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Kassai with Wembley final

by Martin Rødvand on May 26, 2011

Viktor Kassai has been announced as the referee for the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United on Saturday in London. He will be assisted by Gabor Erös and György Ring, with Mihaly Fabian and Tamás Bognar as additional assistant referees. Istvan Vad will be the fourth official while Róbert Kispál will be the reserve assistant referee.

This is only the second time a Hungarian referee has taken charge of the Champions League final, the last one being Sandor Puhl in 1997. Kassai will be the youngest referee to referee a Champions League final when he trots the field on Saturday, only 35 years old.

He went to the World Cup in 2010 and impressed with his refereeing, culminating in a semi-final appointment. While this is only Kassai’s 13th match in the Champions League, he has been an international referee since 2003. He refereed Manchester United in the group stage this season, making Saturday’s match his fourth match including Manchester United in the Champions League. He has never refereed Barcelona in the Champions League.

Kassai has some final experience having refereed the 2008 Olympic final between Nigeria and Argentina in Beijing. The same year he worked as a fourth official at the Euro 2008.

This is the first Champions League final with additional assistant referees.

28/05/2011
Barcelona – Manchester United
Referee: Viktor Kassai, Hungary
Assistant referees: Gabor Erös, György Ring
Additional assistant referees: Mihaly Fabian, Tamás Bognar
Fourth official: Istvan Vad
Reserve assistant referee: Róbert Kispál
Uefa delegate: Geir Thorsteinsson, Iceland
Uefa referee observer: Marc Batta, France

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Additional assistants to be implemented in Champions League and Euro 2012

by Martin Rødvand on May 27, 2010

Uefa’s executive committee today decided that the experiment with additional assistant referees will be implemented in the upcoming season of the Champions League and all the qualification matches for the 2012 European Championship. The experiment will also continue in the Europa League.

Champions League will see the additional assistants in the last qualifying phase as well as the group stage and final stages of the main tournament. In Europa League it will be from the group stage. The two extra officials will also be used in all qualifying matches to the Euro 2010, as well as the final tournament. The Super Cup match between Inter and Atletico Madrid will also get the extra manpower.

This is the first major change to the referee structure in a continental tournament since the introduction of the fourth official in the 1994 World Cup.

The experiment is a pet project of Uefa president Michel Platini and last season Uefa trialled it in the Europa League. In the last meeting of the Ifab, the experiment was extended for another two years, with each football association getting the option to implement it.

The additional assistant referees are positioned on the far side of each assistant referee, next to the goal. They communicate with the referee through microphone and they are also equipped with buzzers, similar to what the assistant referees use on their flags.

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