Tag Archives: wolfgang stark

Referees in the media (week 19)

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.

“If you had bad luck, the players first needed to remove shit from the field, because the cows were walking there the day before.”

Herman Efftink from Dutch town Delden tells about the first years of is long career. He has been honoured by the Dutch FA for being a match official for 50 (!) years. Newspaper Tubantia didn’t mention if he will continue his career after more than 3.500 matches half a century.

Als je pech had moesten de spelers eerst de stront van het veld halen omdat de koeien er de dag ervoor nog liepen.”

“We have huge problems by finding new referees. Next season in region Bayern we have for the first time not enough referees in the lowest leagues.”

Wolfgang Stark, referee of the Europa League final, sees that the number of referees in German is decreasing.

“Not everybody here speaks English and the challenge of communicating with the other officials and players can at times be interesting but most of the time you get your message across.”

Referee Ross Haswell about refereeing in a different country where not everybody speaks English. ‘He is in Ukraine as a member of the CPISRA football committee and to referee at the classification competition ahead of the London 2012 Paralympics’, explains the Scottish FA Referee Development Blog.

“A talent doesn’t mean that you have achieved something,” he added. “It means we think that you have the possibility to achieve something. You must turn the potential that you have into the real thing.”

David Elleray, UEFA Referees’ Committee member, during training session with talented referees. They altogether discussed incidents and team tactics of the Europa League final.

“I have been instructed by Uefa not to talk.”

Portugese Pedro Proenca wouldn’t comment on the fact that Antena 1 named in as referee for the Champions League final.

Referees in the media (week 17 and 18)

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.

“I went past an Ild player and then tripped over my own feet. It was unbelievably clumsy of me and when the referee pointed to the spot I felt I had to speak out.”

Talat Abunima spoke with local newspaper Sandnesposten after he was send of in Norwegian fifth league after being send of for protesting against a penalty kick he conceived.

Referee Nedzad Munjic also gave a reaction to the same newspaper. He still disagreed with the player:

“It was a clear penalty. The player got it all wrong – I don’t think the players know the rules properly. And when I’ve blown the whistle, I can’t change my mind.”

The red card has been rescinded. Read more about this story on the Reuters website.

“I think the first few decisions for the referee set the tone for the match, to get a certain security. And I think if the first decisions are taken well, then you get into the match easily as a referee.”

German referee Wolfgang Stark after his appointment for the Europa League final between Club Atlético de Madrid and Athletic Club next Wednesday.

“EURO 2012 will be a tough challenge. It will not only be remembered for the quality of the play, but also for the quality of the refereeing. We need a very high commitment from all of you from now until the end of the competition.”

Uefa’s chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina expresses his hopes for Euro 2012 to the twelve refereeing teams.

“During muy career as a linesman I always continued whistling matches. With lots of fun I whistled the sixth team from DZSV or a match of A-juniors. I’d really like to whistle again.”

Former international assistant referee Wijnand Rutgers has stopped as AR at national level too. He gets back to refereeing third and fouth amateur level matches, says he to De Gelderlander, a local newspaper in Holland.

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.

Reactions from referees who’ll go to EC 2012

Posted on by

Uefa has selected twelve referees for the European Championship 2012 in Ukraine and Poland.

You can find the Uefa list with twelve referees and the fourth officials here. I’ve searched the internet for reactions from each appointed referee, which you can find below.

European referee boss Pierluigi Collina on Uefa.com:

“The 12 are all referees from the elite group, so they are the top referees in Europe. They have all refereed UEFA Champions League matches during the past two seasons. What they can guarantee are two main elements – quality and experience. And only one referee, Howard Webb, was at UEFA EURO 2008. So there has been significant turnover.”

Cüneyt Çakır from Turkey was appointed after a lapse of sixteen years without a Turkish referee at a European Championship. The Turkish FA the selection of Çakır a “historic achievement“.

Jonas Eriksson from Sweden on the website of the Swedish FA:

“I am extremely proud, happy and grateful to be one of the twelve referees who will go to the European Championship finals and can enjoy this tournament. I want to send a big gratitude to everyone in Swedish football: from refereeing colleagues and observers to the players and coaches who all in different way have developed me as a soccer referee.”

Hungarian FA praises their referee Viktor Kassai as ‘one of the best referees in the world’. And called it ‘no surprise’ that their fellow countryman is elected for the tournament in Ukraine and Poland.

Bjorn Kuipers was pretty happy he got called personally by Pierluigi Collina to tell him the good news. “A very nice conversation.” Watch the interview Dutch media had with the referee from The Netherlands:

Stéphane Lannoy from France got much support from his national referee chief Marc Batta.

“This is clearly a confirmation of the skills of Stéphane, you do not qualify for a World (2010) and a European Championship without proof of quality. But after enjoying this appointment, Stéphane will have to continue to work hard to prepare for this next stage.”

Pedro Proença from Portugal was selected instead of fellow countryman Olegario Benquerenca. Referee boss Vítor Pereira thinks Portugese referees are all good quality: “This appointment seems to be a reflection of the overall quality of the Portuguese arbitrators and arbitration, their commitment and dedication to refereeing.”

Nicola Rizzoli from Italy has been chosen as one of the twelve, but has not made a statement yet. Neither has the Italian referee organisation.

Damir Skomina from Slovenia had not talked to the media yet.

German referee boss Herbert Fandel congratules Wolfgang Stark with his place at Euro 2012.

“Wolfgang Stark to the Elite of European referees. He has represented the German referees excellently at the World Cup in South-Africa. The nomination for the EC is a confirmation of his constant performance in latest years.”

Scottish FA’s latest news is about Renfrewshire referees who show their respect for veterans. Hope for them they didn’t miss Craig Thomson appointment for Euro 2012.
UPDATE: John Fleming, Scottish referee boss is delighted: “Firstly, I am absolutely delighted for Craig. He is a tremendously hard-working referee and this is great news for all referees in this country.”

Carlos Velasco Carballo from Spain is very happy with his appointment.

“For me, the choice of UEFA and the possibility of being in the Euro Ukraine and Poland is a very special emotion and above all, a dream come true.”

Howard Webb completes the list of twelve. A picture of him got uploaded on Uefa.com long before the list was online, but until the final list was published there was still some doubt among British people on Twitter wether Martin Atkinson would be chosen from the UK.
UPDATE: British FA congratulates mr. Webb with some words of David Elleray, Chairman of The FA’s Referees Committee: “We are delighted that following the Champions League Final and World Cup Final appointments, Howard has once again been appointed to a major international tournament.”

Fifa u20 World Cup: disciplinary statistics

Posted on by

The Fifa u20 World Cup will start tomorrow. Here are some disciplinary stats about last tournaments with some amazing matches with four red cards.

The referees for this tournament are published here. Fifa says this tournament is a good springboard for young referees. “Five of them even directed a World Cup final: Arnaldo Coelho (BRA, 1982), Edgardo Codesal Mendez (MEX, 1990), Sandor Puhl (HUN, 1994), Horacio Elizondo (ARG, 2006) and Howard Webb (ENG, 2010)”, according to the Fifa press realease.

All stats below are from Fifa’s databases and provide info of previous u20 World Cups.

Most red cards in a match
4 Italy – Hungary 2009
4 Netherlands – Honduras 1995
3 Argentina – Netherlands 1983
3 Portugal – Argentina 1991
3 Spain – Uruguay 1991
3 Burundi – Spain 1995
3 Qatar – Brazil 1995
3 Mali – Cameroon 1999
3 Chile – Portugal 2007

Italy versus Hungary with four red cards.

Most yellow cards in a match
13 Morocco – Italy 2005
12 Austria – USA 2007
11 Spain – Argentina 1995
11 Brazil – Argentina 1995
11 Mali – Cameroon 1999
11 Spain – Ghana 1999
11 Uzbekistan – Argentina 2003
10 Brazil – Costa Rica 2009
10 Ghana – South Africa 2009
10 Czech Republic – Argentina 2007
10 Mexico – Congo 2007
10 Costa Rica – Germany 1999
10 Australia – Colombia 1993

Fastest cautions
1’ Lukas Kuban, CZE v. ARG 2007
1’ Grygoriy Yarmash, UKR v. NGA 2005
1’ Anthony Grbac, AUS v. CHI 1987
1’ Osaro Obobaifo, NGA v. BRA 1985
2’ Sameehg Doutie, RSA v. HON 2009
2’ Fabio Sciacca, ITA v. TRI 2009
2‘ Semih Aydilek, GER v. KOR 2009
2’ Mohamed Cisse, CIV v. IRL 2003
2’ Youssef Safri, MAR v. URU 1997
2’ Rashid Al Muhazaa, QAT v. RUS 1995
2’ Ransford Banini, GHA v. BRA 1993

Fastest expulsions
2’ Carlos Felipe, POR v. HON 1995
4’ Melli, ESP v. BRA 2003
6’ Tariq Al Jumah, JOR v. ZAM 2007
15’ Gary Medel, CHI v.ARG 2007
17’ Nery Turcios, HON v. MAR 2005

Gary Medel from Chile got a red card from Wolfang Stark during the 2007 u20 World Championship in Canada.

First appointments for the WC final round

Posted on by

The first referees the first matches in the knock-out stage of the World Cup 2010 in South Africa are appointed by Fifa.

Match 49: Uruguay – Korea with Wolfgang Stark.
Match 50: USA – Ghana with Viktor Kassai.
Match 51: Germany – England with Jorge Larrionda.
Match 52: Argentina – Mexico with Roberto Rosetti.

Join the discussion of which referee deserves a spot in the finals on the Dutch Referee blog and read the World Cup refereeing review.

World Cup referee facts and statistics

Posted on by

Referees in this World Cup are mild to the players according to the card stats. They’ve given 101 yellows and 9 reds after 29 matches. Remarkable is the low average of yellow cards (3.5 per match), especcially when you compare it with the average of 4.8 cards per match at the World Cup in Germany in 2006.

I’ve tried to find some interesting referee facts (with the help of Fifa statistics). First the World Cup 2010 referee facts:

Tallest referee
Wolfgang Stark (Germany) with 191 cm

Shortest referee
Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) and Benito Archundia (Mexico), both 170 cm

Average height
181,3 cm

Longest international career
Benito Archundia since 1993

Shortest international career
Michael Hester since 2007

International since (youngest)
Five referees started refereeing international matches when they were 26 years old: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan), Joel Aguilar (El Salvador), Marco Rodriguez (Mexico), Pablo Pozo (Chile) and Oscar Ruiz (Colombia).

International since (oldest)
Stephane Lannoy at the age of 37

Birthdays during World Cup 2010
Frank de Bleeckere will become 44 on the 1st of July.
Joel Aguilar will become 35 on the 2nd of July.
Koman Coulibaly will become 40 on the 4th of July.

Countries who make theire refereeing debut
El Salvador: Joel Aguilar
Malaysia: Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh
New Zealand: Michael Hester and Peter O’Leary
Seychelles: Eddy Maillet
Uzbekistan: Ravshan Irmatov

World Cup 2010 match with the most cards (including 20th June)
Germany – Serbia with referee Albert Undiano (Spain): 5 yellow cards for Germany (including two yellows for Miroslav Klose) and 4 yellow cards for Serbia.

Facts about the World Cup referees in general.

Most World Cup matches
Joel Quiniou from France officiated eight matches at three different World Cups: 1 match in 1986 (Mexico), 3 matches in 1990 (Italy) and 4 matches in 1994 (USA).

Archundia in action in Leipzig at the 2006 World Cup. Photo Matthias Book Creative Commons

Most matches at one World Cup
Benito Archundia (Mexico) and Horacio Elizondo (Argentina) refereed five matches in only one tournament, both at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Archundia was the first with five matches in one tournament; Elizondo officiated in the final.

Most red cards by one referee at World Cup tournaments
Mexican referee, Arturo Brizio Carter, holds the record for sending off seven players in the six matches that he officiated in 1994 and 1998.

First referee who officiated the opening match as well as the final of the same World Cup
Horacio Elizondo was appointed for the opening match and the final at the World Cup 2006 in Germany. In the final he send off Zinedine Zidane after headbutting Marco Materazzi.

Fifa adds a note to the last fact: “In 1950 the Englishman George Reader directed the inaugural match Brazil-Mexico and also the last match of the final group Uruguay-Brazil but this one not technically considered as a final.”