It’ll be the Dance of the Hard to Pronounce Referees when Champions League action resumes on Tuesday. World Cup referee Milorad Mazic of Serbia will call arguably the biggest game of the day: Atletico Madrid v. Real Madrid. Mazic (above) is a quick tempered and often physical referee who isn’t afraid to mix it up with the players, so it’ll be interesting
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I am not a referee. But many of my friends and new readerfriends (a word I totally just made up) are referees, so it’s meant that I’ve started watching refs with a different eye than I did when I first became an officiating fangirl, way back when. (Which basically went something like: “Oh, he’s cute. I’m a fan.”) Take Mark Clattenburg’s Europa
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So, it’s no World Cup, but a Europa League semifinal is a pretty good consolation prize for England’s Mark Clattenburg (above). Clatts has had a truly outstanding year, both internationally and in Premier League, where he’s successfully taken charge of numerous big games. It is just a shame that he did not get this tournament final, and makes the fact
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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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Let me just say, Nicola Rizzoli is the Honey Badger of Serie A refereeing. And if you’re not American and don’t know what that means, watch the video at the bottom of this post. (And you’re welcome for introducing you to the very best of American culture.) You’re not even playing? Rizzoli don’t care. Rizzoli doesn’t give a shit. Rizzoli takes
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Here are the referees for the Europa League Quarterfinals, to be played April 10 Pavel Kralovec (CZECH) Benfica v. AZ Kralovec is a popular referee within FIFA, who was on the top 52 list for the World Cup, but didn’t quite make it. Alberto Undiano Mallenco (ESP), Juventus v. Lyon Undiano is also not on the World Cup list, losing
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Here are Serie A referees for the weekend of March 29 and 30, and Monday, March 31. The spotlight game is no doubt Napoli v Juventus. Napoli are in third place and Juventus lead the league, so this is a big game for Daniele Orsato (above). Orsato is beginning to get a lot of the big games. To this point, I’d
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The Juventus v. Fiorentina derby – at least it’s a derby for Fiorentina fans – is probably this week’s showpiece. Daniele Orsato (above) will be in the middle. Orsato is part of the triad of top Italian referees, along with Nicola Rizzoli and Gianluca Rocchi. I’ve noticed that Orsato has been taking several big games lately as his profile rises. This could also
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One of the biggest matches is Sunday between AC Milan (still a threat despite their ninth place position) and league leaders Juventus. The call-up for this is a bit of a surprise: Marco Guida (above). Guida is one of the younger up and comers in Italian refereeing, and recently attended a UEFA seminar for the first time. He’s very talented
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Oh, how I love Nicola Rizzoli. This guy is the best of the best, both in Italy and internationally. And while he’s much more measured on the international circuit (his 2013 Champions League final was a master class in letting a game flow), he plies his trade in the drama-filled theater that is Serie A. Bless him. Most weeks, he
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