UEFA Competitions: Referee discussions 2025-2026 [Rs]

I almost put "two?" in a parenthetical because I seemed to remember there was one other than Clattenburg but I couldn't be sure and didn't take the time to look. Yes, two! But still, it's not the ideal or standard operating procedure. Two

I know. I wonder if they were keeping Poll on ice in case they could use him as the Final referee but just, well, had no one else and needed an English referee? Hard to make sense of much of that season looking back.

 

https://www.uefa.com/news-media/new...s-for-2026-uefa-club-competition-finals-anno/

 

Letexier on Europa League Final, which was quite foreseeable.

Mariani on Conference League Final, which now likely shows why he was not given the CL semi. So, not as bad as giving him the CL final, but still protecting an Italian so he could get a cup final.

I'd say of the truly possible names for the CL Final, Siebert does seem to deserve it based on performance. So some credit due to UEFA there, particularly appointing someone not on the WC list. Of course, one could also argue that better planning would have been nicer as there's no way UEFA wanted to use two semifinal referees on the same final.

 

I think it's actually very obvious it was Oliver. Performance and assignments seemed to indicate that the whole way. Plus he has seniority on Letexier and just not sure UEFA would want to give Letexier a EURO and CL Final before his first World Cup if they didn't have to do so. I actually don't think UEFA wanted Letexier to be Plan B this year but it sort of worked out that way.

I think recent history shows it just doesn't work that way. I mean, Siebert's appointment here illustrates that. Even if he was Plan D or E, he wasn't even in the conversation for a CL Final one year ago. A lot can change. Makkelie has been nailed-on for next year's CL final a couple different times, for example.

 

Mariani is 44. I don't think I knew that.

We have talked off-and-on since (or maybe even before) the 2022 World Cup about how Italy, Germany and Spain didn't have a clear #1 on the horizon. It's very interesting to see how things have played out now that we arrive at WC26.

Italy landed on Mariani after trying/failing with both Guida and Massa. Mariani sort of forced into a European cup final here to give him some additional status. But what's next? I don't think you can expect a big summer from him. At 44, maybe a few years near the top of CL and maybe Euro 2028? Both Guida and Massa are also 44 so figuring out what is next and getting him there immediately seems an imperative.

For Spain... you end up with Hernandez at the WC by the skin of his teeth and, I'd say, a token fourth official role in a European cup final. Spain is still adrift. Hernandez is also 43. Gil Manzano is still younger (barely) but after doing Euro 24 he gets passed over so seems to be on the outs. Sanchez is 42 and, truthfully, doesn't seem like he has "it." So again, what's next? Does Hernandez ride to Euro 28 or is it someone else's turn? My take is De Burgos has gotten some good assignments but he's also in his 40s. Busquets, at 32, seems the first youthful candidate to get an established name in UEFA but not sure how quickly he'll be pushed.

And Germany ends up never really settling the battle between Zwayer and Siebert, with the non-WC referee getting a CL Final (so, at least, they've both performed at times in a way Italian and Spanish referees haven't). But again, they are reaching the road and I don't imagine either is likely for Euro 2028. So what's next for Germany? The other bigger name in UEFA, Stieler, is 44 and never really caught on. Will Osmers or Jablonski be pushed next?

@Mikael_Referee , any wise analysis in these three instances? Unless Spain pushes Busquets or there are other referees ~35y/o who are ready to go, it could be the better half of a decade where we really don't end up with top names from these three big countries as default options for big European encounters.

 

Siebert doing a match in all rounds of the CL KO stage means--for now, at least(!)--we are well and truly done with the era that saw Mazic get a relatively expected appointment to the 2018 Final without doing a single KO match that year.

In those long ago days, you could see a top experiened referee essentially get set aside for the Final in January, so long as they didn't really screw up in the EL or a national team match. No longer, it would appear. Particularly as a perceived alternative, Zwayer, would have fit that bill this year. Indeed, the appointment of Siebert makes clear that Zwayer was never even in consideration at all.

It's interesting now. If you look at the QFs, you see the sketches of a plan. That's the last stage Oliver and Letexier were at. It's also where Siebert and Mariani got tested on relatively big matches. I can make an argument that Plans A-D were put through the paces at the QF stage and that, had Turpin/Marciniak/Vincic/Kovacs been more available for the semis, Siebert (and Mariani, for that matter) would have never been appointed to the semis at all.

 

Im guessing anyone involved in the World Cup is probably playing it safe in terms of risking injury or reputation damage.

Also I'm thinking the top UEFA guys are expected to be 100% ready and focused for the end of their league season.

 

I was going to ask the same thing. He seems like he's next to me.

Actually, I was going to chide @Mikael_Referee for the "beyond" Kavanagh framing. I still find Kavanagh to be generally useless and utterly devoid of any personality. I can't believe people view him as an adequate international replacement for Oliver and Taylor. At least Oliver has a little more shelf-life and the baton doesn't have to pass to Kavanagh for 2028 (and, given 2028's location, I can't imagine Oliver stands down before then).

I actually wonder if the advent of VAR and the controversial attention it brings to the big leagues, in particular has just fundamentally changed the dynamic around the ideas of what an elite referee looks and acts like within UEFA. Right now, of the so-called Big 4, the only two names really operating on the highest levels are Taylor and Oliver (with Siebert obviously very recently joining them, at least on types of assignments; though given he crashed out of the last WC and didn't make this one, I don't think you can call it quite the same). Those guys were at the top before VAR came around or hitting that very top just as it arrived. So were Mateu, Brych and Orsato. Who has entered a Big 4 league since VAR and really stood out at the international level? No one. Truly no one.

Letexier is the only name that comes to mind and Ligue 1 just isn't the same.