My guess is "the ball is in play once it stops and is kicked" was itself designed to be the guidance (to players), but it didn't quite work out.
All fair points on my call for guidance. Perhaps not the most well thought out take on my part. As always I appreciate the nuanced and rational discussion here.
Mass you don’t understand. It affected their team, so that’s why they want it. I guarantee you if Barcelona did this and Kovacs called a penalty kick and even a caution for it, hansi flick would be at the podium screaming about how Kovacs doesn’t belong in this competition, how he just ruined an entire champions league, filing an official protest about the opposite of what they’re protesting now, etc etc etc This is such an abomination. Maybe moving forward in the UCL this year, the refs should punish delaying the restart and dissent BY THE BOOK. Maybe we can have the remaining matches with 10-12 yellow cards and 2-3 red cards each. Caution every complaining player who isn’t “captain only”. Caution every technical staff member for remonstrating. Caution every player who stands too close to a free kick restart. It is BY THE BOOK after all. Let’s have Czech Republic-Turkey be the new normal, as it’s BY THE BOOK. I’m sure everyone will love that
Second Leg UCL QFs: Liverpool : PSG - MARIANI (ITA) Atletico - Barcelona - TURPIN (FRA) Bayern : Real Madrid - VINCIC (SVN) Arsenal : Sporting - LETEXIER (FRA) Semis are going to be interesting. Especially if Arsenal and PSG get through. If that happens, you would think Turpin is a lock for leg 1 of the non-PSG match, but that would mean he'd have a team back-to-back. Vincic would appear a lock. And then whichever of the finals candidates who isn't an actual candidate. But then what? Marciniak injured and I think Kovacs maybe, too? I could see Nyberg grabbing a semi, honestly. Also, I kind of want the final to be PSG v Arsenal just to see what UEFA would do. No Oliver or Letexier there. Makkelie is the other obvious candidate but the PSG history feels like that's a nonstarter? Would UEFA put Makkelie there or try to shoehorn a fourth name and, if they do, who would it be?
It's surely Oliver if Arsenal don't make it? Right? If he doesn't get it this year, when will he get it.
If PSG isn't there, you could see Makkelie. He's older than Oliver and has been passed over before. But, yes, I tend to think Oliver is in pole position.
What about Irfan Pejlto on one of the semis? Came out of nowhere last year to do Real vs Arsenal in the quarters and did the Conference League Final.
And nowhere to be seen on the World Cup list. Hasn't had a single CL KO match. Not going to happen. I'm open to the idea that Nyberg isn't the defaul or break-glass option. But it's not Peljto. Siebert has had a good year. To undermine the argument above, you could maybe see him getting a reward/consolation for not going to the WC. Like Hauge in 2006.
Sandro Scharer was assessed by a member of the UEFA referees committee in the Bologna-A.Villa quarterfinal in the Europa League last week, so if that went well, I think the Swiss will probably appear in one of the Champions League semi first legs. There seem to be problems for all of Marciniak (injury), Kovacs (assessment) and the two French officials (repeating the same teams).
I think it has to be Siebert, doesn't it? Zwayer has been excluded from all Champions League knockout matches this season and I don't think any other referee has the necessary experience to make the appointment not look ridiculous. Can you think of anybody else who could work? Edit: they could give Nyberg a semifinal first leg and if it went well, it could be him? But that is all I think of. The other eligible WC refs (Mariani, Eskas, Pinheiro, Hernandez, Scharer) don't really cut it.
The limited Final candidate options really tells you that UEFA need Mariani and whoever is Spain's number one to get become elite. Not having a viable Italian or Spanish referee for a Champions League Final is a problem. It looks like Rosetti and Co are basically forcing Mariani to become one by just force feeding him assignments.
Makkelie? Maybe I’m too much of an idealist, and no disrespect to the German, but to appoint not-even-WC Siebert over Makkelie in those circumstances would be very blatantly incongruous to any semblance of the independence of the referees committee. If PSG really can punish a referee four years later (for a correct or at least supportable decision!) and deny him a career achievement to referee the Champions League Final, we need to pack it all up. There are much stronger words I would use in private for this affair and the impression it leaves on UEFA.
I have the same thoughts (including Nyberg). I mean, there's a scenario where Siebert has to work a semi and final, too, right? You've answered the question, but my intent was finding out if you think UEFA would gamble with Makkelie and place him in that tough position (which I'm sure he would relish, but still) OR would they get creative with a Siebert or Nyberg. It's really a staggering spot to be in. It's a World Cup year with 15 UEFA officials. Also, very possibly two Spanish teams left and Spanish referees don't factor in. Yet the combinations of injuries and top referees already having the Finals puts you in a weird, weird spot. And then even a backup plan of sorts, Taylor, would be conflicted if Oliver is conflicted. So you're left in a spot where there's a somewhat decent chance your CL Final referee won't even be a World Cup referee. It's happened before, of course (2006 and 1998); but I feel like the system is designed now to ensure it doesn't happen. Yet here we might be.
Yes and no, right? Spaniards wouldn't matter here. So sure it would be great to have an Italian capable of doing it. But there are other routes. You can list the countries that have had people in the necessary echelon who are not there right now. I mean, Sweden and Norway are almost there. I guess the problems go hand and hand, but one of the big issues is that 4 of your top 6-7 referees are from two countries (France and England). Not discounting the problem, because we ID'd it a mile away a few years ago (particularly the Italian side), but there are other ways to solve it.
But reality is reality. What sort of position does it put Makkelie in and is it fair for his biggest career moment to be partially tainted before it starts? Granted, through no fault of his own. But it will be the truth. I mean maybe they do it. But this is why I asked the question. It matters.
Also worth noting the big changing of the guard in the early 2020s has left UEFA in a position where they are largely still building the next generation. Guys like Vincic and Kovacs got the CL Final earlier than they otherwise might have, because there weren’t so many options below them. Granted, I do think it was kind of bad planning to put Kovacs up last year, when Oliver or Zwayer or Taylor have a longer track record. In particular with the two English candidates, taking the opportunity to appoint one in a year without an English team in the Final should have been more strongly considered. I don’t understand how it would be “tainted”. To the PSG board, maybe. But I doubt Makkelie cares much about that, nor should he. And this problem could have been averted by assigning him to literally any PSG game over the past four years instead of pushing the issue aside until the biggest moment.
Typing too quickly and "tainted" is probably the wrong word. But the point being that Makkelie's history with PSG would be a big part of the story in the week leading up to the match. It won't be old news. PSG will help ensure he's the news heading into the game. "Tilted against him," maybe? Makkelie does Arsenal v Real Madrid, and there's one nice puff piece about his career on Friday. Makkelie does PSG and he is a focus of negative media attention for a week and he and his ARs come under additional pressure that they otherwise wouldn't face.
Everything that MassRef is saying is right (to paraphrase, 'if Makkelie was going to do PSG again, for both and his competition's sake their first match reunited should not be the final') but even that is by the by here. It is reported that Makkelie and the PSG president had a (verbal) confrontation in the dressing room; this is not 'Howard Webb is a closet United fan' sort of thing. It was said in the media that Makkelie reported the incident to the UEFA delegate at the game, but the PSG president faced no sanction from UEFA. This is the same person who sits next to UEFA president Aleksandr Ceferin at any given big PSG match. You could go on and on but the point should be quite clear. You can debate about how fair or unfair this all is until blue in the face (of course, there is no debate to be had at all in reality), but Makkelie meets PSG simply ain't gonna happen, I'm afraid.
Have you guys ever heard of UEFA RAP, referee assistance program? I just discovered it. It’s this massive online training for refs with hundreds of video clips and what the call should be and why. It’s been going for many years but I would assume only the two for 2025 and one for 2026 (which is the women’s game) are worthwhile but this looks like quite a great resource
This is the current official one. I think the RAP is twice a year. You will make an account and it’s accessible online it’s both from 2025 and one for 2026 so far https://nextaur.com/uefa/login I saw many years of archives to download from some referee blog sites but I’m not sure if those past ones are worth watching with the law changes
I think this is another case where the classroom answer is a lot more clear-cut than the on-field one. Take the snapshot and, yes, it's a textbook red card. Loop that a few times at 100% speed and I am pretty convinced Kounde's pace coupled with the angles of the two runs means he will close him down and likely challenge the attacker before a shot gets off. So it's really on the border between SPA and DOGSO for me. I watch that and I think the xG is probably a lot lower than you'd otherwise expect on a "clear DOGSO." But again, foul from behind, last man, going toward goal, 30 yards out... it's really hard for a practical argument to override all the technical components. You've got to go red and that's where Turpin ended up. Also worth noting that the on-field decision was offside and came after Turpin already reached for yellow. So his AR is the real villain here. https://streamff.com/v/f8b58470