UEFA official: EURO 2012 referees list finalized after 6 months of performances

PanARMENIAN.Net - UEFA's chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina outlined the coming six months of preparations for the 12 referees who have been appointed for UEFA EURO 2012 next summer.

On Tuesday, Dec 20, UEFA announced the 12 referees who will handle games at the eagerly anticipated final round between 8 June and 1 July 2012. The choice of the team was made by UEFA's Referees Committee – itself made up of experienced former international referees – after months of monitoring and observing candidates for this blue-riband event.

"We first identified the number of referees that we considered necessary for this competition and we thought that 12 referees was the right number," said Pierluigi Collina, the former Italian referee who is now UEFA's chief refereeing officer. "We also decided to guarantee the maximum possible flexibility by having 12 referees from 12 different countries. Then, early this season, we identified a very restricted number of potential candidates. They were followed through the last six months of performances, and now we have finalized the list."

Collina outlined the qualities needed to referee in a EURO final tournament. "The 12 are all referees from the elite group, so they are the top referees in Europe. They have all refereed UEFA Champions League matches during the past two seasons. What they can guarantee are two main elements – quality and experience. And only one referee, Howard Webb, was at UEFA EURO 2008. So there has been significant turnover," UEFA official website quoted him as saying.