Cüneyt Çakır and Stéphane Lannoy receive EURO semifinal call-up

UEFA has announced the two teams of match officials who will take control over 2012 UEFA EURO's semifinals on 27 June, respectively 28 June 2012.

(c) ZIMBIO

Cüneyt Çakır (photo above) of Turkey has been assigned for the all-Iberian duel between Portugal and Spain, which will be held in Ukraine's metropole Donetsk at Donbass Arena, the home of Shakhtar Donetsk. Turkish officials Bahattin Duran and Tarik Ongun will serve as assistant referees, while Hüseyin Göçek and Bülent Yıldırım will function as additional assistant referees standing at the bylines. Damir Skomina from Slovenia has been named fourth official, whereas his countryman Matej Žunič will be the reserve assistant referee. Jozef Marko from Slovakia has been appointed as UEFA referee observer, Janis Mežeckis from Latvia as the UEFA delegate.

For the 35 year-old policy broker from Istanbul, it is the third semifinal appointment in a row, after his engagements in 2010 UEFA Europa League' semifinal between FC Fulham and Hamburger SV, at 2011 FIFA Under 20 World Cup Colombia, when Portugal defeated France, and finally the recently played UEFA Champions League semifinal between FC Barcelona and Chelsea London at Camp Nou. His previous matches have been the group stage encounters between Ukraine and Sweden at Kyiv's final stadium, where he also acted as the fourth official in the quarterfinal between England and Italy, and between Italy and Ireland in Poznán.

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Besides, French official Stéphane Lannoy (photo above) will be in charge of the traditional clash between Germany and Italy at Warsaw's opener match stadium. He will be accompanied by Frédéric Cano and Michaël Annonier as assistant referees; Fredy Fautrel and Ruddy Buquet will serve as additional assistant referees. The team is completed by English officials Howard Webb (fourth official), who may be considered as the most probable referee for the final match at Kyiv Olympic Stadium, and Mike Mullarkey as reserve assistant referee. Hugh Dallas of Scotland, himself a former successful referee, will be the UEFA referee observer, while Iceland's Geir Thorsteinsson will function as UEFA delegate, who has also executed 2011 UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.

Born in 1969, Lannoy is the oldest of the twelve referees who commenced the competition. He has already taken charge of the first match of the German side, when they defeated Portugal in Lviv. His second match was the Group A clash between Czech Republic and Greece in Wroclaw. Both matches were refereed in a very solide manner. His tournament experience is - despite of his advanced age - not that big. After a brief participation at 2008 Olympic Games China and after having accompanied the last EURO in Austria and Switzerland as one of the eight fourth officials, he experienced a quite poor 2010 FIFA World Cup. This appointment means the biggest success in UEFA competitions so far.


Overview:

SF1 - 27 June 2012, 20:45 CET -  Donbass Arena, Donetsk, UKR
Portugal - Spain
Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR)
Assistant Referees: Bahattin Duran (TUR), Tarik Ongun (TUR)
Additional Assistant Referees: Hüseyin Göçek (TUR), Bülent Yıldırım (TUR)
Fourth Official: Damir Skomina (SVN)
Reserve Assistant Referee: Matej Žunič (SVN)
UEFA Delegate: Janis Mežeckis (LVA)
UEFA Referee Observer: Jozef Marko (SVK)

SF2 - 28 June 2012, 20:45 CET - National Stadium, Warsaw, POL
Germany - Italy
Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA)
Assistant Referees: Frédéric Cano (FRA), Michaël Annonier (FRA)
Additional Assistant Referees: Fredy Fautrel (FRA), Ruddy Buquet (FRA)
Fourth Official: Howard Webb (ENG)
Reserve Assistant Referees: Mike Mullarkey (ENG)
UEFA Delegate: Geir Thorsteinsson (ISL)
UEFA Referee Observer: Hugh Dallas (SCO)