National Leagues - Premier League (England) - Match officials appointed for Day 1

The referees of the first matchday in the English Premier League have been appointed. Michael Oliver will take charge of the first very big tie of the season, while André Marriner will officiate the season opener. 

Michael Oliver will be in charge of Arsenal vs. Manchester City

10/08/2018, 21:00 CET
Old Trafford, Manchester (ENG)
Manchester United - Leicester City
Referee: Andre Marriner
Assistant Referee 1: Scott Ledger
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Long
Fourth Official: Anthony Taylor (FIFA)

11/08/2018, 13:30 CET
St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne (ENG)
Newcastle United - Tottenham Hotspur
Referee: Martin Atkinson
Assistant Referee 1: Lee Betts (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Stephen Child (FIFA)
Fourth Official: Paul Tierney (FIFA)

11/08/2018, 16:00 CET
Dean Court, Bournemouth (ENG)
AFC Bournemouth - Cardiff City
Referee: Kevin Friend
Assistant Referee 1: Matthew Wilkes
Assistant Referee 2: Mark Scholes
Fourth Official: Graham Scott

11/08/2018, 16:00 CET
Craven Cottage, London (ENG)
FC Fulham - Crystal Palace
Referee: Mike Dean
Assistant Referee 1: Ian Hussin (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Dan Robathan
Fourth Official: Robert Jones

11/08/2018, 16:00 CET
Kirklees Stadium, Huddersfield (ENG)
Huddersfield Town AFC - Chelsea FC
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
Assistant Referee 1: Peter Kirkup
Assistant Referee 2: Marc Perry
Fourth Official: Michael Oliver (FIFA)

11/08/2018, 16:00 CET
Watford FC - Brighton & Hove Albion FC
Vicarage Road, Watford (ENG)
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Assistant Referee 1: Edward Smart (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Andy Halliday
Fourth Official: David Coote

11/08/2018, 18:30 CET
Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton (ENG)
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC - Everton FC
Referee: Craig Pawson (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 1: Richard West
Assistant Referee 2: Simon Beck
Fourth Official: Simon Hooper

12/08/2018, 14:30 CET
Anfield Road, Liverpool (ENG)
Liverpool FC - West Ham United
Referee: Anthony Taylor (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 1: Gary Beswick (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Adam Nunn (FIFA)
Fourth Official: Paul Tierney (FIFA)

12/08/2018, 14:30 CET
St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton (ENG)
Southampton FC - Burnley FC
Referee: Graham Scott
Assistant Referee 1: Constantine Hatzidakis (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Daniel Cook
Fourth Official: Lee Probert

12/08/2018, 17:00 CET
Emirates Stadium, London (ENG)
Arsenal FC - Manchester City
Referee: Michael Oliver (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 1: Simon Bennett (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Stuart Burt (FIFA)
Fourth Official: Andre Marriner

National Leagues - Ligue 1 (France) - Match officials appointed for Day 1

The referees of the first matchday in France's Ligue 1 have been appointed. Among others, Ruddy Buquet will take charge of the opener, featuring VAR for the first time in the French League.

Ruddy Buquet appointed to take charge of this season's opening game

10/08/2018, 20:45 CET
Stade Vélodrome, Marseille (FRA)
Olympique de Marseille - Toulouse FC
Referee: Ruddy Buquet (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 1: Guillaume Debart (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Julien Pacelli (FIFA)
Fourth Official: Jeremie Pignard
VAR: Clément Turpin (FIFA)
AVAR: Alexandre Castro

11/08/2018, 17:00 CET
Stade de la Beaujoire, Nantes (FRA)
FC Nantes - AS Monaco
Referee: Jérome Brisard (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 1: François Boudikian
Assistant Referee 2: Hicham Zakrani (FIFA)
Fourth Official: Aurélien Petit
VAR: Mikael Lesage
AVAR: Lionel Jaffredo

11/08/2018, 20:00 CET
Stade Raymond Kopa, Angers (FRA)
Angers SCO - Olympique Nîmes
Referee: Antony Gautier
Assistant Referee 1: Michael Annonier
Assistant Referee 2: Philippe Jeanne
Fourth Official: Lakhda El Bedoui
VAR: François Letexier (FIFA)
AVAR: Stéphane Bré

11/08/2018, 20:00 CET
Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq (FRA)
Lille LOSC - Stade Rennais
Referee: Willy Delajod
Assistant Referee 1: Stephan Luzi
Assistant Referee 2: Yannick Boutry
Fourth Official: Yohann Rouinsard
VAR: Benoît Millot (FIFA)
AVAR: Dominique Julien

11/08/2018, 20:00 CET
Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier (FRA)
Montpellier HSC - Dijon FCO
Referee: Florent Batta
Assistant Referee 1: Matthieu Lombard
Assistant Referee 2: Julien Aube
Fourth Official: Rémi Landry
VAR: Thomas Léonard
AVAR: Bruno Coué

11/08/2018, 20:00 CET
Allianz Riviera, Nice (FRA)
OGC Nice - Stade de Reims
Referee: Johan Hamel
Assistant Referee 1: Mathieu Grosbost
Assistant Referee 2: Stephan Pignatelli
Fourth Official: Arnaud Baert
VAR: Clément Turpin (FIFA)
AVAR: Wilfried Bien

11/08/2018, 20:00 CET
Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne (FRA)
AS Saint-Etienne - EA Guingamp
Referee: Amaury Delerue (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 1: Bertrand Jouannaud (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Frederic Hebrard
Fourth Official: Mathieu Vernice
VAR: Karim Abed (FIFA)
AVAR: Eric Wattellier

12/08/2018, 15:00 CET
Stade des Lumières, Lyon (FRA)
Olympique Lyonnais - Amiens SC
Referee: Frank Schneider (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 1: Djemel Zitouni
Assistant Referee 2: Aurélien Drouet
Fourth Official: Romain Delpech
VAR: Karim Abed (FIFA)
AVAR: Abdelali Chaoui

12/08/2018, 17:00 CET
Matmut Atlantique, Bordeaux (FRA)
Girondins de Bordeaux - RC Strasbourg Alsace
Referee: Hakim Ben El Hadj
Assistant Referee 1: Gwenael Pasqualotti
Assistant Referee 2: Aurélien Berthomieu
Fourth Official: Gael Angoula
VAR: Mikael Lesage
AVAR: Christian Guillard

12/08/2018, 21:00 CET
Parc des Princes, Paris (FRA)
Paris Saint-Germain - SM Caen
Referee: Benoît Bastien (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 1: Frédéric Haquette (FIFA)
Assistant Referee 2: Huseyin Ocak
Fourth Official: Thierry Bouille
VAR: Thomas Leonard
AVAR: Bastien Dechepy

Szymon Marciniak to referee the 2018 UEFA Super Cup

Polish Elite referee Szymon Marciniak has received the honour to officiate the 2018 UEFA Super Cup at Lilleküla Stadium, between Real Madrid CF and Club Atlético de Madrid.

Szymon Marciniak during the 2018 FIFA World Cup

For the 37-year-old referee of Plock, it will be his second international final, having already officiated the final of the Under-21 European Championship in 2015, where he delivered a very strong performance under the eyes of Pierluigi Collina, who was Chief Refereeing Officer back at the time.

Marciniak was promoted to the UEFA Elite Group in July 2015 and managed to establish himself as a big name in European refereeing. He oversaw many top clashes in the UEFA Champions League (such as Atlético-Bayern, PSG-Barcelona, Barcelona-Juventus, etc.) and in the UEFA Europa League, where he has been appointed to the semifinal in 2016 (Shakthar Donetsk-Sevilla FC) and in 2017 (Olympique Lyonnais-Ajax Amsterdam).

Marciniak has also attended UEFA Euro 2016, where he officiated three games (Spain-Czech Republic, Iceland-Austria, Germany-Slovakia) and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, where he refereed two games (Argentina-Iceland, Germany-Sweden).

During the showpiece at Lilleküla Arena, Szymon Marciniak will be assisted by his assistant referees Pawel Sokolnicki and Tomasz Listkiewicz. Pawel Raczkowski and Tomasz Musial from Poland will work as additional assistant referees, whereas Ovidiu Alin Hategan from Romania will work as fourth official. Radoslaw Siejka of Poland will be reserve assistant referee.

Good luck to the refereeing team!

FA Community Shield 2018 - "A great way to start your season off" says referee Jonathan Moss

Select Group 1 referee Jonathan Moss has been appointed by The FA to handle the FA Community Shield between Chelsea and Manchester City on Sunday. 

Jonathan Moss has been selected as referee for the
2018 Community Shield

The 47-year-old referee has overseen 29 matches in the Premier League in the past season, including big ties such as Manchester City vs. Liverpool FC or Liverpool FC vs. Tottenham Hotspur.

Moss explained that he received the call by the FA while he was preparing to go out for a run. He is convinced that refereeing the Community Shield will ensure that he is in great form from the very beginning. "I'm sure doing the Community Shield at Wembley will get me right up to speed" he says in an interview to the FA. Moss is looking forward to blow the whistle in this high-profile on Sunday. "It's a great game to get and a great way to start your season off. They are two big teams, I'm sure it will be a fantastic occasion and I'm really looking forward to it."

Jonathan Moss has been a Select Group 1 referee since 2010 and will now prepare for his 9th season in the Premier League. Furthermore, he has already been in charge of the 2015 FA Cup final, which saw Arsenal beating Aston Villa with 4-0 at Wembley. During the Community Shield, he will be assisted on the touchlines by Adam Nunn and Eddie Smart, while Paul Tierney will take up the duty of fourth official. Stuart Attwell and Andy Halliday have been named as the first Video Assistant Referees to take part in the Community Shield.

Jonathan Moss already oversaw the 2015 FA Cup Final between Arsenal
and Aston Villa

Good luck to the whole team!

05/08/2018, 16:00 CET
Wembley Stadium, London (ENG)
Chelsea FC - Manchester City
Referee: Jonathan Moss (England)
Assistant Referee 1: Adam Nunn (England)
Assistant Referee 2: Eddie Smart (England)
Fourth Official: Paul Tierney (England)
VAR: Stuart Attwell (England)
AVAR: Andy Halliday (England)

Sources: The FA