Meier the man in the middle
Wednesday, June 23, 2004
Article summary
Swiss referee Urs Meier is to take charge of the UEFA EURO 2004™ quarter-final between Portugal and England at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on Thursday.
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Compatriot assistants
Meier will be accompanied by compatriot assistant referees Francesco Buragina and Rudolf Käppeli, and Alain Hamer (Luxembourg) will be the fourth official. The 45-year-old grocer from Zürich has already officiated the Group A match between Spain and Russia, and the Group C game between Italy and Sweden.
Frisk in charge
The second quarter-final, between reigning European title-holders France and Greece at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon on Friday, will be refereed by Sweden's Anders Frisk. Frisk has already taken charge of the Group D game between Germany and the Netherlands, and the Group A encounter between Spain and Portugal. Kenneth Petersson and Peter Ekström will be the assistant referees, and Scotsman Stuart Dougal the fourth official. The referees for the other two quarter-finals will be announced later this week.
Proven teams
The 12 referees in Portugal have been the 17th 'team' at EURO 2004™. They have each been accompanied by two assistant referees from their own country, in a move by UEFA to use experienced, proven referee teams to improve consistency in decision-taking.
'Perfect' environment
The referees are staying at a hotel on the Atlantic coast at Espinho, just south of Porto. "The environment created for the referees at this tournament has been perfect," said UEFA Referees' Committee chairman Volker Roth. "The hotel is excellent, the people are friendly, and the training facilities for the referees are first-class. Referees need to have calm, and not to be put under pressure with too many people around them. Here, they feel extremely relaxed and at home."
Tight-knit family
Mr Roth told euro2004.com that the team of 40 match officials – 12 referees, 24 assistant referees and four fourth officials – had moulded into a tightly-knit family in the two weeks of the tournament so far. "If you look at the referees and fourth officials in particular, they have all been part of an élite team for some time now," he said. "They know each other. It was a good move by UEFA to create an élite group of referees some years ago. There is no competition between any of them."