Football Union (BFU) rejected an appeal from the club. The champions were held to a 1-1 draw after five straight victories and are fifth in the standings with 38 points, seven behind leaders Ludogorets. Marinov, 34, said: "I have decided to quit professional refereeing but I love football so much and I can't imagine my life without football. "I will continue in amateur football, though I know the pay difference is huge." Former Barcelona striker Stoichkov, known for his aggressive manner in his playing days, declined to comment. "I will not comment on such groundless accusations," Stoichkov, 46, said in a statement. "I will only say that since returning to Bulgaria to take charge of Litex, I am showing much more tolerance toward referees than when I was a footballer".

Source: Yahoo Sports