Yefet 'honour' at Israeli first
Tuesday, November 1, 2005
Article summary
Alon Yefet will become the first Israeli to take charge of a UEFA Champions League group game after being appointed for Club Brugge KV versus SK Rapid Wien.
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'Honour and pride'
"It is a great honour to represent my country, the Israel Football Association, the referees' committee, Israeli football in general – and to fulfil such a dream. To become the first Israeli to officiate at a Champions League group stage game is a source of honour and pride," said Yefet.
UEFA Cup showing
The 33-year-old has refereed more than 30 matches at international and European club levels, and received high praise from a UEFA observer for his handling of the UEFA Cup tie between Aris Thessaloniki FC and AS Roma on 29 September.
Roberto Carlos red card
During his development, he was mentored by former referees Aron Schmidhuber of Germany and Scotland's Robert 'Bo' Valentine, and he earned his FIFA badge in 2001. Yefet came to wider prominence in March 2003 when he took charge of Brazil's friendly against Portugal.