Herbert Fandel, the 45-year-old German referee, has announced his retirement from football. The Elite group referee who refereed the UEFA Cup final in 2006 and the UEFA Champions League final in 2007 last refereed an international match in December 2008, with AS Roma and Bordeaux in the Champions League. He was later injured and missed the complete first half of 2009.
Fandel, as most referees, has been involved in various controversies, most notably when he abandoned the EURO 2008 qualifier between Denmark and Sweden in June 2007 due to an attack from a Danish fan in the end of the second half. The incident happened after one of Fandel’s assistants spotted a punch inside Denmark’s penalty box and rightly awarded a penalty for Sweden.
Fandel and his team was later selected for the EURO 2008 final tournament and refereed three matches including the quarter-final between Spain and Italy. The team was denied more matches with Germany proceeding through to the final of the tournament. He got to referee in the FIFA Confederations Cup 2005 where he got to take charge of Greece – Japan in the group stage. However, Fandel and his team was denied the opportunity to referee in World Cup 2006 in Germany by fellow countryman Markus Merk.
The 45-year-old had his international debut in 1998 and he’s been a respected and trusted referee throughout his international career.
Fandel is the latest addition to retiring top referees, with Lubos Michel, Luis Medina Cantalejo, Konrad Plautz and Mike Riley all retired or due to retire this season.
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