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Tag: referee

  • It’ll get messy if I talk about refs – Zidane

    It’ll get messy if I talk about refs – Zidane

    Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane was reluctant to talk about the match officials this morning.

    Real Madrid go to Granada on Thursday night needing victory to keep up pressure on leaders Atletico Madrid.

    Zidane said, “I don’t talk about this anymore. I trust football and everyone does their job. I’m not going to say anything else, because if I say something it’s going to get messy. We want to do our job.

    “I am not going to get into polemics. What I’m saying is that it has to be clear to everyone. The VAR is always going to help. It has to clarify the plays and I think football people have to sit down to say the same thing.”

    Zidane was also asked about his own future.

    He added: “No way. I only think about the three games.”

  • AFCON qualifiers: Referee collapses in middle of football match

    AFCON qualifiers: Referee collapses in middle of football match

    On Tuesday, the match between Ivory Coast and Ethiopia was abandoned 10 minutes from time after the match referee collapsed.

    The match referee, a Ghanaian named Charles Bulu collapsed at the 80th minute of the Group K fixture in Abidjan.

    He was removed on a stretcher and taken to hospital, and the state of his condition was not immediately known.

    Originally chosen as the fourth official, Bulu handled the game because a fellow Ghanaian failed to arrive at the match venue.

    An Ivorian was drafted in as the fourth official, but Ethiopia questioned his neutrality as a replacement for Bulu and refused to continue playing.

  • Klopp accused of influencing referee before Man Utd clash

    Klopp accused of influencing referee before Man Utd clash

    Ex-Premier League ref Mark Clattenburg has accused Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp of trying influence match officials ahead of Sunday’s clash with Manchester United.

    The German boss hit out at the awarding of penalties to United earlier this month, something which left his rival boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer feeling defensive.

    In his column for the Mail, he wrote: “Jurgen Klopp must be getting worried, because his comments last week about Manchester United and penalties were straight out of Sir Alex Ferguson’s playbook.

    “It was mind games — an attempt to influence referee Paul Tierney and get inside his head before a huge match between Liverpool and United this Sunday.

    “Klopp was correct when he said United have won more penalties in two years than Liverpool have in his five and a half at Anfield. He was smart, because his comments could not get him into trouble with the authorities.”

  • Ex-national team captain sentenced to community service after assault on referee

    Ex-national team captain sentenced to community service after assault on referee

    A Moscow court on Friday sentenced Roman Shirokov, the former captain of the Russian men’s national soccer team, to 100 hours of community service over an assault on a referee, the Interfax news agency reported.

    The 39-year-old, who was taking part in an amateur tournament in August, was angry when referee Nikita Danchenko refused to award him a penalty after he was challenged in the area, footage from the incident showed.

    Danchenko sent Shirokov off, prompting the midfielder to punch and kick the official.

    Shirokov, who played most of his career at Zenit St Petersburg and earned 57 caps for the national team, apologised to Danchenko after the incident.

    “I am well aware that not being assigned a penalty kick and then being shown a red card cannot be a reason to raise my fists,” Shirokov, who retired in 2016, wrote on Instagram.

    Shirokov is not the only Russian professional soccer player to have had run-ins with the law in recent years.

    Alexander Kokorin and Pavel Mamayev were jailed last year for their involvement in an assault on two civil servants, including a trade ministry official, and an altercation with the driver of a television presenter.

  • Wolves boss Espirito Santo slams referee after Burnley defeat

    Wolves boss Espirito Santo slams referee after Burnley defeat

    Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo could face sanctions from the Premier League after saying the referee in his team’s 2-1 defeat at Burnley on Monday was not good enough for the top flight.

    The Portuguese manager took aim at referee Lee Mason, despite the official giving his side a late penalty, and his words are likely to be reviewed by the league’s disciplinary body.

    “The referee did not have the quality for a Premier League game, this is a problem we know we had with Lee Mason before. It is not about the crucial mistake or decisions, it is about how he handles the game,” said Espirito Santo.

    “The players get nervous, he whistles from the noises from the players. We are talking about the best competition, but he does not have the quality to whistle the game.

    “I just don’t want to see him anymore, I told him I hope he does not whistle a game of ours again. He cannot control the players, the players are constantly arguing. The other referees let the game flow,” he said.

    Burnley manager Sean Dyche was surprised Wolves’ Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho was not sent off after a VAR review of a challenge on Josh Brownhill in the final minutes, but was more supportive of the officials.

    “I’ve no problems with the referees, it is really difficult now. The three most difficult jobs are the two managers and the referee.

    “I don’t think any game is easy for referees at the moment. We all want the decisions of course, it is one of those things,” he said.

  • FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: African referees, assistant referees to feature [Full list]

    FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023: African referees, assistant referees to feature [Full list]

    Nineteen female referees from Africa have been selected to participate in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, to be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, during a reserved period in the FIFA Women’s International Match Calendar between 10 July and 20 August 2023.

    The candidates will join the “Road to AUS/NZL” project, a programme which will determine the best to operate during the upcoming competition. They come from 15 CAF Member Associations and their names are as follows –

    Referees

    Salima Mukansanga (Rwanda),
    Lidya Tafesse Abebe (Ethiopia),
    Maria Rivet (Mauritius),
    Bouchra Karboubi (Morocco),
    Ndidi Patience Madu (Nigeria),
    Vincentia Amedome (Togo),
    Fatou Thioune (Senegal),
    Dorsaf Ganouati (Tunisia)

    Assistant referees

    Mary Njoroge (Kenya),
    Lidwine Rakotozafinoro (Madagascar),
    Bernadettar Kwimbira (Malawi),
    Queency Victoire (Mauritius),
    Diana Chikotesha (Zambia),
    Mimisen Iyorhe (Nigeria),
    Fatiha Jermoumi (Morocco),
    Fanta Kone (Mali),
    Carine Atezambong Fomo (Cameroon),
    Yara Atef Said Abdelfattah (Egypt)

    The 2023 tournament will see the Women’s World Cup expanded from 24 to 32 teams.

    The United States are the defending champions going into the competition, having won the previous two tournaments in 2015 and 2019.

  • CAF appoints new referee for 2019 AFCON final

    The Confederation of African Football (CAF), announced on Thursday the replacing of the referee of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations final, scheduled for Friday between Algeria and Senegal.
    CAF assigned the Cameroonian Sidi Alioum instead of South Africa’s Victor Gomez without giving any reasons, after the African confederation announced on Tuesday that Gomez will arbitrate the game.
    The Cameroonian referee Alioum moderated three matches in the biennial tournament, including the opener game between Egypt and Zimbabwe, then the group stage match between Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire, and then the quarter final game between Tunisia and Madagascar.
    The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations final will be held at the Cairo International Stadium on Friday between Algeria and Senegal, with the presence of FIFA’s chief Gianni Infantino.
    Algeria reached the final after achieving a dramatic 2-1 victory against Nigeria in the semi-final. While Senegal booked their seat in the final by defeating Tunisia 1-0.
    The two teams have met each other in the group stage of the same tournament and the counterpart ended with Alegria’s 1-0 victory.

  • Ex-EPL referee Mark Clattenburg reveals club he supports

    Ex-EPL referee Mark Clattenburg reveals club he supports

    Former Premier League referee, Mark Clattenburg, has revealed that he supports Newcastle United, during a Twitter question-and-answer session.

    Clattenburg was a match official in the English top flight for 13 years before he left the UK in 2017 for a role with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.
    Earlier this year, he confirmed that he had been hired by the Chinese Football Association.
    As he has cut all ties with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited in England, Clattenburg has also decided to reveal his preferred football team.
    Responding to a fan asking him to reveal his football club on Twitter, Clattenburg replied: “Newcastle United. The best team in the world!”
  • Poland 2019: Nigerian Referees missing as FIFA announce officials

    Poland 2019: Nigerian Referees missing as FIFA announce officials

    Nigerian whistle men and their assistants were as usual completely missing as FIFA released list of referees and assistants that will take charge at the FIFA under 20 world cup which kicks off May 23 in Poland.

    A check on the list released by the world soccer ruling body indicates that 27 referees and 42 assistants will be on parade another 21 Video Assistant Referees (VARs) were also appointed for the tournament in which Flying Eagles will be hoping to rise to the occasion and surpass their Quarterfinal best outing. The appointed officials are expected to undergo some course ahead of the tournament considered by FIFA as one of the most important tournaments in its calendar.

    Overseen by the FIFA Refereeing Subdivision, the officials’ preparations for this important youth competition will focus on a wide range of topics, such as their reading of the game and football understanding, teamwork and the importance of obtaining the best position or angle – being in the right place at the right time – to make the correct decision. All of these aspects reflect the FIFA Refereeing philosophy and are key to the officials’ performance, and as such, they are vital in order to achieve consistency and uniformity at such a high level of the game.

    The VARs will play a supporting role along with the assistant referees and the fourth official, but the referee will continue to take the first as well as the final decision on the field of play.

    The FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019 will take place in the cities of Bielsko-Biała, Bydgoszcz, Gdynia, Lublin, Łódź and Tychy between 23 May and 15 June 2019. The final will be played in Łódź on 15 June.

    African representatives in the referees list were selected from Algeria, Senegal, Egypt, Cameroon Burkina Faso, Gambia and Ethiopia. Nigeria is making her 12th appearances at the FIFA u-20 World cup but failed to qualify for the last edition in Korea.

    The Paul Aigbogun tutored side has been pitched against Qatar, Ukraine and USA in Group D

  • FIFA bans referee from Tanzania for life

    FIFA bans referee from Tanzania for life

    Oden Charles Mbaga, a referee affiliated to the Tanzanian federation, has been banned from football for life for accepting bribes, world governing body FIFA said on Tuesday.

    The adjudicatory chamber of FIFA’s Ethics Committee found Mbaga guilty of offences from 2009.

    Mbaga has been fined 200,000 Swiss francs (199,900 dollars) in addition to his ban.