Ref - Konrad Plautz (Austria) AR - Egon Bereuter & Markus Mayr Ref - Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium) AR - Peter Hermans & Alex Verstraeten Ref - HOWARD WEBB (ENGLAND) AR - DARREN CANN & MIKE MULLARKEY Ref - Herbet Fandel (Germany) AR - Carsten Kadach & Volker Wezel Ref - Kyros Vassaras (Greece) AR - Dimitris Bozatzdis & Dimitris Saraidaris Ref - Roberto Rosetti (Italy) AR - Alessandro Griselli & Paolo Calcagno Ref - Peter Vink (Netherlands) AR - Adriaan Inia & Hans Ten Hoove Ref - Tom Henning Ovrebo (Norway) AR - Geir Age Holen & Erik Raestad Ref - Lubos Michel (Slovakia) AR - Roman Slyško & Martin Balko Ref - Manuel Enrique Mejuto Gonzalez (Spain) AR - Juan Carlos Yuste Jimenez & Jesús Calvo Guadamuro Ref - Peter Fröjdfelt (Sweden) AR - Stefan Wittberg & Henrik Andrén Ref - Massimo Busacca (Switzerland) AR - Matthias Arnet & Stephane Cuhat Fourth Officials Only Ivan Bebek (Croatia) Stéphane Lannoy (France) Viktor Kassai (Hungary) Kristinn Jakobsson (Iceland) Grzegorz Gilewski (Poland) Olegario Manuel Bartolo F Benquerença (Portugal) CRAIG THOMPSON (SCOTLAND) Damir Skomina (Solvenia) > Fourth Official replaces injured referee > Fifth Official (one of non appointed AR's) replaces injured assistant > Radio Communication system to be used (as usual) > Physical Testing for officials & directives issued between 14-17 April > Appointed officials will still be given UEFA Club competition matches, but no international friendlies involving teams who have qualified for finals > They'll be wearing the slightly modified Adidas kits which will come into force from the start of Euro 2008. These can be previewed here.
So a few surprises. MMG prefered to LMC. Biggest of all, Pieter Vink goes ahead of Eric Braahmaar, despite having very little experience on major European club or international fixtures. And from an English perspective, it's definitely a case of out with the old, in with the new, as Phil Sharp ends his involvement in the major international tournaments. Nice to see UEFA give Howard a chance, but they had little option tbh. And I don't like the fact he feels the need to referee completely differently to how he does in the PL in internationals.
Ok, so it seems like UEFA is sticking to a rule of "one referee team per country," which I find very odd given that some UEFA countries got multiple teams to the last World Cup, so effectively it is more difficult to get appointed to EURO than to the World Cup. Moreover, it's a rule that is going in the opposite direction of FIFA. FIFA used to have the rule for World Cups, but got rid of it. UEFA never had the rule prior to 2004, but then decided to institute it for whatever reason. The rule seems counterproductive to me. I would think UEFA would want to showcase more of their referees to give a wider selection a better chance at the World Cup. But, anyway... Michel has to go in as the odds-on favorite for the Final. I would think De Bleeckere and Webb both also have decent shots, given the fact that their teams aren't present. I agree with you, Englishref, that Vink over Braahmaar is a big surprise. It seems to come out of nowhere, really, and Braahmaar appears to be cast aside without being given his chance at a major tournament. I don't think Mejuto Gonzalez over Medina Cantalejo (if one needs to be picked) is a surprise at all. UEFA always had him rated higher (giving him the UCL Final a few years back) and Medina Cantalejo only rose to prominence after one of Mejuto Gonzalez's ARs failed the fitness test in the run-up to the 2006 WC. The big surprise, to me, is Ovrebo over Hauge. Has any top-flight referee seen his stock rise and fall recently as much as Hauge? Gets omitted from the WC, but then gets the UCL Final, now he gets left off the EURO 08 list altogether (when, essentially, UEFA was saying he was their #1 eligible guy in 2006). And there are no age concerns here, either. Ovrebo just got picked directly over Hauge. Seems very, very odd. Ok, I was going to point out here that this is the younger group that UEFA has been grooming and that it was very odd that Wolfgang Stark isn't here, since he appears to be the "golden boy" for UEFA (despite his WYC performance). However, it appears that UEFA's rule about no one from the same country extends to the fourth officials. So, Stark stays home--as does Undiano Mallenco of Spain, who some consider to be one of the best young referees in the world. All in all, it seems short-sighted. If bringing the fourth officials is about refereeing development, you would think country of origin should be irrelevant. So now there will be 7 "active" Adidas shirts around the world. And all have been introduced since the first half of 2006. Something to consider for those that hate OSI's "frequent" changes.
I am also surprised that the only Portuguese referee is going as a fourth, considering that a number of them have been getting UCL/ higher profile UCP assignments. I agree with the Stark comments. He seems to be high on DFB and UEFA's Christmas card list. Could it be because he's too much of a lightning rod? It seems that nearly every other match he does has something interesting go on. Although he does seem to get assigned to rivalry/high-stakes matches a lot in Germany and by FIFA. I've been semi-following him since way before his little Chile-Argentina circus, and all indications are that he has the talent to be the next big thing. I think that the whole thing about one referee per country comes down to A) politics, and B) simple math. A you have to make everyone happy, so you have to spread the love around, and B - if you have 2 crews from Germany, and Germany advances to the semis, then that's 2 crews less you have to work with, instead of only one. I think they should go back to selecting semi and final assignments one position at a time (instead of whole crews going through). It never used to work because nobody spoke the same language (1966 WC final anyone?), but now that all the referees are required to speak English, why not have a mixed-nationality crew? Wouldn't it be great to have a World Cup final with an Italian with the whistle, a Japanese and a Brazilian for ARs, and a South African as the 4th? Isn't it a World Cup? Glad to see Howie, Frankie, Max and Robby get the call. The young and the restless...
I dont like your idea. I dont care if everyone "speaks" english. Not everyone can comprehend english at a high level even if they speak it. Hell, i consider myself 3/4 fluent at french in reading and writing but i cannot understand a person from quebec. I think by keeping it a solid "crew" the entire time, it will make for a more productive and efficient match.
i agree. now, if they mixed crews all tourney long, then it would be fine for a final. but, if they purely select position by position for a final, i feel it wouldn't be called as well.