UEFA has announced which referees will be allowed to take care of the European club finals later this month. Romanian arbitrator Istvan Kovacs has been given the honor of refereeing the first ever Conference League final between AS Roma and Feyenoord. The Champions League final has been assigned to Frenchman Clément Turpin, while Slovenian Slavko Vincic must manage the Europa League final. In that match, Pol van Boekel is active as VAR.
For Roma, Kovács is well known, as he was in charge of the group match against Zorya Luhansk (4-0) in November. It was his only game in the main draw. Kovács also refereed two knock-out matches in the Europa League: the Barcelona – Napoli (1-1) match in the intermediate round and Red Star Belgrade – Rangers (2-1) in the eighth final. Kovacs was also the leader in the Champions League group matches Shakhtar Donetsk – Internazionale (0-0), Club Brugge – Manchester City (1-5) and Sevilla – Lille OSC (1-2). He also refereed a quarterfinal between Manchester City and Atlético Madrid (1-0) and a semifinal between Manchester City and Real Madrid (4-3). Kovacs did not hand out a single red card in a European context this season.
Istvan Kovacs takes charge of the Conference League final between AS Roma and Feyenoord.
Turpin, who has been awarded the final of the billion-dollar ball between Liverpool and Real Madrid, refereed two matches in the knockout phase of the Champions League this season: Bayern Munich – Red Bull Salzburg (7-1) in the eighth final and Chelsea – Real Madrid (1-3) in the quarterfinals. The honor of whistling the final battle goes by Dutch top referee Danny Makkelie, who led the eight-final match Real Madrid – Paris Saint-Germain (3-1) and the match between Villarreal and Liverpool (2-3) in the semi-final. final. For Vincic, who leads the Europa League final between Eintracht Frankfurt and Rangers, it will be his first appearance in the Europa League this season. He did, however, handle the whistle in eight Champions League matches, including Benfica – Ajax (2-2).
Important role for Pol van Boekel
With Pol van Boekel, there is still one Dutchman active in a referee team during a European final. He has been appointed as video referee at the Europa League final and must therefore assist Vincic. In the eyes of the KNVB, Van Boekel made a mistake on Sunday by not calling Serdar Gözübüÿük to the video screen after awarding a penalty to Feyenoord against PSV (2-2). He retains the confidence of UEFA and is now allowed to act as a video referee in a major match.