Referees named for Euro 2008

[Trim]

UEFA has announced the referees and assistant referees who will officiate at UEFA EURO 2008™ in Austria and Switzerland next summer.

Refereeing teams
UEFA's Referees' Committee has designated 12 referees and 24 assistants (along with eight fourth officials) to take charge of the 31 matches from 7-29 June 2008. The referee 'trios' comprise referees and assistant referees from the same country, all of whom have been on constant duty as a team in European club matches – particularly the UEFA Champions League – over the past year. UEFA chooses refereeing teams because of the experience and understanding that the three officials gather together.

'The best in the business'
"It is never easy to select the final list of names to officiate at a tournament as prestigious as the UEFA European Football Championship," said Angel María Villar Llona, the chairman of the UEFA Referees' Committee. "However, these officials are the best in the business at the moment and deserve their chance. The idea of appointing trios began at UEFA EURO 2004™, as it enables the officials to work closely together in their own domestic competition and at UEFA level for a longer period of time before the tournament. We wish them all the very best in their appointments at UEFA EURO 2008™."

Communication system
The ear-piece communications system between match officials, used in top European matches, will be authorised for use in the finals. The system, UEFA said, "should facilitate quick and efficient communication".

Preparatory seminar
The 44 selected match officials will now begin their preparations in earnest. They will attend a preparatory seminar from 14-17 April at the Mövenpick Hotel in Regensdorf, Switzerland, where they will take part in a physical test and be given specific instructions for the final tournament. This hotel will serve from 3 June as the base for the referee teams at UEFA EURO 2008™. From 26 June, those still involved in the final stages will move to the Renaissance Penta Hotel in Vienna, Austria.

Injury provisions
During the final tournament, any injured referee will be replaced by the fourth official at the match, and any injured assistant referee will be replaced by a fifth official who will come from the list of assistant referees not officiating at a game on that day. "The officials will continue to officiate at European club competition matches but will not be appointed to any international friendlies concerning the 16 teams qualified for the final tournament," said UEFA. Support for the team of officials will include a physio, a doctor, and a fitness coach who has devised a specific programme for the tournament.

UEFA EURO 2008™ match officials
Referee / Assistant referees / Country
1 Konrad Plautz / Egon Bereuter, Markus Mayr / Austria
2 Frank De Bleeckere / Peter Hermans, Alex Verstraeten / Belgium
3 Howard Webb / Darren Cann, Mike Mullarkey / England
4 Herbert Fandel / Carsten Kadach, Volker Wezel / Germany
5 Kyros Vassaras / Dimitris Bozatzidis, Dimitris Saraidaris / Greece
6 Roberto Rosetti / Alessandro Griselli, Paolo Calcagno / Italy
7 Pieter Vink / Adriaan Inia, Hans ten Hoove / Netherlands
8 Tom Henning Øvrebø / Geir Åge Holen, Erik Ræstad / Norway
9 Ľuboš Micheľ / Roman Slyško, Martin Balko / Slovakia
10 Manuel Enrique Mejuto González / Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez, Jesús Calvo Guadamuro / Spain
11 Peter Fröjdfeldt / Stefan Wittberg, Henrik Andrén / Sweden
12 Massimo Busacca / Matthias Arnet, Stéphane Cuhat / Switzerland

Fourth officials chosen for UEFA EURO 2008™:
Ivan Bebek (Croatia)
Stéphane Lannoy (France)
Viktor Kassai (Hungary)
Kristinn Jakobsson (Iceland)
Grzegorz Gilewski (Poland)
Olegário Benquerença (Portugal)
Craig Thomson (Scotland)
Damir Skomina (Slovenia)

[Oliver_Kahn]

Fourth officials chosen for UEFA EURO 2008™:
Olegário Benquerença (Portugal)

Man this is really embarrassing.

Only one Portuguese ref but he won't even referee a single match..

[koker]

same here...

[BlackNess]

the refs:

[Trim]

Normall, Fandel should referee the final, but since Germany is taking part in it, it should be someone else.

As long as it is not Lubos Michel or Manuel Gonzales, it's fine.

[Daniel24]

Isn't that Michel guy who reffed the Portugal vs Holland game in the WC 06.?

[Trim]

Originally Posted by Daniel24

Isn't that Michel guy who reffed the Portugal vs Holland game in the WC 06.?

No, it wasn't Michel. It was Valentin Ivanov.

[Daniel24]

Oh i see.. Thank you trim

[BlackNess]

The Italian, Roberto Rosetti is the man who will Blow the whistle in the Tournament opener .

[Forza_Roma]

Some controversy with Rosetti in the opener...there was a potential hand ball from Ujfalusi in the Czech area and Rosetti didn't make the call, where it looked like a penalty.

[BlackNess]

Originally Posted by Forza_Roma

Some controversy with Rosetti in the opener...there was a potential hand ball from Ujfalusi in the Czech area and Rosetti didn't make the call, where it looked like a penalty.

No, that wasn't a penalty, It was in his right shoulder, this wasn't Rosseti's problem.

Wen a swiss player made a bad challenge over the Czech when they were in counter attack, He stopped the match . he should have gave the advantage to the Czech side twice .

[Forza_Roma]

I was talking about the first penalty appeal, not the second.

channel4.com - Football Italia

[D-Kin]

Rosetti = Muppet.

[__-SNAKE-__]

Michel and Gonzalez are the worst referees since Braschi

[jec1]

The refs have been shit. Let's implement a replay system, that's the only way to get the right calls.

How many offside calls were disallowed, just terrible.