Jech chosen to referee Under-19 final

Jiri Jech has been selected to take charge of the 2008/09 UEFA European Under-19 Championship final between England and Ukraine in Donetsk on Sunday.

Finals experience
The 33-year-old Czech referee has already taken the whistle for two matches at the final tournament – the group games between Serbia and Spain, and Ukraine and Slovenia – and was also the fourth official for the Group A fixture between Switzerland and the hosts. Jech, who was assigned fourth-official duties at three matches of last year's U19 finals in his native Czech Republic, will be assisted by Mathias Klasenius of Sweden and Lithuania's Saulius Dirda for the 2009 final at the RSC Olympiyskiy Stadium, with Hungarian Istvan Vad the fourth official.

'Great honour'
"Of course it's a great honour for me and one that is very much appreciated by me and my whole team," Jech told uefa.com. "I'm a little bit surprised, because all the officials at this tournament have been very good and there have been some top-level performances, so it's a great pleasure for me to be chosen. It's a very important match and will be difficult, but I have been a referee for a long time now and I have my usual way of preparing; I'll do that again for this game.

Learning curve
"This tournament has been a very important experience for all of us, it's a great opportunity for all of us," Jech added. "For us as young referees it's nice to be here with each other, and with very experienced referee observers. They offer pieces of advice to us, which help us learn and improve as a referee and that's what is important."