Tag Archives: markus merk

Referees in the media (week 31)

Posted on by

‘Referees in the media’ will be published at the beginning of the week on the Dutch Referee Blog and provides remarkable or interesting quotes and links to articles worth reading.

“Yet there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of her. And that’s a good thing because Seitz is a referee, and for an official, anonymity is often the reward for a job well done.”

Los Angelos Times journalist Kevin Baxter about Kari Seitz, US referee in her third consecutive Olympic soccer tournament.

“It’s my hope in my lifetime that we get some women referees in the World Cup (for men, jth).”

Kari Seitz realizes that things ‘don’t happen overnight’, but she hopes that female referees will be equal to men’s referees. Read the full article on LA Times sports section.

“Jack Taylor, perhaps the finest referee of all time, has passed away.”

A statement on the website of the Football League.

“When you don’t send home the referee who made the biggest mistake, what signal do you give to the other referees?”

Former German top referee Markus Merk finds Viktor Kassai the best referee in the world, but stated that Uefa made the right decision to send Kassai home after missing a goal.

Referees in the media (week 4)

Posted on by

‘Referees in the media’ will be published at the beginning of the week on the Dutch Referee Blog and provides remarkable or interesting quotes and links to articles worth reading.

“Ofcourse I talked with my assistant about this. He says he did not spit. But that will be investigated.”

Says referee Dennis Higler about his assistant Richard Slop, who is accused of spitting Dennis Hollart from Almere City.

“Based on our insight into his economic conditions, we have written off damages in the millions of crowns and are glad thereby to contribute to ending this unfortunate case which without a doubt has had large, personal consequences for Ronni Norvig.”

Says DBU spokesman Lars Berendt to Reuters about the settlement the Danish FA has made with the fan who attacked referee Herbert Fandel. The man has to pay 250.000 Danish crowns (about 33.600 euro’s; 28.000 British pounds) instead of about 1.8 million crowns.

“To me, the appointment was not just a show of confidence in me but to all Asian referees. This is a big responsibility for all of us in the Asian refereeing family to work in more and more important world matches.”

Ravshan Irmatov, the referee of the Club World Cup final between Barcelona and Santos.

Pure theoratically, it’s possible. I’m 42 and can be active for five more years, if I keep fit and healthy. But it’s not a real goal, I don’t look at those statistics.”

Wolfgang Stark just before his 250th Bundesliga match last weekend about reaching the Markus Merk’s record of 339 matches at German’s highest level.

Best bookmark ever for a referee book

Posted on by

I’ve been looking for referee books and found Bewegend, Merk & More about experiences of German retired match official Markus Merk. It has the best bookmark ever (at least for a referee book): a yellow card

I still have to read it, but just wanted to show you. Recently I also found out the Royal Library in The Hague (where I live) had pretty much refereeing books in different languages. I’m very interested in them, so please tell me about good referee books you’ve read or heard about.

Bewegend, Merk & More about Markus Merk

German Markus Merk best referee of last decade

Posted on by

German referee Markus Merk has been ranked as the best referee of the last ten years by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).

An explanation how the referees got ranked is written on the IFFHS website. Most referees (44) on the list with 63 come frome Europe, with most representatives from Italy (7). The only Dutch referee is Dick Jol with 14 points, the same as Michael Riley and Carlos Simon. The only woman in the list is Nicole Petignat on place 54.

One day earlier IFFHS named Howard Webb as best referee of 2010, followed by Asian surprise Ravshan Irmatov.

UPDATE: IFFHS has also added the list with the best referee since 1986. Collina is topping the list, Merk is second and Milton Nielsen on three. Number 5 Oscar Ruiz is still refereeing, but is not very close to first spot.

The IFFHS list with the best referees of the last decade.

1. Dr. Markus Merk Deutschland 135
2. Óscar Julián Ruiz Colombia 104
3. Ľuboš Micheľ Slovensko 96
Jorge Luis Larrionda Uruguay 96
5. Dr. Pierluigi Collina Italia 94
6. Roberto Rosetti Italia 91
7. Kim Milton Nielsen Danmark 84
8. Frank De Bleeckere Belgique 82
9. Massimo Busacca Schweiz 81
10. Manuel Enrique Mejuto González España 73
11. Anders Frisk Sverige 70
Graham Poll England 70
13. Urs Meier Schweiz 65
14. Horacio Marcelo Elizondo Argentina 62
15. Howard Melton Webb England 61
16. Héctor Walter Baldassi Argentina 60
17. Valentin Ivanov Russia 51
18. Luis Medina Cantalejo España 49
19. Herbert Fandel Deutschland 47
20. Benito Armando Archundia México 44
21. Gilles Veissière France 37
22. Terje Hauge Norge 36
Claus Bo Larsen Danmark 36
24. Carlos Arecio Amarilla Paraguay 35
25. Hugh Dallas Scotland 31
26. Ravshan Irmatov Usbekistan 30
27. Vítor Manuel Melo Pereira Portugal 28
28. Wolfgang Stark Deutschland 27
29. Viktor Kassai Magyarország 25
30. Carlos Luis Chandia Chile 24
31. Carlos Alberto Batres Guatemala 18
32. Marcio Rezende de Freitas Brasil 17
33. Alberto Udiano Mallenco España 16
34. Peter Fröjdfeldt Sverige 15
35. Carlos Eugenio Simon Brasil 14
Dirk Zier Gerardus Jol Nederland 14
Michael Riley England 14
38. Ali Mohamed Bujsaim UAE 13
39. Saad Kameel Manei Kuwait 12
40. Stefano Braschi Italia 11
Martin Atkinson England 11
42. Toru Kamikawa Japan 10
43. Arturo Dauden Ibañez España 9
Nicola Rizzoli Italia 9
45. Antonio Jesús López Neto España 8
Gamal Mahmoud Ahmed Ghandour Egypt 8
Hellmut Krug Deutschland 8
48. Eduardo Iturralde González España 7
Gianluca Paparesta Italia 7
Marco Antonio Rodríguez México 7
Massimo De Santis Italia 7
Stefano Farina Italia 7
Yuichi Nishimura Japan 7
54. Alain Sars France 5
Mark Alexander Shield Australia 5
Graham Barber England 5
Kyros Vassaras Greece 5
Nicole Petignat Schweiz 5
Martin Hansson Sverige 5
Olegário Manuel Bártolo Fautino Benquerença Portugal 5
61. Tom Henning Övrebö Norge 4
62. Eric Poulat France 3
Ubaldo Aquino Valenzano Paraguay 3

Rulebreakers will become referees

Posted on by

German youth inmates are trained to become referees. This project is supported by the Sepp Herberger Foundation, which focuses on the rehabilitation, disabled sports and interaction between schools and clubs.

“The prisoner-project ‘Anpfiff 2010’ (‘Kick-off 2010’) is new and the main goal is that prisoners learn to obey the rules and represent them on the field”, says a spokesperson of the Sepp Herberger Foundation to the Dutch Referee blog.

In two facilities of youth detention in the region Rhineland-Palatinate employees of the German FA (DFB) train the inmates. The idea of promoting soccer in prison was already there in the early days of the Sepp Herberger Foundation, which is founded in 1977. Herberger is a former German soccer player and coach.

Markus Merk recently visited one of the participating youth prisons in Schifferstadt. Photo by Sepp Herberger Foundation

“Promotion of soccer includes the training of referees”, says the spokesman. The organisation is trying to make one uniform concept from all the projects in the German regions.

The SHF sees great opportunities for selected participants to change their role. “The motto ‘from rule-breaker to governing body’ describes the possible conversion perfect. It is for the detainees about learning rules and to represent them all up to, and enforce them.”

About 15 to 20 participants, who all have committed different sorts of crime, are trained by five employees of the soutwest German FA. They will have to apply the Laws of the Game in matches and will be examined by the officials.

Recently German former top referee Markus Merk visited one of the participating prisons and gave the now certified officials all a referee shirt. “It was a very interesting visit to Schifferstadt. Especially the many issues young people came up with have inspired me.” His advice to everyone: “Football offers you many possibilities. Use them.”

The official evaluation results are expected in 2011. “But everyone here is convinced that it will become a success”, says the SHF-spokesman.

Video suggestion (in German): footage and interviews with detainees.
Info (English): about the Sepp Herberger Foundation

Join the Dutch Referee Blog on Facebook.