New UEFA awards to celebrate refereeing excellence
Thursday, February 12, 2026
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We are delighted to announce the creation of new annual awards for the best male and female referee in Europe.
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The awards will recognise officials' outstanding performances across UEFA competitions, celebrating the role that referees play as ambassadors of the game and promoting fair play and respect at all levels.
"Refereeing is demanding, often unseen work, yet it is fundamental to the integrity of our competitions. These new awards reflect UEFA’s strong collaboration with our national associations and our shared commitment to developing top class match officials," said UEFA director of refereeing, Roberto Rosetti. "By recognising excellence in officiating, we are reinforcing the professionalism, courage and fairness that lie at the heart of European football.”
Inspiring future generations
The awards reflect our commitment to supporting and championing referees at every level, serving as both a celebration of the elite and motivation for the next generation of match officials.
By demonstrating referees' valued place at the heart of European football, we hope to improve the behaviour of players, coaches and supporters towards officials, and attract more young people to the role.
It is the latest step in a series of recent innovations, which include the "captain-referee dialogue" initiative, which is now written into the Laws of the Game, as well as our Be a Referee! campaign, which has helped to recruit more than 50,000 new officials across Europe since its launch in 2023.
How will the referee award winners be decided?
For each award, the UEFA Referee Committee will compile a five-person shortlist at the end of each calendar year, with performances assessed on the overall quality of performances, taking into account decision-making, personality and acting as a role model for the next generation of officials.
Each of Europe's 55 national football associations' referee committees will have one vote, with the two referees who receive the most votes then receiving the awards.
The new awards and voting process were approved at this week's UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Brussels.
