Brych to ref Europa League final

adamhigginsuk
May 7, 2014
2 min read

On the rise: Brych will oversee the Europa League final in Turin before travelling to Brazil as one of the referees at the World Cup (Picture from Press Association)

GERMAN referee Felix Brych will oversee the 2014 Europa League final between Sevilla and Benfica later this month, Uefa have confirmed.

The 38-year-old, who was fourth official for last year’s showpiece between Chelsea and Benfica in Amsterdam, will be the man in the middle on 14 May at the Juventus Stadium in Turin.

Fellow countrymen Mark Borsch and Stefan Lupp are the assistant referees, with Tobias Welz and Bastian Dankert acting as additional assistants.

Milorad Mazic, from Serbia, will be the fourth official and Thorsten Schniffer completes the team as reserve assistant referee.

Brych, who progressed through the German amateur leagues in five years to become a Bundesliga official in 2004, has taken charge of 50 matches in Uefa competition since becoming a Fifa referee at the start of the 2007-08 campaign.

The financial lawyer from Munich has officiated in six Champions League games this term including the quarter-final first leg between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, having taken control of Chelsea’s 1-0 victory over Barcelona in the 2012 semi-finals.

After handling the Cypriot Cup final in May 2012, he oversaw two matches at the Olympic Games in London before travelling to Rio as one of 12 assigned officials for the Confederations Cup in 2013.

Brych, who was the referee for England’s friendly with Scotland at Wembley last August, has also been selected as Germany’s sole representative at this summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.

A string of impressive performances in high-profile encounters has led to the recognition for his first final on the domestic and European stage.

The appointment comes on the same day that last season’s Europa League final referee Bjorn Kuipers received the honour of officiating the Champions League showpiece between La Liga rivals Real and Atletico Madrid.

Sevilla edged past Valencia on away goals in the semi-finals as Benfica held on for an aggregate victory over Serie A champions Juventus.