First appointment is public. It's Velasco Carballo of Spain with the opener. Rocchi of Italy is the fourth, which signifies that UEFA will--smartly--use the AARs, at least the Elite ones, as 4th officials. Full crew: Poland-Greece Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP) AR 1: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP) AR 2: Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (ESP) AAR 1: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP) AAR 2: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP) Fourth Official: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA)
Seems strange that they're using the AARs as 4Os, given they have 4 dedicated 4Os there. Especially for the opener.
Well they only brought four dedicated fourth officials this year, whereas they brought eight last time. I think it actually makes a ton of sense to use Elite referees who are there as AARs as 4ths. Gives additional rest to the CRs and allows them to focus entirely on their matches. Sure you'll see Atkinson or Clattenburg on the boards once or twice. I just wonder now whether you'll see any "lead" referees work the boards prior the knockout matches at all.
I get that. But you have 24 AARs, so why need 4 specialist 4Os? As for post-knockouts, I'd be surprised if it didn't move to the main 12 on board duties.
Politics, mostly. Development, probably secondly. And then maybe bad planning, thirdly. Clearly politics for the Ukrainian ad Polish referees. If you look back to EURO 2008, it's interesting to note that four of the eight dedicated fourths are now at this tournament as referees (plus Benquerenca did a WC QF in the interim). UEFA clearly likes the idea of its referees getting big tournament experience--even as fourths. Kralovec, someone who has a good chance to go to Brazil 14 and then France 16, can be served well by being at this tournament. Hagan is a little less clear of a case, since Moen is above him from his own country. Which leads to the third point of just poor planning. Maybe nobody realized they had so many available 4ths as AARs until it was too late. Or maybe they felt obligated to appoint the home officials as 4ths, but didn't want them to look so conspicuously political so they threw Hagan and Kralovec in there. A better question might be why they bothered to appoint dedicated Reserve ARs. That clearly looks to be a political decision as they serve almost no additional purpose, plus additional ARs could have been brought from the home countries. And, in this first match, UEFA hasn't even yet announced the additional AR. Agreed. At that point it serves no purpose to rest the referees if they aren't getting used. It would look terrible to have, for example, Atkinson as the 4th on a semifinal while Webb is doing nothing. It would look particularly bad if the referee in that semifinal got injured.
Graham Poll's preview article. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/eu...-2012-referee-guide-Graham-Poll.html?ITO=1490
Poll isn't too outlandish in his assessment, but some of statements stretch the truth. Kassai known for "a lot of cards?" Even when you put the qualifier "when necessary," I don't know how you make that statement. The guy refereed the first World Cup semifinal without a card since the plastic things were invented. To me, he gets the opposite reputation. And while Kuipers might have annoyed Collina when he went on television, I can't see how he's the most surprising inclusion. He was a mortal lock. He did the Super Cup and got huge matches throughout the year. Now, maybe his gaffe will cost him a spot at the latter stages. But being left home? That would have been the shock. Which leads me to Thomson, who is probably the least deserved based on performances. Yet Poll sticks up for him, which given the British relationship is not surprising, I suppose. But to say he was a "well deserved inclusion" ignores reality, I think. This guy has had a very tough go of it in almost every major match he's done since last fall.
Assignments 2-4 are up. Webb on Day 1 for the Czech/Russia game. Skomina gets Netherlands v Denmark. And Lannoy gets a pretty big encounter with Germany v Portugal. All have their full crews, though Skomina and Lannoy are using their alternate ARs as each had one fail the fitness test. Interesting note from this media release: http://www.uefa.com/uefa/mediaservices/mediareleases/newsid=1806151.html
As I predicted, Lannoy gets a pretty big game. Webb has a nice low profile match to kick things off. Makes me think Thomson's team will be out in the next day or two or else surely his AARs would be at the front of the queue to 4O to Webb (and vice versa).
Appointments 5-8 are out. Spain vs Italy Ref: Viktor Kassai (HUN) AR1: Gabor Erös (HUN) AR2: György Ring (HUN) 4O: William Collum (SCO) AAR1: István Vad (HUN) AAR2: Tamás Bognar (HUN) Republic of Ireland vs Croatia Ref: Bjorn Kuipers (NED) AR1: Sander van Roekel (NED) AR2: Erwin Zeinstra (NED) 4O: Viktor Shvetsov (UKR) AAR1: Pol van Boekel (NED) AAR2: Richard Liesveld (NED) France vs England Ref: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA) AR1: Renato Faverani (ITA) AR2: Andrea Stefani (ITA) 4O: Pavel Kralovec (CZE) AAR1: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA) AAR2: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA) Ukraine vs Sweden Ref: Cuneyt Cakir (TUR) AR1: Bahattin Duran (TUR) AR2: Tarik Ongun (TUR) 4O: Marcin Borski (POL) AAR1: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR) AAR2: Bülent Yıldırım (TUR)
Leaving Stark, Proenca, Thomson and Eriksson yet to get a game. Given Stark and Proenca are German and Portugese respectively, that rules them out of the Group B matches, so they have to have the Group A games. I imagine Eriksson therefore gets the massive Germany vs Holland match. Shocked that arguably the biggest group game goes (presumably) to Eriksson. I suppose it does mean it keeps those ahead of him for the final clear of potential baggage though. Poland vs Russia is apparently a massive game for both countries with lots of hostility between the sets of fans and a protest march planned in the hours before the game, so it doesn't surprise me that either Stark or Proenca get that (hoping for the calmer head of Proenca). As for these four appointments, no real shock to see Kassai on the big one. Entirely neutral at this tournament, so was always going to be used on the clashes of the big nations. And Rizzoli on the England game is nice. Also good experience for Collum to be 4O to Kassai on such a big game.
Also could mean he's very highly thought of and in the running for the final himself! Quick thought crosses my mind on Webb now. He obviously can't do Group D. And he wouldn't work Group A again. And we don't think he'd work matches with Ireland involved or directly affecting them. Looks like Webb's second appointment almost has to be in Group B. Could he really be slated for Netherlands v Portugal? Looks close to a 50/50 proposition now with Denmark v Germany. The only possible alternative I see is Spain v Croatia.
I don't think he'll be given ROI, but don't think the ROI stops him doing their group, so Spain vs Croatia is definitely a possibility, as is Italy vs Croatia. Thing to remember as well is what games may or may not hold some importance by matchday 3. Spain vs Croatia should largely be a dead rubber. Holland vs Portugal in all likelihood will hold some sway in deciding who progresses (probably more so fromlPortugal's perspective), so needs a stronger hand. Same with Denmark vs Germany, so I reckon he'll get one of the Group B matchday 3 games, or next week's Italy vs Croatia match.
I like Poll's articles alot, but some of the nonsense he can spew at times is just ridiculous. I understand that his articles are written for the average football fan and casual fan and not for referees. He is trying to give insight to the average fan about refereeing. Which I'm fine with. But he says some outlandish thing in his articles. Maybe I'm reading too much between the lines here, but some of the biases in his comments is just outrageous. Take for instances his "analysis" of Howard Webb. "Webb was heavily criticised by the Spanish press for his performance during the 2010 World Cup final, in particular for his failure to send off Nigel de Jong. The 40-year-old admitted that had he seen De Jong’s high challenge on Xabi Alonso properly then he would have taken the appropriate action - which would have been a red card." Here he is basically making excuses for Howard Webb's performance in that Final. He was heavily criticized by pretty much everyone not just the Spanish press and was universally regarded as not a good performance. Poll then talks about how Webb didn't see the incident properly, but he doesn't mention that for the other mistakes that referees made on his list.He basically said Webb wasn't at fault for that. Maybe Proenca didn't have a good view of the penalty he awarded. He also talks about Webb won't get the Final because of "jealously." Poll could be right in that regard, but it's also tradition as no referee has ever done a World Cup Final, Euro Final and CL Final. Then he just throws it in there randomly that he is a "great guy." Is Rizzoli not a great guy? It just reeks of bias. Take for instance his analysis of Thomson. Under controversy for Thomson, he lists the Serbia vs. Italy match that was abandoned right at the start due to crowd trouble. One. What is exactly controversial about that in regards to Thomson? Nobody said anything about the referee in regards to that incident. Two. Why didn't Poll put Thomson horrible red card for DOGSO and PK in the Europa League match between Schalke and Twente this season? It was a blatant dive and it wasn't even in the box. It might have been the worst decision by a referee in the Champions League or Europa League knockout stage this season. He put other referee's mistakes under controversy, but not Thomson's. For Carballo, his controversy was a second caution in a meaningless La Liga match that wasn't that wrong anyways. I don't understand what the controversy is under Cakir's red card to Balotelli? It was the blatant red card ever. Everybody was blasting Balotelli for being a moron. What is so controversial about having eight yellow cards in a match? I get the English don't like a lot of cards, but it's not like it's 16. He then makes it sound like Cakir didn't want to send off John Terry. I think any referee who saw that incident would want to send him off. Then under Rizzoli he lists his red card to Rafael as controversial. The only controversy was Alex Ferguson making a total fool of himself and stereotyping an entire nation of footballers even though half the Bayern team wasn't even German. I could go on and on. Just a stupid article. How can Poll say that a referee doesn't like to give PKs in regards to Carballo. Do you watch everyone of his games and make that assumption?
The byline is credited to a "Chris Phillips." I was under the impression that the only thing Poll "wrote" (or said) was what was specifically attributed to him for each referee. I don't believe he wrote the rest, like picking the alleged controversies. That said, I agree with your assessment on them. We could have a field day pointing out how, in my cases, the "controversies" are either not controversial OR are being chosen instead of much, much more controversial incidents (like Thomson).
Oh dear, where to start?! I actually can't stand reading his articles, however, I'd fully expect an English referee to support another English referee. You may call that bias, I think it's entirely understandable. I always love it when people make these sweeping statements. It was "universally regarded as not a good performance", he was "heavily criticised by pretty much everyone". Right... I've not really heard many actually slate him for his performance. I've heard many people, in fact you might say, universally agree, that he should have sent De Jong off. Even Webb openly admits that with a better view, thats what he would have done. I have seen lots of people, both in the press, experts and colleagues, slate the attitude and behaviour of the Spanish (and more so) Dutch players. You tend to fall into one of two categories with that game. Either you think Webb was terrible because he booked 16 players and should have sent De Jong off, or you think the players' attitude was a complete disgrace and they had little intention of playing football and Webb had little choice but to book 16. Poll falls into the latter category, as do I and many others. You fall into the first. By no means is it "universally regarded" that Webb had a poor game. Erm, he's English and retired. He has probably never met Rizzoli. He worked and helped bring through Webb. Couldn't put it better myself.
The first time, since UEFA has gone to the refereeing format of 12 referees, that the first 12 matches were not done by 12 different referees. Lannoy gets used a second time before we see Proenca. It is said there is no injury, and Proenca is merely being held for a big Group C match (as he can't do Group B) and then will likely be used on the final matchday in Group D. It possibly also means, as Englishref suggested, that Lannoy is a good bet for a knockout stage match--though that's reading a bit more into things. Anyway, Stark and Eriksson get the big ones, from a rivalry standpoint. But Thomson now has a critical affair given Denmark's surprise win: 12/06/12, 18:00h, Group A GREECE - CZECH REPUBLIC Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA) Assistant referees: Frédéric Cano (FRA) , Michael Annonier (FRA) Additional assistant referees: Fredy Fautrel (FRA) , Ruddy Buquet (FRA) Fourth official: Matej Jug (SVN) Reserve official: Primož Arhar (SVN) UEFA Delegate: Nodar Akhalkatsi (GEO) UEFA Referee observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE) 12/06/12, 20:45h, Group A POLAND - RUSSIA Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER) Assistant referees: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER) , Mike Pickel (GER) Additional assistant referees: Florian Meyer (GER) , Deniz Aytekin (GER) Fourth official: István Vad (HUN) Reserve official: Gabor Erös (HUN) UEFA Delegate: Geir Thorsteinsson (ISL) UEFA Referee observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO) 13/06/12, 18:00h, Group B DENMARK - PORTUGAL Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO) Assistant referee: Alasdair Ross (SCO) , Derek Rose (SCO) Additional assistant referee: William Collum (SCO) , Euan Norris (SCO) Fourth official: Viktor Shvetsov (UKR) Reserve official: Oleksandr Voytyuk (UKR) UEFA Delegate: Jozef Kliment (SVK) UEFA Referee observer: Jaap Uilenberg (NED) 13/06/12, 20:45h, Group B NETHERLANDS - GERMANY Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE) Assistant referees: Stefan Wittberg (SWE) , Mathias Klasenius (SWE) Additional assistant referees: Markus Strömbergsson (SWE) , Stefan Johannesson (SWE) Fourth official: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR) Reserve official: Damien MacGraith (IRL) UEFA Delegate: Ainar Leppänen (EST) UEFA Referee observer: Marc Batta (FRA)
Next 4 assignments--for Group C and D--come in the morning. This is where UEFA's system, the smaller nature of this tournament, and the country conflicts start to leave only so many options available. I think you are guaranteed to see Proenca's debut in Group C (if they wait an extra day to give him D, that would force his second match to be in Group C on two day's rest--though they did do that with Lannoy). You also are likely to see Velasco Carballo again in Group D (as he can't go in C or A and it would be quite something to see him given a Group B decider). That leaves two other referees to predict and you can eliminate the four assigned for tomorrow and Wednesday. I'll probably end up being way off, but I could see the following: Italy v Croatia - PROENCA (POR) Spain v Republic of Ireland - SKOMINA (SVN) Ukraine v France - KUIPERS (NED) Sweden v England - VELASCO CARBALLO (ESP)
Little bit different than I expected. Proenca gets the easier match. Webb gets brought in to handle the big one, which is the same match which tripped up Poll in 2002. Kuipers and Skomina slot in for the Group D matches. So if Velasco Carballo is going to get used, which I still believe he will, it almost has to be Group B--maybe UEFA is hoping Denmark v Germany ends up being meaningless. Only other options is to rest him until the end of the final round and give him a Group D game on the next matchday. Italy v Croatia Referee: Howard Webb (ENG) Assistant Referees: Michael Mullarkey (ENG) , Peter Kirkup (ENG) Additional Assistant Referees: Martin Atkinson (ENG) , Mark Clattenburg (ENG) Fourth official: Pavel Kralovec (CZE) Reserve official: Roman Slyško (SVK) UEFA Delegate: Adonis Procopiou (CYP) UEFA Referee observer: Kyros Vassaras (GRE) Spain v Rep of Ireland Referee: Pedro Proença (POR) Assistant Referees: Bertino Miranda (POR) , Ricardo Santos (POR) Additional Assistant Referees: Manuel De Sousa (POR) , Duarte Gomes (POR) Fourth official: Marcin Borski (POL) Reserve official: Marcin Borkowski (POL) UEFA Delegate: Christian Schmöelzer (AUT) UEFA Referee observer: David R. Elleray (ENG) Friday 15th June Ukraine v France Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED) Assistant Referees: Sander van Roekel (NED) , Erwin Zeinstra (NED) Additional Assistant Referees: Pol van Boekel (NED) , Richard Liesveld (NED) Fourth official: Tom Harald Hagen (NOR) Reserve official: Damien MacGraith (IRL) UEFA Delegate: Armen Minasyan (ARM) UEFA Referee: observer Vladimir Sajn (SVN) England v Sweden Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN) Assistant Referees: Primož Arhar (SVN) , Matej Žunič (SVN) Additional Assistant Referees: Matej Jug (SVN) , Slavko Vinčić (SVN) Fourth official: Florian Meyer (GER) Reserve official: Jan-Hendrik Salver (GER) UEFA Delegate: Jānis Mežeckis (LVA) UEFA Referee observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)
Looks like Rizzoli will be getting the big Holland vs Portugal decider in matchday 3 then. I can see Kassai getting one of the group D deciders, possibly England vs Ukraine. Proenca has to get group D (group A to soon, Portugal in group B, doing group C this time), so he'll get Sweden vs France. Will Eriksson be given a group C game that could potentially decide Sweden's opponents? Reckon he'll get a group A game (Poland vs Czech Republic?). Thomson can probably only go to group A because of Ireland and England, so could get the other group A game (Russia vs Greece). Cakir can go anywhere but group D, so probably group C to do one of the deciding games in that group. Stark can only do C or D so I reckon he'll do the other group C decider if my logic about group D above is correct. That leaves Velasco Carballo to do the other group B game Denmark vs Germany. We'll see if any of that actually happens.
Similar thoughts, but I start from the premise that Rizzoli will go in Group A and get the Poland v Czech Republic match--just seems like a really good fit for him. Thomson has to get the other Group A match, for the reasons you cite. Velasco Carballo would then have to be Denmark v Germany, as you suggest. I think UEFA will give Cakir the big one in Group B, though. It makes a lot of sense because it keeps some of the other bigger names clear for the knockout stages--plus, I think he deserves it. Don't think there's a problem with Eriksson working Group C at all--Sweden's possible place in the second round would be completely unknown still. Kuipers then has to be Group D, as does Proenca. That leaves Stark in Group C. How those 4 assignments break down probably depends on which games matter the most. Of course, there's probably one fact or issue I'm not realizing and I'll be completely wrong, but that feels like a good guess. If anything, I'd concede your point and swap Rizzoli and Cakir, but I've just got a gut feeling on that one.
EnglishRef wins the prize. Everything right except the Group A ties reversed. However, Collina is assessing Eriksson. I'd imagine there's a very good chance we'll see Eriksson on one of the QFs on the other side of the bracket, so long as Sweden isn't involved. Greece: Russia Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE) Assistant Referee 1: Stefan Wittberg (SWE) Assistant Referee 2: Mathias Klasenius (SWE) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Markus Strömbergsson (SWE) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Stefan Johannesson (SWE) Fourth Official: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR) Reserve Assistant Referee: Bahattin Duran (TUR) UEFA Delegate: Geir Thorsteinsson (ISL) UEFA Referee Observer: Pierluigi Collina (ITA) Czech Republic : Poland Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO) Assistant Referee 1: Alasdair Ross (SCO) Assistant Referee 2: Derek Rose (SCO) Additional Assistant Referee 1: William Collum (SCO) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Euan Norris (SCO) Fourth Official: Fredy Fautrel (FRA) Reserve Assistant Referee: Frédéric Cano (FRA) UEFA Delegate: Nodar Akhalkatsi (GEO) UEFA Referee Observer: Iouri Baskakov (RUS) Denmark : Germany Referee: Carlos Velasco Carballo (ESP) Assistant Referee 1: Roberto Alonso Fernández (ESP) Assistant Referee 2: Juan Carlos Yuste Jiménez (ESP) Additional Assistant Referee 1: David Fernández Borbalán (ESP) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Carlos Clos Gómez (ESP) Fourth Official: Mark Clattenburg (ENG) Reserve Assistant Referee: Peter Kirkup (ENG) UEFA Delegate: Jozef Kliment (SVK) UEFA Referee Observer: Bo Karlsson (SWE) Portugal : Netherlands Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA) Assistant Referee 1: Renato Faverani (ITA) Assistant Referee 2: Andrea Stefani (ITA) Additional Assistant Referee 1: Gianluca Rocchi (ITA) Additional Assistant Referee 2: Paolo Tagliavento (ITA) Fourth Official: Martin Atkinson (ENG) Reserve Assistant Referee: Mike Mullarkey (ENG) UEFA Delegate: Ainar Leppänen (EST) UEFA Referee Observer: David Elleray (ENG)
That just leaves Proenca, Kassai, Stark and Cakir needing their second. Proenca and Kassai have to go in Group D and Cakir has to go in C. Effectively, Stark is forced into Group C as well. So it's really just a matter of which referee gets which specific game. And that probably depends, at least somewhat, on the results today and tomorrow.
I'd guess Stark gets the Spain v Croatia game. It's the bigger prize in the short-term, it opens up Cakir to do Spain later if needed, and it awards Stark before Germany possibility precludes him from a big knockout match. Win-win-win. That puts Cakir on Italy v Ireland. Group D is tougher. You've got two referees who are finalist or semifinalist contenders and you've got no idea which team is going to win the group. I'd lean toward Kassai doing the France v Sweden tilt and Proenca doing England v Ukraine.