Larsen to blow the Super Cup whistle
Wednesday 27 August 2008
e-mail
Print
Digg
Save
Claus Bo Larsen will referee the Super Cup in Monaco (©Domenic Aquilina)
Danish referee Claus Bo Larsen has been appointed to take charge of Friday's UEFA Super Cup match between Manchester United FC and FC Zenit St. Petersburg at the Stade Louis II in Monaco. The 42-year-old official will be accompanied by assistant referees and compatriots Henrik Sonderby and Anders Norrestrand, and Nicolai Vollquartz will act as fourth official.
Teenage referee
Born on 28 October 1965 in Odense, Larsen – a customs clearance manager – blew his first whistle at the age of 16, made his domestic debut in 1991 and earned his FIFA badge in 1996. He cut his international teeth working in qualifiers for youth championships and has presided over games in all UEFA club competitions, including the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
Top-match regular
Having taken charge of the 1998 Danish Cup final between Brøndby IF played FC København, the following summer he travelled to Nigeria for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. A keen table-tennis player who officiated at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Larsen enjoyed a high-profile assignment during the 2004/05 season – the UEFA Cup semi-final between AZ Alkmaar and Sporting Clube de Portugal. The married father-of-three continued where he left off in 2005/06, flying to Montevideo for the FIFA World Cup play-off match between Uruguay and Australia and has since established himself as a regular in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifying competition.
Long career
With over sixty international matches in his refereeing career, Claus Bo Larsen last season handled three matches in the UEFA Champions League group stage and then, in the first knock-out round, the first leg between Arsenal FC and AC Milan, as well as the first leg of the quarter-final between Fenerbahçe SK and Chelsea FC. The match on Thursday in Monaco represents Larsen's second visit to the Mediterranean principality as a referee, since he also officiated at UEFA Champions League group match between hosts AS Monaco FC and Liverpool FC in 2004/05.
United fixtures
This will be Larsen's third meeting with United. He was the referee when the English side took on FC Basel 1893 in Manchester in the UEFA Champions League in March 2003, and at Old Trafford when they played Sporting Clube de Portugal last November on the way to winning last season's UEFA Champions League. It will be the first time that Larsen has handled a match involving Zenit. His his only visit to Russia has been to officiate at UEFA Champions League group stage match between FC Spartak Moskva and FC Internazionale Milano in the 2006/07 campaign.
©uefa.com 1998-2008. All rights reserved.
