FIFA World Cup 2018 Qualifiers – OFC (Round 1)

31 August 2015
Tonga – Cook Islands
Referee: Ravitesh Behari (FIJ, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Ravinesh Kumar (FIJ)
Assistant Referee 2: Avinesh Narayan (FIJ)
Fourth Official: Salesh Chand (FIJ)

Samoa – American Samoa
Referee: Nelson Sogo (SOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Seniga (SOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Bertrand Brial (NCL)
Fourth Official: Robinson Banga (VAN)

2 September 2015
Cook Islands – Samoa
Referee: Robinson Banga (VAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Philippe Revel (TAH)
Assistant Referee 2: Glen Lochrie (NZL)
Fourth Official: Averii Jacques (TAH)

Tonga – American Samoa
Referee: Salesh Chand (FIJ)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Seniga (SOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Avinesh Narayan (FIJ)
Fourth Official: Nelson Sogo (SOL)

4 September 2015
Tonga – Samoa
Referee: Averii Jacques (TAH)
Assistant Referee 1: Philippe Revel (TAH)
Assistant Referee 2: Bertrand Brial (NCL)
Fourth Official: Robinson Banga (VAN)

American Samoa – Cook Islands
Referee: Ravitesh Behari (FIJ)
Assistant Referee 1: Glen Lochrie (NZL)
Assistant Referee 2: Ravinesh Kumar (FIJ)
Fourth Official: Salesh Chand (FIJ)

UEFA Futsal Cup – Preliminary Round

27-29 August 2015

Blue Magic – Nacional Zagreb
First Referee: Alejandro Martinez Flores (ESP)
Second Referee: Peter Nurse (ENG, photo)

Sievi Futsal – Grorud
First Referee: Andrzej Witkowski (POL)
Second Referee: Nicola Manzione (ITA)

Gentofte JB – Pescara
First Referee: Zoran Sofrenić (BIH)
Second Referee: Andrej Topić (CRO)

Progress Chisinau – ASUE
First Referee: Ozan Soykan (TUR)
Second Referee: Fredric Nilholt (SWE)

Lynx – Santos
First Referee: Valentin Ciuplea (WAL)
Second Referee: Aleksandras Sliva (LTU)

Mobulu Bern – Göteborg Futsal Club
First Referee: Ainar Kuusk (EST)
Second Referee: Damir Radović (SRB)

Zelezarec Skopje – SK Augur
First Referee: Vladimir Kadykov (RUS)
Second Referee: Ruben Guerreiro (POR)

FC Encamp – St. Andrews FC
First Referee: David Schaerli (SUI)
Second Referee: Josip Barton (MKD)

Titograd – Cardiff University
First Referee: Patrik Porkert (AUT)
Second Referee: Vasilios Christodoulis (GRE)

Göteborg Futsal Club – Centar Sarajevo
First Referee: Damir Radović (SRB)
Second Referee: Hennadiy Hora (UKR)

FK Inkaras – Istanbul Üniversitesi
First Referee: Kreshnik Hakrama (ALB)
Second Referee: Elchin Samadli (AZE)

ASUE – Halle Gooik
First Referee: Andri Vigfusson (ISL)
Second Referee: Ozan Soykan (TUR)

FC Differdange – Flamurtari Vlorë
First Referee: Guy Berger (ISR)
Second Referee: Kaspars Kivlišs (LVA)

SK Augur – ASA Ben Gurion
First Referee: Torbjorn Eidhammer (NOR)
Second Referee: Vladimir Kadykov (RUS)

Kremlin Bicêtre United – Stella Rossa Wien
First Referee: Trayan Enchev (BUL)
Second Referee: Viktor Bugenko (MDA)

Hamburg Panthers – Víkingur Ólafsvík
First Referee: Veljko Bošković (MNE)
Second Referee: Barry Weijers (NED)

FC Santos – Sievi Futsal
First Referee: Nicola Manzione (ITA)
Second Referee: Valentin Ciuplea (WAL)

St. Andrews FC – Futsal Gentofte
First Referee: Josip Barton (MKD)
Second Referee: Andrej Topić (CRO)

Cardiff University – Blue Magic
First Referee: Vasilios Christodoulis (GRE)
Second Referee: Patrik Porkert (AUT)

Grorud – Lynx
First Referee: Aleksandras Sliva (LTU)
Second Referee: Andrzej Witkowski (POL)

Halle Gooik – Progress Chisinau
First Referee: Fredric Nilholt (SWE)
Second Referee: Andri Vigfusson (ISL)

ASA Ben Gurion – Zelezarec Skopje
First Referee: Ruben Guerreiro (POR)
Second Referee: Torbjorn Eidhammer (NOR)

Nacional Zagreb – Titograd
First Referee: Alejandro Martinez Flores (ESP)
Second Referee: Peter Nurse (ENG)

Pescara – Encamp
First Referee: David Schaerli (SUI)
Second Referee: Zoran Sofrenić (BIH)

FIFA referee Oliver replaced injured AR at his wife's match

"If there is a qualified assistant referee in the stadium, please can they make themselves known?" That was the request made at half-time in Thursday's Continental Cup game between Arsenal Ladies and Reading FC Women following an injury to one of the officials. And just who should happen to be in the ground at Boreham Wood FC? None other than Premier League referee Michael Oliver.
The 30-year-old FIFA referee was in the stands watching the match, refereed by his wife, Lucy. He duly stepped in to run the line for the second half, prompting chants of "there's only one Michael Oliver" from some home fans. And having taken charge of Arsenal and Liverpool's 0-0 Premier League draw at Emirates Stadium on Monday with an attendance of more than 60,000 people, Oliver found himself officiating in front of a crowd of 873. "It was a strange one," Reading boss Kelly Chambers, whose side lost 2-1, told BBC Sport. "It was nice of him to step in and help us. "We needed him; otherwise it could have been a different kettle of fish if we had just anyone taking over." Oliver, who has been eligible to take charge of European internationals since 2012, is set to referee Premier League match between Stoke City and West Brom.

Source: BBC

Proenca removed from the UEFA Referees Committee

Former FIFA referee Pedro Proenca was removed from the UEFA Referees Committee because he was elected to chair the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP), a position deemed incompatible with his functions in the European body. Source close to Pedro Proenca, who had been elected in June for a term of four years, confirmed that the current president of LPFP has been notified of the decision of the UEFA Referees Committee. The main issue is, according to the same source, the incompatibility with Proenca’s election as the new president of LPFP, representing the clubs.
UEFA was displeased to learn that some of the clubs that supported the candidacy of Pedro Proenca as president of the League, and in particular FC Porto and Sporting, defend the draw of the referees. The UEFA Chief Refereeing Officer, Pierluigi Collina, which has a good relationship with the former Portuguese referee, was hardly impressed with the situation. This was an important factor that weighed heavily on Pedro Proenca’removal from the UEFA Referees Committee. The fact that Proenca is now the president of the Portuguese League creates a conflict of interest with a position in the European refereeing body, but the issue of being supported by clubs who defend the draw of the referees worsened the situation that lead to his departure from the upper echelons of the UEFA refereeing. 

Source: RTP/Lusa

UEFA Europa League – Play-offs (Second Leg)

27 August 2015

AZ Alkmaar – Astra Giurgiu
Referee: Robert Schörgenhofer (AUT, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Matthias Winsauer (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Roland Brandner (AUT)
Fourth Official: Oliver Drachta (AUT)
Referee Observer: Paulius Malzinskas (LTU)

Kairat Almaty – Girondins Bordeaux
Referee: Bas Nijhuis (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Rob van de Ven (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Charles Schaap (NED)
Fourth Official: Ed Janssen (NED)
Referee Observer: Konrad Plautz (AUT)

FK Jablonec – Ajax Amsterdam
Referee: Kenn Hansen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Lars Rix (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: David Andersen (DEN)
Fourth Official: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Referee Observer: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)

Qarabag – Young Boys
Referee: Gediminas Mazeika (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vytautas Simkus (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vytenis Kazlauskas (LTU)
Fourth Official: Sergejus Slyva (LTU)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Vitković (CRO)

Rubin Kazan – Rabotnicki
Referee: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Orkun Aktaş (TUR)
Fourth Official: Süleyman Abay (TUR)
Referee Observer: Zoran Petrović (SRB)

Videoton – Lech Poznán
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Fredrik Nilsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Hallberg (SWE)
Fourth Official: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Tulinger (CZE)

HJK Helsinki – FC Krasnodar
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Thorsten Schiffner (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Achmüller (GER)
Fourth Official: Guido Winkmann (GER)
Referee Observer: Nuno Castro (POR)

FC Thun – Sparta Praha
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Débart (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Fourth Official: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)
Referee Observer: Luciano Luci (ITA)

AS Saint Étienne – Milsami Orhei
Referee: Aleksei Eskov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitri Mosyakin (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Valeri Danchenko (RUS)
Fourth Official: Sergei Ivanov (RUS)
Referee Observer: Kuddusi Müftüoglu (TUR)

Rosenborg BK – Steaua Bucuresti
Referee: Robert Madden (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Graham Chambers (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Douglas Ross (SCO)
Fourth Official: John Beaton (SCO)
Referee Observer: Ichko Lozev (BUL)

Hajduk Split – Slovan Liberec
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Tavares (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Tiago Lopes Martins (POR)
Referee Observer: Peter Fröjdfeldt (SWE)

Fenerbahçe – Atromitos
Referee: Ivan Bebek (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomislav Petrović (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Miro Grgić (CRO)
Fourth Official: Domagoj Vučkov (CRO)
Referee Observer: Stefano Farina (ITA)

Panathinaikos – Qäbälä FK
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomaš Somoláni (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomaš Mokoš (SVK)
Fourth Official: Peter Kralović (SVK)
Referee Observer: Manuel Mejuto González (ESP)

Brøndby IF – PAOK FC
Referee: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Matteo Passeri (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Francesco De Luca (ITA)
Fourth Official: Gianpaolo Calvarese (ITA)
Referee Observer: Miroslav Liba (CZE)

Borussia Dortmund – Odds BK
Referee: Yevhen Aranovskiy (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Voytyuk (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Sergiy Bekker (UKR)
Fourth Official: Sergiy Boiko (UKR)
Referee Observer: Aleh Chykun (BLR)

RB Salzburg – Dinamo Minsk
Referee: Kevin Blom (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Bas van Dongen (NED)
Fourth Official: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Referee Observer: Emil Bozhinovski (MKD)

Standard Liège – Molde FK
Referee: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mihai Artene (ROU),
Assistant Referee 2: Vasile Marinescu (ROU)
Fourth Official: Radu Petrescu (ROU)
Referee Observer: Michael Argyrou (CYP)

FK Vojvodina – Viktoria Plzen
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Alexandros Gevrenis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Chrysoula Kourompylia (GRE)
Fourth Official: Charalampos Kalogeropoulos (GRE)
Referee Observer: Manuel Díaz Vega (ESP)

Athletic Club – MSK Žilina
Referee: Martin Strömbergsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mehmet Culum (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Gustavsson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Johan Hamlin (SWE)
Referee Observer: Marc Batta (FRA)

Midtjylland – Southampton
Referee: Liran Liany (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: David Bitton (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Oren Bornshtein (ISR)
Fourth Official: Roi Reinshreiber (ISR)
Referee Observer: Elmir Pilav (BIH)

Legia Warszawa – Zorya Luhansk
Referee: Tobias Welz (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Foltyn (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Holger Henschel (GER)
Fourth Official: Robert Hartmann (GER)
Referee Observer: Rodger Gifford (WAL)

Belenenses – Altach
Referee: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: John Brooks (ENG)
Fourth Official: Jonathan Moss (ENG)
Referee Observer: Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL)

CONCACAF Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 3)

25 August 2015
Saprissa – Santos
Referee: Joel Aguilar (SLV, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: William Torres (SLV)
Assistant Referee 2: Douglas Bermudez (SLV)
Fourth Official: Elmer Bonilla (SLV)

DC United – Montego Bay
Referee: Sherwin Moore (GUY)
Assistant Referee 1: Venton Mars (GUY)
Assistant Referee 2: Trevor Potter (GUY)
Fourth Official: Sherwin Williams (GUY)

Municipal – Santa Tecla
Referee: Fernando Guerrero (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Jose Camargo (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Mario Lopez (MEX)
Fourth Official: Cesar Ramos (MEX)

26 August 2015
San Francisco – Queretaro
Referee: Walter Lopez (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Lemus (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Ronaldo De la Cruz (GUA)
Fourth Official: Juan Guerra (GUA)

Herediano – Tigres
Referee: Jonathan Polanco (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Gerson Lopez (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Marco Diaz (GUA)
Fourth Official: Oswaldo Aldana (GUA)

Olimpia – Sounders
Referee: Sandy Vasquez (DOM)
Assistant Referee 1: Joriany Carvajal (DOM)
Assistant Referee 2: Geovany Garcia (SLV)

Fourth Official: Juan Hidalgo (DOM)

27 August 2015
Comunicaciones – Central FC
Referee: John Pitti (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Baines (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Jesus Tabora (HON)
Fourth Official: Oscar Moncada (HON)

Motagua – Walter Ferretti
Referee: William Anderson (PUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Jairo Morales (PUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Kedlee Powell (JAM)
Fourth Official: Trevor Taylor (BRB)

Copa Sudamericana – Group Stage (Matchday 3)

25 August 2015
Defensor Sporting – Universitário
Referee: Enrique Osses (CHI, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcelo Barraza (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Raul Orellana (CHI)
Fourth Official: Fernando Falce (URU)
Referee Observer: Juan Cardellino (URU)

Goiás – Brasília
Referee: Mario Diaz De Vivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rodney Aquino (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zorrilla (PAR)
Fourth Official: Dewson Freitas (BRA)
Referee Observer: Antonio Pereira (BRA)

LDU Quito – Nacional
Referee: Victor Carrillo (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Jonny Bossio (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Coty Carrera (PER)
Fourth Official: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
Referee Observer: Bomer Fierro (ECU)

26 August 2015
Arsenal – Independiente
Referee: Leandro Vuaden (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Rocha (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Rodrigo Correa (BRA)
Fourth Official: Pablo Diaz (ARG)
Referee Observer: Miguel Scime (ARG)

Olimpia – Águilas Doradas
Referee: Diego Haro (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Lopez (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Victor Raez (PER)
Fourth Official: Antonio Arias (PAR)
Referee Observer: Manuel Bernal (PAR)

Tigre – Huracán
Referee: Jonhatan Fuentes (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Gabriel Popovits (URU)
Fourth Official: Jorge Baliño (ARG)
Referee Observer: Luis Pasturenzi (ARG)

Sport Recife – Bahia
Referee: Roberto Tobar (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Mondria (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Claudio Rios (CHI)
Fourth Official: Luis De Oliveira (BRA)
Referee Observer: Manoel Serapião (BRA)

Chapecoense – Ponte Preta
Referee: Mauro Vigliano (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Gustavo Rossi (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ariel Scime (ARG)
Fourth Official: Pericles Cortez (BRA)
Referee Observer: Alicio Pena (BRA)

Deportes Tolima – Atlético Junior
Referee: Gery Vargas (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilson Arellano (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Antello (BOL)
Fourth Official: Imer Machado (COL)
Referee Observer: Oscar Ruiz (COL)

27 August 2015
Deportivo La Guaira – Sportivo Luqueño
Referee: Diego Ceballos (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Bonfá (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Lucas Germanotta (ARG)
Fourth Official: Mayker Gomez (VEN)
Referee Observer: Bernardo Corujo (VEN)

Nacional – Santa Fe
Referee: Raul Orosco (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Bustillos (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Montaño (BOL)
Fourth Official: Andres Cunha (URU)
Referee Observer: Gustavo Lopez (URU)

Universidad Católica – Libertad
Referee: Dario Ubriaco (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Taran (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Changala (URU)
Fourth Official: Julio Bascuñan (CHI)
Referee Observer: Pablo Pozo (CHI)

Belgrano – Lanús
Referee: Sandro Ricci (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcelo Van Gasse (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Kleber Gil (BRA)
Fourth Official: Silvio Trucco (ARG)
Referee Observer: Carlos Coradina (ARG)

Atlético Paranaense – Joinville
Referee: Wilson Lamouroux (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian De La Cruz (COL)
Fourth Official: Raphael Claus (BRA)
Referee Observer: Sergio Cristiano (BRA)

Emelec – Juventud
Referee: Nestor Pitana (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Navarro (ARG)
Fourth Official: Carlos Vera (ECU)
Referee Observer: Jose Carpio (ECU)

UEFA Champions League – Play-offs (Second Leg)

25 August 2015
AS Monaco – Valencia CF
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Elenito Di Liberatore (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Mauro Tonolini (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Luca Banti (ITA)
Additional AR2: Antonio Damato (ITA)
Fourth Official: Riccardo Di Fiore (ITA)
Referee Observer: Sergey Zuev (RUS)

Shakhtar – Rapid Wien
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Paweł Sokolnicki (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Additional AR 1: Paweł Raczkowski (POL)
Additional AR2: Tomasz Musiał (POL)
Fourth Official: Radosław Siejka (POL)
Referee Observer: Michael Riley (ENG)

Dinamo Zagreb – Skënderbeu
Referee: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Gianluca Cariolato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alessandro Giallatini (ITA)
Additional AR 1: Davide Massa (ITA)
Additional AR2: Carmine Russo (ITA)
Fourth Official: Fabiano Preti (ITA)
Referee Observer: Uno Tutk (EST)

Maccabi Tel Aviv – FC Basel
Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jure Praprotnik (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Robert Vukan (SVN)
Additional AR 1: Matej Jug (SVN)
Additional AR2: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)
Fourth Official: Manuel Vidali (SVN)
Referee Observer: Nikolai Levnikov (RUS)

Malmö FF – Celtic
Referee: Milorad Mažić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 1: Milovan Ristić (SRB)
Assistant Referee 2: Dalibor Djurdjević (SRB)
Additional AR 1: Danilo Grujić (SRB)
Additional AR2: Dejan Filipović (SRB)
Fourth Official: Dejan Petrović (SRB)
Referee Observer: Eugen Strigel (GER)

26 August 2015
Apoel – Astana Astana
Referee: Martin Atkinson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stephen Child (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Additional AR2: Kevin Friend (ENG)
Fourth Official: Peter Kirkup (ENG)
Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE)

Partizan – Bate Borisov
Referee: Svein Oddvar Moen (NOR)
Assistant Referee 1: Kim Thomas Haglund (NOR)
Assistant Referee 2: Frank Andås (NOR)
Additional AR 1: Ken Henry Johnsen (NOR)
Additional AR2: Svein Erik Edvartsen (NOR)
Fourth Official: Sven Erik Midthjell (NOR)
Referee Observer: Paul Allaerts (BEL)

Bayer Leverkusen – SS Lazio
Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Jesús Gil Manzano (ESP)
Additional AR2: Carlos Del Cerro Grande (ESP)
Fourth Official: Ángel Nevado Rodríguez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO)

Club Brugge – Manchester United
Referee: Antonio Mateu Lahoz (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Pau Cebrián Devís (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)
Additional AR 1: Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP)
Additional AR2: Alejandro Hernández Hernández (ESP)
Fourth Official: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Herbert Fandel (GER)

CSKA Moskva – Sporting CP
Referee: Pavel Královec (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Roman Slyško (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Wilczek (CZE)
Additional AR 1: Radek Příhoda (CZE)
Additional AR2: Michal Paták (CZE)
Fourth Official: Tomáš Mokrusch (CZE)
Referee Observer: Zdravko Jokić (SRB)

UEFA Europa League – Play-offs (First Leg)

20 August 2015

Southampton – Midtjylland
Referee: Clément Turpin (FRA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Frédéric Cano (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Fourth Official: Benoît Bastien (FRA)
Referee Observer: Matteo Trefoloni (ITA)

Dinamo Minsk – RB Salzburg
Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Jan Paták (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Radek Kotik (CZE)
Fourth Official: Emanuel Marek (CZE)
Referee Observer: Terje Hauge (NOR)

Qäbälä FK – Panathinaikos
Referee: Andre Marriner (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Bennett (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Lee Betts (ENG)
Fourth Official: Robert Madley (ENG)
Referee Observer: Zbigniew Przesmycki (POL)

Slovan Liberec – Hajduk Split
Referee: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Cabañero Martínez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Canelo Prieto (ESP)
Fourth Official: Pedro Pérez Montero (ESP)
Referee Observer: László Vagner (HUN)

Zorya Luhansk – Legia Warszawa
Referee: Anastasios Sidiropoulos (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Damianos Efthymiadis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Polychronis Kostaras (GRE)
Fourth Official: Ilias Spathas (GRE)
Referee Observer: Juan Fernández Marín (ESP)

Ajax Amsterdam – FK Jablonec
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Hicham Zakrani (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexandre Viala (FRA)
Fourth Official: Wilfried Bien (FRA)
Referee Observer: Peter Jones (ENG)

Molde FK – Standard Liège
Referee: Aleksei Kulbakov (BLR)
Assistant Referee 1: Dmitry Zhuk (BLR)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleh Maslianka (BLR)
Fourth Official: Dzianis Shcharbakou (BLR)
Referee Observer: Vítor Melo Pereira (POR)

PAOK FC – Brøndby IF
Referee: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Díaz Pérez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Yuste Jiménez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Eduardo Prieto Iglesias (ESP)
Referee Observer: Adrian Casha (MLT)

FC Krasnodar – HJK Helsinki
Referee: Marijo Strahonja (CRO)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivica Modrić (CRO)
Assistant Referee 2: Dario Vrabec (CRO)
Fourth Official: Fran Jović (CRO)
Referee Observer: Karen Nalbandyan (ARM)

Sparta Praha – FC Thun
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Mario Diks (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Hessel Steegstra (NED)
Fourth Official: Kevin Blom (NED)
Referee Observer: Alexandru Deaconu (ROU)

Milsami Orhei – AS Saint Étienne
Referee: Pawel Gil (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Piotr Sadczuk (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcin Borkowski (POL)
Fourth Official: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
Referee Observer: Stefan Messner (AUT)

Young Boys – Qarabağ FK
Referee: Vladislav Bezborodov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Nikolai Golubev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Maksim Gavrilin (RUS)
Fourth Official: Aleksei Eskov (RUS)
Referee Observer: Lassin Isaksen (FRO)

Atromitos – Fenerbahçe
Referee: Daniele Orsato (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Padovan (ITA)
Fourth Official: Andrea Gervasoni (ITA)
Referee Observer: Vladimir Antonov (MDA)

FK Rabotnicki – Rubin Kazan
Referee: István Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Berretyán (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: László Viszokai (HUN)
Fourth Official: Sandor Ando-Szabo (HUN)
Referee Observer: Rune Pedersen (NOR)

Astra Giurgiu – AZ Alkmaar
Referee: Slavko Vinčić (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Bojan Ul (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Andraž Kovačič (SVN)
Fourth Official: Dragoslav Peric (SVN)
Referee Observer: Jørn West Larsen (DEN)

Steaua Bucureşti – Rosenborg BK
Referee: Luca Banti (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Costanzo (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alfonso Marrazzo (ITA)
Fourth Official: Daniele Doveri (ITA)
Referee Observer: Georgios Bikas (GRE)

MSK Žilina – Athletic Club
Referee: Ovidiu Hategan (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Octavian Sovre (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU)
Fourth Official: Alexandru Tudor (ROU)
Referee Observer: William Young (SCO)

Altach – Belenenses
Referee: Matej Jug (SVN)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Žunič (SVN)
Assistant Referee 2: Manuel Vidali (SVN)
Fourth Official: Dejan Balažič (SVN)
Referee Observer: Haim Jakov (ISR)

Odds BK – Borussia Dortmund
Referee: Manuel De Sousa (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertino Miranda (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Ricardo Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Costa Verissimo (POR)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

Girondins Bordeaux – Kairat Almaty
Referee: Arnold Hunter (NIR)
Assistant Referee 1: Richard Storey (NIR)
Assistant Referee 2: Gareth Eakin (NIR)
Fourth Official: Raymond Crangle (NIR)
Referee Observer: Darko Čeferin (SVN)

Viktoria Plzen – FK Vojvodina
Referee: Javier Estrada Fernández (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Martínez Munuera (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Francisco Martin Garcia (ESP)
Fourth Official: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP)
Referee Observer: Hans Reijgwart (NED)

Lech Poznán – Videoton FC
Referee: Oliver Drachta (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Roland Brandner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Kühr (AUT)
Fourth Official: Manuel Schüttengruber (AUT)
Referee Observer: Igor Ischenko (UKR)

CONCACAF Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 2)

18 August 2015 
Tigres – Isidro Metapan
Referee: Armando Villarreal (USA, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Corey Parker (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Corey Rockwell (USA)
Fourth Official: Chris Penso (USA)

Verdes – Queretaro
Referee: Valdin Legister (JAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Keble Williams (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Henry Pupiro (NCA)
Fourth Official: Dwight Royal (JAM)

LA Galaxy – Comunicaciones
Referee: Jose Penaloza (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Marvin Torrentera (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Salvador Rodriguez (MEX)
Fourth Official: Jorge Perez (MEX)

19 August 2015
Arabe Unido – DC United
Referee: Karl Tyrell (JAM)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Morgan (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Garnet Page (JAM)
Fourth Official: Kevin Morrison (JAM)

Club America – Walter Ferretti
Referee: Jafeth Perea (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabriel Victoria (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Ronald Bruna (PAN)
Fourth Official: Armando Castro (HON

Seattle Sounders – Olimpia
Referee: Kimbell Ward (SKN)
Assistant Referee 1: Graeme Browne (SKN)
Assistant Referee 2: Ike Inniss (SKN)
Fourth Official: Wilson Da Costa (BAH)

20 August 2015
Saprissa – W Connection
Referee: Drew Fischer (CAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Lloyd Edwards (JAM)
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Washington (JAM)
Fourth Official: Veralton Nembhard (JAM)

Santa Tecla – Municipal
Referee: Oscar Davila (NCA)
Assistant Referee 1: Keytzel Corrales (NCA)
Assistant Referee 2: Walter Lopez (HON)
Fourth Official: Rodolfo Paiz (NCA)

FIFA U-17 World Cup 2015

Chile, 17 October - 8 November 2015

AFC
Referee: Abdulrahman Al Jassim (QAT, 1987)
Assistant Referee 1: Taleb Al Marri (QAT, 1988)
Assistant Referee 2: Saoud Almaqaleh (QAT, 1988)

Referee: Mohd Bin Yacoob (MAS, 1986)
Assistant Referee 1: Mohd Muhamad (MAS, 1979)
Assistant Referee 2: Azman Ismail (MAS, 1974)

Referee: Abdulla Mohamed (UAE, 1978)
Assistant Referee 1: Mohamed Al-Hammadi (UAE, 1984)
Assistant Referee 2: Hasan Al-Mahri (UAE, 1978)

Reserve Referee: Hettikamkanamge Perera (SRI, 1978)

CAF
Referee: Mehdi Abid Charef (ALG, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Anouar Hmila (TUN, 1974)
Assistant Referee 2: Theogene Ndagijimana (RWA, 1978)

Referee: Malang Diedhiou (SEN, 1973)
Assistant Referee 1: Djibril Camara (SEN, 1983)
Assistant Referee 2: Aboubacar Doumbouya (GUI, 1975)

Referee: Janny Sikazwe (ZAM, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Arsenio Marengula (MOZ, 1986)
Assistant Referee 2: Jerson Dos Santos (ANG, 1983)

Reserve Referee: Bamlak Tessema (ETH, 1980)

CONCACAF
Referee: Valdin Legister (JAM, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Kedlee Powell (JAM, 1979)
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Washington (JAM, 1980)

Referee: Ricardo Montero (CRC, 1986)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Mora (CRC, 1989)
Assistant Referee 2: Warner Castro (CRC, 1980)

Referee: Hector Rodriguez (HON, 1982)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Ramirez (HON, 1988)
Assistant Referee 2: Walter Lopez (HON, 1978)

Reserve Referee: Oscar Reyna (GUA, 1983)

CONMEBOL
Referee: Enrique Caceres (PAR, 1974)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduado Cardozo (PAR, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Zorrilla (PAR, 1975)

Referee: Diego Haro (PER, 1982)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Lopez (PER, 1977)
Assistant Referee 2: Victor Raez (PER, 1978)

Referee: Wilson Lamouroux (COL, 1979)
Assistant Referee 1: Alexander Guzman (COL, 1985)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilmar Navarro (COL, 1979)

Referee: Roberto Tobar (CHI, 1978)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcelo Barraza (CHI, 1974)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Schiemann (CHI, 1977)

Reserve Referee: Gery Vargas (BOL, 1981)

OFC
Referee: Nicholas Waldron (NZL, 1982)
Assistant Referee 1: Ravinesh Kumar (FIJ, 1982)
Assistant Referee 2: Glen Lochrie (NZL, 1980)

Reserve Referee: Abdelkhader Zitouni (TAH, 1981)

UEFA
Referee: Ievhen Aranovskiy (UKR, 1976)
Assistant Referee 1: Igor Alokhin (UKR, 1979)
Assistant Referee 2: Oleksandr Korniyko (UKR, 1981)

Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER, 1978)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER, 1976)
Assistant Referee 2: Markus Haecker (GER, 1974)

Referee: Ruddy Buquet (FRA, 1977)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Debart (FRA, 1978)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA, 1972)

Referee: Matej Jug (SVN, 1980)
Assistant Referee 1: Matej Zunic (SVN, 1983)
Assistant Referee 2: Gregor Rojko (SVN, 1979)

Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED, 1983)
Assistant Referee 1: Hessel Steegstra (NED, 1978)
Assistant Referee 2: Mario Diks (NED, 1977)

Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG, 1985)
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt (ENG, 1980)
Assistant Referee 2: Gary Beswick (ENG, 1977)

Referee: Martin Strombergsson (SWE, 1977)
Assistant Referee 1: Mehmet Culum (SWE, 1983)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Gustavsson (SWE, 1977)

Reserve Referee: Stephan Klossner (SUI, 1981)

Referee Bennaceur met Maradona 29 years after the “Hand of God”

The legend of world and Argentine football, Diego Maradona, visited Tunisia last weekend for the filming of a commercial for Coca Cola. He met former Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur, known for having refereed the quarter-final of the 1986 World Cup in Mexico between Argentina and England. In that match, Bennaceur had awarded a goal scored by Maradona with his hand, the goal that everyone remembers as the "Hand of God". Diego Maradona has paid tribute to Ali Bennaceur during his visit to Tunisia by giving him an Argentina shirt autographed "For Ali, my eternal friend!" Bennaceur offered Maradona a framed photo taken before the kick-off in which they were the two protagonists. (Source: Webdo)
Diego Maradona's ‘Hand of God’ effort is one of the most controversial goals in soccer history. In Argentina’s 1986 World Cup quarter final match with England, El Pibe de Oro displayed the brilliance of a player at the peak of his powers and those street urchin tendencies that characterized him throughout his career. Six minutes into the second-half, Maradona passed the ball to Jorge Valdano and continued his run from the left into the England penalty area. The pass was intercepted by Steve Hodge but in trying to clear the ball he skewed it into the penalty area where Maradona had continued his run and England goalkeeper Peter Shilton had come out to meet it. Shilton was favourite to punch the ball clear, however, Maradona reached it first and with the outside of his left fist, knocked it beyond Shilton and into the net. Inexperienced Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur and his assistant (Bogdan Dotchev, from Bulgaria) did not see the infringement and the goal stood. Terry Fenwick and Glenn Hoddle chased Bennaceur back to the center circle, but their protests fell on deaf ears.
Maradona later said, "I was waiting for my teammates to embrace me, and no one came... I told them, 'Come hug me, or the referee isn't going to allow it". England coach Bobby Robson was in no mood for an embrace. "I saw the ball in the air and Maradona going for it," he was quoted in the Guardian. "Shilton went for it as well but Maradona handled the ball into the net. You don't expect decisions like that at World Cup level". Maradona later claimed it had been scored "a little with the head of Maradona and a little with the hand of God". That was how the goal would come to be known.
Maradona went from the ridiculous to the sublime as he put his team 2-0 up three minutes later. Receiving the ball from Hector Enrique, just inside his own half, he went past five English defenders - Hodge, Peter Beardsley, Peter Reid, Terry Butcher and Fenwick - before rounding Shilton and sliding the ball in. Valdano was available for a tap in but Maradona finished the move off alone for one of the greatest goals ever scored. Although Gary Lineker netted late on, Argentina held on for a 2-1 win. Tension had surrounded the match because it was the first time the teams had met since the Falklands War, and if the game’s protagonists were playing this down, the media certainly were not. Argentina went on to win the 1986 World Cup, beating West Germany 3-2 in the final, and Maradona was named Player of the Tournament. (Source: World Soccer)

Copa Sudamericana – Group Stage (Matchday 2)

18 August 2015
Melgar – Atlético Junior
Referee: Patricio Polic (CHI, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Raúl Orellana (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Claudio Rios (CHI)
Fourth Official: Luis Garay (PER)
Referee Observer: Víctor Rivera (PER)

Bolívar – Defensor Sporting
Referee: Anderson Daronco (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcelo Van Gasse (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabio Pereira (BRA)
Fourth Official: Javier Yrusta (BOL)
Referee Observer: Marcelo Ortube (BOL) 


Libertad – Santiago Wanderers
Referee: Adrian Velez (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Wilmar Navarro (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian de La Cruz (COL)
Fourth Official: Ulises Mereles (PAR)
Referee Observer: Ubaldo Aquino (PAR)

Deportivo La Guaira – Universidad Católica
Referee: Miguel Santivañez (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: César Escano (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Victor Raez (PER)
Fourth Official: Mayker Gomez (VEN)
Referee Observer: Bernardo Corujo (VEN)

Brasília – Goiás
Referee: Luis Sanchez (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Rafael Rivas (COL)
Fourth Official: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
Referee Observer: Antonio Pereira (BRA)

19 August 2015
Huachipato – Olimpia
Referee: Andrés Cunha (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Pastorino (URU)
Fourth Official: Claudio Puga (CHI)
Referee Observer: Ivan Guerrero(CHI)

LDU Quito – Zamora
Referee: Gery Vargas (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Montaño (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Wilson Arellano (BOL)
Fourth Official: Juan Albarracin (ECU)
Referee Observer: Miguel Erazo (ECU)

Danubio – Universidad Católica
Referee: Roddy Zambrano (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Herrera (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Byron Romero (ECU)
Fourth Official: Jonhatan Fuentes (URU)
Referee Observer: Jorge Larrionda (URU)

Sportivo Luqueño – Aurora
Referee: Pericles Cortez (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Bruno Boschilia (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Guilherme Camilo (BRA)
Fourth Official: Julio Quintana (PAR)
Referee Observer: Juan Bernabé (PAR)

Deportes Tolima – Carabobo
Referee: Oscar Maldonado (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Bustillos (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Humberto Paz (BOL)
Fourth Official: Imer Machado (COL)
Referee Observer: Otalvaro Polanco (COL)

Bahia – Sport Recife
Referee: Germán Delfino (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Belatti (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ernesto Uziga (ARG)
Fourth Official: Dewson Freitas (BRA)
Referee Observer: Manoel Serapião (BRA)

Ponte Preta – Chapecoense
Referee: Silvio Trucco (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Ezequiel Brailovsky (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ivan Nuñez (ARG)
Fourth Official: Luis Oliveira (BRA)
Referee Observer: Ednilson Corona (BRA)

20 August 2015
Unión Comercio – Águilas Doradas
Referee: Juan Soto (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Sanchez (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Tulio Moreno (VEN)
Fourth Official: Luis Seminario (PER)
Referee Observer: Antonio Arnao (PER)

Real Potosí – Juventud
Referee: Julio Bascuñan (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcelo Barraza (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Schiemann (CHI)
Fourth Official: Jose Jordan (BOL)
Referee Observer: Jorge Cuevas (BOL)

Universidad de Concepción – Nacional
Referee: Jose Buitrago (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Humberto Clavijo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexander Guzman (COL)
Fourth Official: Eduardo Gamboa (CHI)
Referee Observer: Hector Poblete (CHI)

Deportivo Anzoategui – Universitário Brazil
Referee: Diego Lara (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Christian Lescano (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Edwin Bravo (ECU)
Fourth Official: Jose Hoyo (VEN)
Referee Observer: Adrian Gomez (VEN)

Nacional – Oriente Petrolero
Referee: Jose Argote (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Jorge Urrego (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Lopez (VEN)
Fourth Official: Daniel Fedorczuk (URU)
Referee Observer: Martin Vazquez (URU)

Emelec – León Huanuco
Referee: Carlos Amarilla (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Dario Gaona (PAR)
Fourth Official: Omar Ponce (ECU)
Referee Observer: Juan Corozo (ECU)

Santa Fe – LDU Loja
Referee: Enrique Caceres (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Eduardo Cardozo (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Cañete (PAR)
Fourth Official: Juan Ponton (COL)
Referee Observer: Oscar Ruiz (COL)

Joinville – Atlético Paranaense
Referee: Christian Ferreyra (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Nievas (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Trinidad (URU)
Fourth Official: Leandro Vuaden (BRA)
Referee Observer: Jose Mocelin (BRA)

UEFA Champions League – Play-offs (First Leg)

18 August 2015
FC Astana – Apoel FC
Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: György Ring (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: Vencel Tóth (HUN)
Additional AR 1: Tamás Bognar (HUN)
Additional AR 2: Adam Farkas (HUN)
Fourth Official: István Albert (HUN)
Referee Observer: Jan Wegereef (NED)

Bate Borisov – FK Partizan
Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graeme Stewart (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Steven McLean (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Andrew Dallas (SCO)
Fourth Official: Stuart Stevenson (SCO)
Referee Observer: Murat Ilgaz (TUR)

Manchester United – Club Brugge
Referee: Deniz Aytekin (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Markus Häcker (GER)
Additional AR 1: Daniel Siebert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Benjamin Brand (GER)
Fourth Official: Frank Willenborg (GER)
Referee Observer: Jaap Uilenberg (NED)

Sporting Club – CSKA Moskva
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Assistant Referee 1: Bahattin Duran (TUR)
Assistant Referee 2: Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Additional AR 1: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR)
Additional AR 2: Barış Şimşek (TUR)
Fourth Official: Mustafa Eyisoy (TUR)
Referee Observer: Stefan Ormandjiev (BUL)

SS Lazio – Bayer Leverkusen
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mathias Klasenius (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Wärnmark (SWE)
Additional AR 1: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Additional AR 2: Markus Strömbergsson (SWE)
Fourth Official: Daniel Gustavsson (SWE)
Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN)

19 August 2015
Rapid Wien – Shakhtar Donetsk
Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Sander van Roekel (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED)
Additional AR 1: Pol van Boekel (NED)
Additional AR 2: Richard Liesveld (NED)
Fourth Official: Charles Schaap (NED)
Referee Observer: Raymond Ellingham (WAL)

Valencia CF – AS Monaco
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Beck (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Additional AR 1: Anthony Taylor (ENG)
Additional AR 2: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Fourth Official: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)

KF Skënderbeu – Dinamo Zagreb
Referee: Sergey Karasev (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Anton Averianov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Tikhon Kalugin (RUS)
Additional AR 1: Sergei Lapochkin (RUS)
Additional AR 2: Mikhail Vilkov (RUS)
Fourth Official: Igor Demeshko (RUS)
Referee Observer: Alfredo Trentalange (ITA)

FC Basel – Maccabi Tel Aviv
Referee: William Collum (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Damien MacGraith (IRL)
Assistant Referee 2: Francis Connor (SCO)
Additional AR 1: Robert Madden (SCO)
Additional AR 2: Kevin Clancy (SCO)
Fourth Official: William Conquer (SCO)
Referee Observer: Jean Lemmer (LUX)

Celtic FC – Malmö FF
Referee: Felix Brych (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Mark Borsch (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Lupp (GER)
Additional AR 1: Bastian Dankert (GER)
Additional AR 2: Marco Fritz (GER)
Fourth Official: Tobias Christ (GER)
Referee Observer: Francesco Bianchi (SUI)

Mexican referees file lawsuit against FMF for discrimination

The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) faces a complicated situation after a group of 11 referees and assistant referees filed a lawsuit against their “discriminatory firing”. Each referee demanded a payment of $50,000 for affecting the worker's life and $75,000 for moral damage due to the FMF discrimination. After not being selected for the 2015 Apertura, they did not hesitate to sue FMF and Liga MX for discrimination. The 11 referees and assistant referees who filed the lawsuit are: Fabricio Morales (former FIFA referee, photo), Erim Ramirez (former FIFA referee), Miguel Ayala, Victor Bisguerra, Victor Calderon (former FIFA AR), Mario Alcantara, Obed Gomez, Mario Nieves, Mauricio Moreno, Jose Barraza and Fernando Soto. According to a court publication, the total amount that FMF would pay is $1.5 million, including vacation pay and bonus wages from 1 April to 30 May 2015, coupled with a bi-monthly fee given by the sponsors of the league.

Source: Futbol Total

Hagen has decided to quit international refereeing

Norway's second highest-ranking FIFA referee Tom Harald Hagen (37), has decided to quit international refereeing. The 37-year-old referee from Hedmark will focus on the Norwegian Premier League rather than international football matches in the future.
“It is a demanding arena, both internationally and here at home, and after an overall assessment, I decided that I want to concentrate on the domestic refereeing. It was clearly a difficult decision, and I had to think seriously about it, because you do not come back once you have said no. It takes time and effort, because the international season it is longer than here, at home, and then you have to dedicate 24 hours a day to refereeing”, continued Hagen, who has refereed internationally for seven years. “I will always remember my international debut at San Siro in Milan. It has been a fun trip, with matches in Europe, World Cup qualifiers and fourth official during the last European Championship”, remembers Hagen. One should represent Norway in a good way, you have to be 100 percent ready and prepared it, which I felt I was not now”, said Hagen. He was placed in UEFA's first category and has been the Norway's second highest rated FIFA referee after Svein Oddvar Moen. He has refereed a number of group matches in the Europa League, and also in the Champions League, states fotball.no. Now he will use the extra time to work in inner Østland association, where he will train new talented referees. The decision came as a surprise to the Head of Norway’s refereeing, Terje Hauge. “Tom Harald Hagen has taken this decision himself. NFF want to ensure that we can develop as many as possible top referees who assert themselves internationally. Therefore, we regret that one of our top referees decided to quit internationally at such a young age, but we respect his decision and of course are pleased that we can benefit from his experience in the Norwegian football for several years”, said Hauge.

Source: VG Sporten

AARs preparations for European duty

UEFA's latest course for additional assistant referees (AARs) highlighted the crucial nature of the role, as well as the success of the system since it was introduced. "Extra pairs of eyes" are giving referees crucial support in making decisions – thanks to the deployment of additional assistant referees (AARs) in UEFA's top club and national team competitions in recent years. UEFA brought 40 match officials who perform this task to Nyon this week for two days of analysis, discussion and training designed to fine-tune and further improve their work in the coming season.
The AAR system, anchored in the Laws of the Game in 2012, involves the match referee, two assistants and fourth official being accompanied by two additional assistant referees – one positioned alongside each goal. The task of the AARs is to watch for penalty-area incidents such as pushing or holding and to decide whether the ball has crossed the goal line for a goal. The system is in operation in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup, as well as the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
UEFA refereeing officers Hugh Dallas and Marc Batta, together with UEFA Referees' Committee member Vladimir Sajn, were in Nyon to lead the course, while UEFA's referee training expert Werner Helsen and his team took sessions featuring exercises and match situations specific to the role of additional assistant referees. Incidents from UEFA games and filmed examples from the training sessions were analysed in detail as part of the course agenda. Areas covered included focus and concentration, positioning, anticipation, correct movement, the need for clear and precise communication at all times and how the match referees and AARs must always strive to nurture high-quality teamwork. UEFA's training for AARs now also includes online and special website preparation though the study of match incidents and situations – affording the AARs important experience and the chance to exchange feedback with UEFA's refereeing officials before they go on the pitch. "We know that the AAR role is proving to be of benefit," said Dallas. The former international referee from Scotland explained that the introduction of AARs had been an important factor in the reduction of potentially match-changing errors, especially as far as penalty-box incidents were concerned. "It is crucial that we get the big decisions correct, which means that AARs need to be totally focused," he said. "AARs' help in identifying infringements in the penalty area is a [role] which needs courage and accuracy. One of the biggest areas where the AAR system has worked," Dallas continued, "is in acting as a deterrent. Players and coaches are aware that another pair of eyes is on the goal line watching for incidents. This deters players from holding, pushing and blocking. We're also seeing a reduction in these types of incidents from free-kicks and corners." Dallas also observed that a positive surprise of the AAR system was the help it was offering not only to referees, but also to assistant referees. "Given that our assistant referees are mainly focused on offside decision judgement, their accuracy in their decision-making has increased greatly," he said. As the new season moves into gear, feedback from referees on the AAR system continues to be positive. "The referees feel comfortable in the sharing of responsibility," Dallas reflected. "The referees and AARs are now viewing the same incident from two different angles – it's giving the referee an additional pair of eyes. This means that there are less reasons for errors of judgement in the penalty area – more eyes means more accuracy".

Source: UEFA

Swedish FIFA referee attempted to explain decisions on Facebook

A Swedish FIFA referee has started a Facebook page in an attempt to “create an understanding for our occupation”. Mohammed Al-Hakim, one of the most promising officials in the Swedish top flight, Allsvenskan, launched his page this month with an admission that he should have given a penalty in the game between IFK Norrkoping and AIK and has been praised for his willingness to discuss contentious decisions. “I believe in openness and dialogue,” Al-Hakim told Fotbollskanalen. “The main idea is that I want to create interest [in our occupation] and I think the football family can gain from getting a better insight and understanding of a referee’s situation. I also want the page to inspire more people to become referees, which is an important part of football. I want to show my side of officiating and want to balance the picture [there is of us] in the media. I want to increase the accessibility in the football family.”
The 30-year-old is one of Sweden’s most promising referees and attended an UEFA course in February as he stepped up his efforts to officiate on the international scene. His page received a lot of attention when it was launched with the sentence: “Keep a good tone here and the chances of this page surviving will increase.” He added of the decision he had got wrong: “I should have given a penalty yesterday. Full stop. Now I have seen what you surely have seen already. I’ve seen the replays a few times and looked at stills and different angles. Because what it is about for me, is that I want to learn something and try to understand why I did what I did. I will never be right all the time but it is important to minimise the mistakes and make sure that I am right in the important moments.” He added: “I have got a lot of positive feedback. Of course, there are some negative voices, but the majority has been very positive. The whole idea is just a test, but the Swedish refereeing committee is in on it. They have agreed that I am doing it”. Few days later… "It became huge. Media called from all over the world and I had to tell them about the initiative and why I thought it was good. The problem was that it became too big, too much, too fast. "I don't have time. It was almost a full-time job to maintain quality on the page and interact with all followers, moderate comments and keep watch. I have two jobs, a family and a refereeing career to think of", says Mohammed Al-Hakim, as he continues: "It is really sad. I got a lot of good feedback, but it doesn't work any more, unfortunately".

Source: The Guardian

Copa Sudamericana – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

11 August 2015
Oriente Petrolero – Nacional
Referee: Patricio Loustau (ARG, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Ariel Scime (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Lucas Germanotta (ARG)
Fourth Official: Juan Garcia (BOL)
Referee Observer: Hebert Aguilera (BOL)

Universidad Católica – Danubio
Referee: Raul Orosco (BOL)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Bustillos (BOL)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Antelo (BOL)
Fourth Official: Claudio Puga (CHI)
Referee Observer: Pablo Pozo (CHI)

Universidad Católica – La Guaira
Referee: Wilson Lamouroux (COL)
Assistant Referee 1: Humberto Clavijo (COL)
Assistant Referee 2: Eduardo Diaz (COL)
Fourth Official: Diego Lara (ECU)
Referee Observer: Miguel Erazo (ECU)

Carabobo – Deportes Tolima
Referee: Carlos Orbe (ECU)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Vera (ECU)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Macias (ECU)
Fourth Official: Mayker Gomez (VEN)
Referee Observer: Bernardo Corujo (VEN)

Universitario – Deportivo Anzoategui
Referee: Ulises Mereles (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Carlos Caceres (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Roberto Cañete (PAR)
Fourth Official: Miguel Santivañez (PER)
Referee Observer: Cesar Mongrut (PER)

12 August 2015
Liga de Loja – Independiente Santa Fe
Referee: Raphael Claus (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Emerson Carvalho (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcelo Van Gasse (BRA)
Fourth Official: Vinicio Espinel (ECU)
Referee Observer: Bomer Fierro (ECU)

Santiago Wanderers – Libertad
Referee: Wilton Sampaio (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Rocha (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabricio Vilarinho (BRA)
Fourth Official: Eduardo Gamboa (CHI)
Referee Observer: Guido Aros (CHI)

Defensor Sporting – Bolívar
Referee: Julio Quintana (PAR)
Assistant Referee 1: Milciades Saldivar (PAR)
Assistant Referee 2: Dario Gaona (PAR)
Fourth Official: Christian Ferreyra (URU)
Referee Observer: Gustavo Lopez (URU)


Olimpia – Huachipato
Referee: Ricardo Marques (BRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Kleber Gil (BRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Rodrigo Correa (BRA)
Fourth Official: Carlos Amarilla (PAR)
Referee Observer: Manuel Bernal (PAR)

Atlético Junior – Melgar
Referee: Fernando Falce (URU)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabriel Popovits (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Changala (URU)
Fourth Official: Juan Ponton (COL)
Referee Observer: Otalvaro Polanco (COL)

13 August 2015
León de Huanuco – Emelec
Referee: Roberto Tobar (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Marcelo Barraza (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Schiemann (CHI)
Fourth Official: Manuel Garay (PER)
Referee Observer: Antonio Arnão (PER)

Juventud Las Piedras – Real Potosí
Referee: Dario Herrera (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Ernesto Uziga (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Ivan Nuñez (ARG)
Fourth Official: Jonhatan Fuentes (URU)
Referee Observer: Juan Cardellino (URU)

Nacional – Universidad de Concepción
Referee: Fernando Rapallini (ARG)
Assistant Referee 1: Diego Bonfa (ARG)
Assistant Referee 2: Gustavo Rossi (ARG)
Fourth Official: Mario Diaz (PAR)
Referee Observer: Ubaldo Aquino (PAR)

Zamora – Liga de Quito
Referee: Henry Gambetta (PER)
Assistant Referee 1: Raul Lopez (PER)
Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Yupanqui (PER)
Fourth Official: Jose Hoyo (VEN)
Referee Observer: Adrian Gomez (VEN)

Aurora – Sportivo Luqueño
Referee: Jorge Osorio (CHI)
Assistant Referee 1: Francisco Mondria (CHI)
Assistant Referee 2: Jose Retamal (CHI)
Fourth Official: Oscar Maldonado (BOL)
Referee Observer: Victor Balderrama (BOL)

Águilas Doradas – Unión Comercio
Referee: Jesus Valenzuela (VEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Murillo (VEN)
Assistant Referee 2: Elbis Gomez (VEN)
Fourth Official: Adrian Velez (COL)
Referee Observer: Pablo Montoya (COL)

Webb lands Head of Refereeing role in Saudi Arabia

Former FIFA World Cup final referee Howard Webb was approached by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation to oversee the improvement and restructuring of refereeing in the Arab state and he has decided to take up the role.
A statement from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation read: "The Saudi Arabian Football Federation is pleased to announce the signing of international officiating expert, Mr. Howard Webb, as the head of the refereeing department in the Federation. Howard Webb was a professional football referee for 12 years, refereeing almost 300 matches in the English Premier League. He was also a FIFA international referee for 10 years and was appointed to referee in nine major tournaments, including the FIFA World Cups in 2010 and 2014. He has taken charge of many high-profile finals, including the English FA Cup Final in 2009 and English League Cup Final in 2007. In 2010 he achieved the unique honour of being appointed as referee for both the UEFA Champions League Final and FIFA World Cup Final and in doing so became the first referee in the history of the sport to take charge of both finals in the same year. He retired from active refereeing in 2014 to take up the position of Technical Director of PGMOL which oversees refereeing matters in the professional game in England and also became a FIFA referee instructor. As head of the Refereeing Department, Mr. Webb will be in charge of developing, training, evaluating, and appointing referees. In addition, Mr. Webb will be responsible for long and short-term strategies and plans to improve refereeing level in the Kingdom. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation would like to take the opportunity to welcome Mr. Webb and wish him the best of luck in his new journey".

Source: ESPN

CONCACAF Champions League – Group Stage (Matchday 1)

4 August 2015
Queretaro – San Francisco
Referee: Jeffrey Solis (CRC, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Juan Mora (CRC)
Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Fernandez (CRC)
Fourth Official: Hugo Cruz (CRC)

Santos – W Connection
Referee: Mario Escobar (GUA)
Assistant Referee 1: Ronaldo De La Cruz (GUA)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Lemus (GUA)
Fourth Official: Oscar Reyna (GUA)

Club Municipal – Real Salt Lake
Referee: Raul Castro (HON)
Assistant Referee 1: Oscar Velasquez (HON)
Assistant Referee 2: Omar Leiva (HON)
Fourth Official: Melvin Matamoros (HON)

5 August 2015
Arabe Unido – Montego Bay
Referee: Francisco Chacon (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Andres Hernandez (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Marcos Quintero (MEX)
Fourth Official: Oscar Macias (MEX)

Vancouver Whitecaps – Seattle Sounders
Referee: Luis Santander (MEX)
Assistant Referee 1: Miguel Hernandez (MEX)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Rangel (MEX)
Fourth Official: Jorge Rojas (MEX)

Club America – Motagua
Referee: Edvin Jurisevic (USA)
Assistant Referee 1: Frank Anderson (USA)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Garner (USA)
Fourth Official: Baldomero Toledo (USA)

6 August 2015
LA Galaxy – Central FC
Referee: Christopher Reid (BLZ)
Assistant Referee 1: Ricardo Ake (BLZ)
Assistant Referee 2: Richard Washington (JAM)
Fourth Official: Adrian Skeete (BRB)

Herediano – Isidro Metapan
Referee: Jose Kellys (PAN)
Assistant Referee 1: Gabriel Victoria (PAN)
Assistant Referee 2: Juan Baines (PAN)
Fourth Official: Jafeth Perea (PAN)

UEFA Europa League – Third Qualifying Round (Second Leg)

6 August 2015

Rubin Kazan – Sturm Graz
Referee: Liran Liany (ISR, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: David Bitton (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Dvir Shimon (ISR)
Fourth Official: Menashe Masiah (ISR)
Referee Observer: Francesco Bianchi (SUI)

Qəbələ İK – Apollon Limassol
Referee: Duarte Gomes (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Luis Pinto (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Venâncio Tomé (POR)
Fourth Official: Bruno Paixão (POR)
Referee Observer: Dragutin Poljak (CRO)

İnter Bakı – Athletic Club
Referee: Serdar Gözübüyük (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Bas Van Dongen (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Patrick Langkamp (NED)
Fourth Official: Dennis Higler (NED)
Referee Observer: Kostadin Gerginov (BUL)

AC Omonia – Brøndby IF
Referee: Harald Lechner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Maximilian Kolbitsch (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Andreas Heidenreich (AUT)
Fourth Official: Gerhard Grobelnik (AUT)
Referee Observer: Haim Jakov (ISR)

Trabzonspor AŞ – FK Rabotnički
Referee: Steven McLean (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: David McGeachie (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Graeme Stewart (SCO)
Fourth Official: Alan Muir (SCO)
Referee Observer: Roberto Rosetti (ITA)

Odds Ballklubb – IF Elfsborg
Referee: Sergey Ivanov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 1: Viacheslav Semenov (RUS)
Assistant Referee 2: Valeriy Danchenko (RUS)
Fourth Official: Vladimir Moskalev (RUS)
Referee Observer: Iain Brines (SCO)

Hapoel Kiryat Shmona – Slovan Liberec
Referee: Gediminas Mazeika (LTU)
Assistant Referee 1: Vytautas Simkus (LTU)
Assistant Referee 2: Vytenis Kazlauskas (LTU)
Fourth Official: Saulius Karka (LTU)
Referee Observer: Jens Larsen (DEN)

IFK Göteborg – Belenenses
Referee: Jonathan Lardot (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Karel De Rocker (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Thibaud Nijssen (BEL)
Fourth Official: Denis Vanbecelaere (EL)
Referee Observer: Emil Bozhinovski (MKD)

Strømsgodset Toppfotball – Hajduk Split
Referee: Oliver Drachta (AUT)
Assistant Referee 1: Roland Brandner (AUT)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Kuehr (AUT)
Fourth Official: Dieter Muckenhammer (AUT)
Referee Observer: Dani Koren (ISR) 


Rosenborg BK – Debreceni VSC
Referee: Clayton Pisani (MLT)
Assistant Referee 1: Alan Camilleri (MLT)
Assistant Referee 2: Edward Spiteri (MLT)
Fourth Official: Philip Farrugia (MLT)
Referee Observer: Yuri Baskakov (RUS)

Vorskla Poltava – MŠK Žilina
Referee: Aliyar Aghayev (AZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Zeynal Zeynalov (AZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Reza Mammadov (AZE)
Fourth Official: Rahim Hasanov (AZE)
Referee Observer: Edgar Steinborn (GER)

İstanbul Başakşehir – AZ
Referee: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 1: Javier Aguilar Rodríguez (ESP)
Assistant Referee 2: Luis Fernando Martínez (ESP)
Fourth Official: Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva (ESP)
Referee Observer: Draženko Kovačić (CRO)

Dinamo Minsk – FC Zürich
Referee: Marcin Borski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafal Rostkowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Arkadiusz Wójcik (POL)
Fourth Official: Bartosz Frankowski (POL)
Referee Observer: Kaj Natri (FIN)

AEK Larnaca – Girondins de Bordeaux
Referee: Tobias Stieler (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Markus Häcker (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Sascha Thielert (GER)
Fourth Official: Guido Winkmann (GER)
Referee Observer: Sergey Zuev (RUS)

FC Vaduz – FC Thun
Referee: Istvan Kovacs (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Sebastian Gheorghe (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Ovidiu Artene (ROU)
Fourth Official: Andrei Chivulete (ROU)
Referee Observer: Marcel Vanelshocht (BEL)

FC København – FK Jablonec
Referee: Leontios Trattou (CYP)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Soteriou (CYP) 

Assistant Referee 2: Sotiris Viktoros (CYP)
Fourth Official: Vasilis Dimitriou (CYP)
Referee Observer: Ferenc Székely (HUN)

AS Saint Étienne – ASA Târgu Mureș
Referee: Craig Pawson (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Mullarkey (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Michael Salisbury (ENG)
Fourth Official: Robert Madley (ENG)
Referee Observer: Leslie Irvine (NIR)

Zorya Luhansk – Charleroi SC
Referee: Andris Treimanis (LVA)
Assistant Referee 1: Haralds Gudermanis (LVA)
Assistant Referee 2: Aleksejs Spasjonnikovs (LVA)
Fourth Official: Vadims Direktorenko (LVA)
Referee Observer: Manuel López Fernández (ESP)

Vitesse – Southampton
Referee: Ilias Spathas (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Lazaros Dimitriadis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Ilias Alexeas (GRE)
Fourth Official: Athanasios Giachos (GRE)
Referee Observer: Tony Asumaa (FIN)

Atromitos – AIK
Referee: Artyom Kuchin (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 1: Yevgeniy Belskiy (KAZ)
Assistant Referee 2: Anatoliy Khodin (KAZ)
Fourth Official: Aleksander Gauzer (KAZ)
Referee Observer: Neale Barry (ENG)

FK Željezničar – Standard de Liège
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (BUL)
Assistant Referee 1: Ivo Kolev (BUL)
Assistant Referee 2: Martin Margaritov (BUL)
Fourth Official: Nikola Popov (BUL)
Referee Observer: Kristinn Jakobsson (ISL)

FC Astra – West Ham United
Referee: Paolo Valeri (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Alessandro Giallatini (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Giulio Dobosz (ITA)
Fourth Official: Carmine Russo (ITA)
Referee Observer: Adrian Casha (MLT)

Spartak Trnava – PAOK FC
Referee: Tobias Welz (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Rafael Foltyn (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Christian Bandurski (GER)
Fourth Official: Benjamin Brand (GER)
Referee Observer: Jon Skjervold (NOR)

Slovan Bratislava – FC Krasnodar
Referee: Sébastien Delferiere (BEL)
Assistant Referee 1: Yves De Neve (BEL)
Assistant Referee 2: Jo De Weirdt (BEL)
Fourth Official: Christof Virant (BEL)
Referee Observer: Fritz Stuchlik (AUT)

Borussia Dortmund – Wolfsberger AC
Referee: Marius Avram (ROU)
Assistant Referee 1: Mikols Nagy (ROU)
Assistant Referee 2: Valentin Avram (ROU)
Fourth Official: Iulian Calin (ROU)
Referee Observer: Paul Allaerts (BEL)

Aberdeen FC – Kairat Almaty
Referee: Miroslav Zelinka (CZE)
Assistant Referee 1: Ondrej Pelikan (CZE)
Assistant Referee 2: Radek Kotik (CZE) 

Fourth Official: Emanuel Marek (CZE)
Referee Observer: Peter Mikkelsen (DEN)

FK Vojvodina – UC Sampdoria
Referee: Pawel Raczkowski (POL)
Assistant Referee 1: Tomasz Listkiewicz (POL)
Assistant Referee 2: Michal Obukowicz (POL)
Fourth Official: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
Referee Observer: Vitor Melo Pereira (POR)

Legia Warszawa – FK Kukësi
Referee: Tony Chapron (FRA)

Assistant Referee 1: Nicolas Danos (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Alexandre Viala (FRA)
Fourth Official: Wilfried Bien (FRA)
Referee Observer: Rusmir Mrković (BIH)

Vitória SC – SCR Altach
Referee: Antony Gautier (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Philippe Jeanne (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephan Luzi (FRA)
Fourth Official: Bartolomeu Varela (FRA)
Referee Observer: Christoforos Zografos (GRE)

Copa Libertadores Final 2015 (Second Leg)

5 August 2015

River Plate – Tigres
Referee: Dario Ubriaco (URU, photo)
Assistant Referee 1: Mauricio Espinosa (URU)
Assistant Referee 2: Nicolas Taran (URU)
Fourth Official: Andres Cunha (URU)
Referee Observer: Miguel Scime (ARG)

UEFA Champions League – Third Qualifying Round (Second Leg)

4-5 August 2015

Shakhtar Donetsk – Fenerbahce
Referee: Felix Zwayer (GER)
Assistant Referee 1: Guido Kleve (GER)
Assistant Referee 2: Florian Steuer (GER)
Fourth Official: Sascha Stegemann (GER)
Referee Observer: Alan Snoddy (NIR)

Molde FK – Dinamo Zagreb
Referee: Michael Oliver (ENG)
Assistant Referee 1: Stuart Burt (ENG)
Assistant Referee 2: Lee Betts (ENG)
Fourth Official: Lee Mason (ENG)
Referee Observer: Tomasz Mikulski (POL)

Apoel Nicosia – Midtylland
Referee: Robert Madden (SCO)
Assistant Referee 1: Douglas Ross (SCO)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Stevenson (SCO)
Fourth Official: Donald Robertson (SCO)
Referee Observer: Sándor Piller (HUN)

Ajax Amsterdam – Rapid Wien
Referee: Ivan Kružliak (SVK)
Assistant Referee 1: Martin Balko (SVK)
Assistant Referee 2: Tomaš Somoláni (SVK)
Fourth Official: Mario Vlk (SVK)
Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE)

AS Monaco – Young Boys
Referee: Danny Makkelie (NED)
Assistant Referee 1: Mario Diks (NED)
Assistant Referee 2: Hessel Steegstra (NED)
Fourth Official: Kevin Blom (NED)
Referee Observer: Alfredo Trentalange (ITA)

Astana – HJK Helsinki
Referee: Alon Yefet (ISR)
Assistant Referee 1: Roy Hassan (ISR)
Assistant Referee 2: Sagy Mazamber (ISR)
Fourth Official: Guy Berger (ISR)
Referee Observer: Robert Sedlacek (AUT)

Qarabag – Celtic
Referee: Martin Strömbergsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Daniel Gustavsson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Hallberg (SWE)
Fourth Official: Johan Hamlin (SWE)
Referee Observer: Alain Hamer (LUX)

Sparta Praha – CSKA Moskva
Referee: Paolo Mazzoleni (ITA)
Assistant Referee 1: Lorenzo Manganelli (ITA)
Assistant Referee 2: Fabio Galloni (ITA)
Fourth Official: Andrea Gervasoni (ITA)
Referee Observer: Jan Fasung (SVK)

FC Basel – Lech Poznan
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Débart (FRA)
Assistant Referee 2: Cyril Gringore (FRA)
Fourth Official: Fredy Fautrel (FRA)
Referee Observer: Christos Skapoullis (CYP)

Malmö FF – RB Salzburg
Referee: Michael Koukoulakis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 1: Alexandros Gevrenis (GRE)
Assistant Referee 2: Chrysoula Kourompylia (GRE)
Fourth Official: Charalampos Kalogeropoulos (GRE)
Referee Observer: Stephen Lodge (ENG)

Club Brügge – Panathinaikos
Referee: Stefan Johannesson (SWE)
Assistant Referee 1: Mehmet Culum (SWE)
Assistant Referee 2: Magnus Sjöblom (SWE)
Fourth Official: Mohammed Al-Hakim (SWE)
Referee Observer: Patrick Kelly (IRL)

Bate Borisov – Videoton
Referee: Kenn Hansen (DEN)
Assistant Referee 1: Lars Rix (DEN)
Assistant Referee 2: David Andersen (DEN)
Fourth Official: Jakob Kehlet (DEN)
Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)

Viktoria Plzen – Maccabi Tel Aviv
Referee: Ievgenii Aranovskyi (UKR)
Assistant Referee 1: Oleksandr Voytyuk (UKR)
Assistant Referee 2: Sergii Bekker (UKR)
Fourth Official: Anatolii Zhabchenko (UKR)
Referee Observer: Vladimir Antonov (MDA)

Partizan Belgrad – Steaua Bucuresti
Referee: István Vad (HUN)
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Berettyán (HUN)
Assistant Referee 2: László Viszokai (HUN)
Fourth Official: Adam Farkas (HUN)
Referee Observer: Luciano Luci (ITA)

Skënderbeu – Milsami
Referee: Artur Soares Dias (POR)
Assistant Referee 1: Rui Tavares (POR)
Assistant Referee 2: Paulo Santos (POR)
Fourth Official: Cosme Machado (POR)
Referee Observer: Juan Fernández Marín (ESP)

Additional IFAB guidance on offside

Ahead of the 2015/2016 season, the body responsible for reviewing the laws of football, the International FA Board (IFAB), has issued new guidance to match officials around the offside law. The two new points of guidance are an addition to the current interpretation of interfering with an opponent, but do not constitute a change in the Laws of the Game.
The additional IFAB guidance
A player in an offside position shall be penalised if he:
1. clearly attempts to play a ball which is close to him when this action impacts on an opponent or 
2. makes an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.
1. “Clearly attempts to play a ball which is close to him when this action impacts on an opponent”. The first part of the guidance has three elements: clearly attempts to play a ball; close to him; and when this action impacts on an opponent and all three of these elements are required for an offside offence to be committed. Judgement should be based on the physical evidence of the movement and actions of the player in an offside position. Attacking players who clearly attempt to play a ball which is close to them, and in doing so clearly impact on an opponent's ability to play the ball, should be penalised.
2. “Makes an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball”. The second part of the guidance has two elements and both an obvious action and impact are necessary for an offside offence to be penalised. Match officials will have to consider whether an obvious action by an attacking player in an offside position means that the opponent would need to delay his action to wait and see if the attacking player in an offside position touches or plays the ball, and/or, the opponent's movement or ball-playing options are clearly restricted by the movement and/or actions of the attacking player in an offside position.
"Clearly attempts": this wording is designed to prevent a player in an offside position who runs towards the ball from quite a long distance being penalised (unless he gets close to the ball).
"Close": is important so that a player in an offside position is not penalised when the ball goes clearly over his head or clearly in front of him.
"Impacts": applies to an opponent's ability (or potential) to play the ball and will include situations where an opponent's movement to play the ball is delayed, hindered or prevented by the offside player.

Source: IFAB/Premier League