UEFA has released the list of UEFA categories. They always promote/demote half way through the year. Of note from a British perspective are the promotions for Martin Atkinson and Craig Thomson to the Elite list, and Stuart Attwell to Cat 3. It also looks like LMC has retired after doing the UEFA Cup. http://209.85.48.14/1500/55/0/p1007178/Categories__Men__1st_half_2009_2010.pdf Hopefully that link works.
Saw this a little while ago. I still find it interesting that FIFA's and UEFA's differing opinions about European referees are so public. Einwaller and Gilewski are pre-cleared WC candidates yet they can't even crack UEFA's list of its top 30! Very odd. This list allows the 2010 UCL Final guessing game to be start. Of the 30, we know that Plautz, Riley and Baskakov will be gone by Dec. 31. And then Mejuto Gonzalez, Busacca and Hauge have already done the game. Eriksson, Skomina, Thomson, Garcia, Kuipers, Rizzoli, Kassai, Brych, Undiano Mallenco, Atkinson, and Lannoy are way too new or young. And Meyer is inherently behind Stark. That leaves 12 referees theoretically competing for the 2010 UCL whistle: De Bleeckere Larsen Webb Duhamel Layec Stark Rosetti Hamer Vink Ovrebo Benquerenca Hansson And, of those, I think you can cross Ovrebo off the list as well as Vink, Hamer and the two Frenchmen. So you've got seven referees vying for that game and what would be a serious boost going into WC2010, where I think most expect a European (if not Archundia or Breeze) to do the final match. I'd rank them (not my personal opinion, but how I think UEFA sees it) as: 1. Rosetti 2. Stark 3. De Bleeckere 4. Hansson 5. Larsen 6. Webb 7. Benquerenca
Gilewski is involved in some fraud investigations in Poland though, so getting on to the Elite list is the least of his worries! As for the UCL final, it's almost certain to feature either two Spanish or two English sides, or a combination of the two, so Webb is very unlikely to ever get the UCL final. Stark, Rosetti and De Bleeckere are way clear of the rest on that list of 12. Stark is one of UEFA's golden boys who continues to get good games, regardless of how poor his performances are. The fact he got a UCL QF (and SF? i can't remember) after the Arsenal vs Sevilla game was shocking. The same goes for Pieter Vink, who you ruled out, but is absolutely loved by UEFA. I would say the same for Ovrebo, who is/was a UEFA favourite, and unlike Stark and Vink, with good reason, so it'll be interesting to see how UEFA treat him when the season starts with earnest. Look out for the September WCQs and UCL 3rd Qualifying Round appointments. They should give an indication on whether or not he's being 'punished' for the Chelski vs Barca game. Were you to tie me up and hold a gun to my head until I gave you a prediction, I'd have to go with FdB.
Sorry, maybe I'm missing something, but while I understand why Webb won't get it if there is an English side in the final, why would he be ruled out if it is two spanish sides (whether that is a likely scenario is another question)?
I would not be suprised if Hansson gets the game. He did pretty well at the Condeferations Cup final and with that experience, I would think that UEFA may want to give him the Final in hopes of making him a contender for the WC2010 finals?
Doesn't usually work that way at all. In 2006, UEFA deliberately gave the game to Terje Hauge as a pretty blatant signal to FIFA, who had just snubbed Hauge by denying him a World Cup appointment. In other words, UEFA declared their best eligible referee was someone that FIFA didn't even rate in it's worldwide Top 20. UEFA is loathe to take its cues from FIFA and vice versa. Hansson's good, but he sort of fell into that game because Busacca, Archundia and Larrionda (the real favorites of FIFA at the tournament) were all given bigger matches in the earlier rounds. His selection over Breeze was a surprise to me, so maybe that means FIFA is throwing UEFA a bone now so as to give a non-UEFA referee the final next summer. Who knows? Regardless, one decent game does not a referee make--Rosetti, De Bleeckere and Stark (plus Busacca and the non-WC candidate Mejuto Gonzalez) are all definitely rated above Hansson in UEFA, and it's possible Larsen is, as well. You can't read too much into a final appointment of a tournament where only 9 referees were invited.
Ah okay, I am new to the whole international referee thing. Before this summer I couldn't name a single referee (I knew Collina's face but not his name) but now that I have started to take what I have seriously, I am now finding out more and more about international referees.
He wouldn't be. What I mean is it's likely that for the forseeable future, an English side is extremely likely to be in the final, such is the dominance of the PL. I think Webb's best hope is to get the Europa League final. I hope there's a UCL final that doesn't have an English side in it so that Webb at least stands a chance, but even then, it's no gaurentee that in that season, Webb is the best performing eligible referee.
I think it speaks to politics but also to the subjectivity of rating officials at the higher levels. Different people will prefer different referees to others.