Some big games this week, and some equally big refereeing names to officiate. Because there is so much going on, I’m trying a slightly different format for this post. CSKA Moskva – FC Bayern München Referee: William Collum (SCO) Assistant Referee 1: William Conquer (SCO) Assistant Referee 2: Graham Chambers (SCO) Collum’s actually been called on by UEFA quite a
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The final legs of the Champions League playoffs will be held this Tuesday and Wednesday, and the roster of referees – combined with the first legs – read like a who’s who of Europe’s best. On Tuesday, Italy’s number two, Gianluca Rocchi, is in St. Petersburg, and Germany’s Wolfgang Stark – a no-nonsense referee if ever there was one – will
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Overall, Cuneyt Cakir had a good game, in the sense that he really didn’t affect the outcome. The match never felt out of control. He started off keeping control but not calling every little thing, so setting a good tone. His communication with the players was good. The call at 13 minutes to give Argentina a free kick right outside the
Read moreThe second semifinal of the World Cup will be officiated by Cuneyt Cakir of Turkey. This isn’t a huge surprise, for me, at least. Cakir’s well-respected by FIFA and he does have quite a bit of experience. He’s done pretty well in this tournament. Here’s what he’s been in: Brazil v. Mexico Algeria v. Russia Fourth official will be Jonas
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Honestly, none of the referees blew me away today with their awesomeness. And a couple of them did some really, really strange things… Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan), USA v Germany In a game shadowed with rumors of match fixing, I really expected the referee to come out swinging and call the game very tight. Irmatov did the opposite. I saw him
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These appointments came quite late compared to the other appointments, which usually came early in the morning two days before the match was played. The one other exception: Brazil’s second match against Mexico. Officials had been accused of favoritism in Brazil’s first game, including a soft penalty, and had disallowed two onside goals for Mexico. Cuneyt Cakir was announced for
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The Europa League semifinal referees for the first leg are Damir Skomina and Cuneyt Cakir. This is a pretty good appointment. The Slovenian, Skomina, has advanced through the ranks quickly, and was a candidate for Brazil. He didn’t make it, but that was partly down to his team. He’s a good referee who should be able to handle the heat
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In addition to all the usual appointment news and fun stuff, we had a couple of big stories this week on Play the Advantage. The Wall Street Journal published an article about FIFA’s referee selection process and how it basically screwed at least one referee over, but I had a slightly different perspective… In what may be a regular feature,
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