FIFA World Cup referees

Brdo pri Kranju – The most successful Slovenian football referee Damir Skomina officially announced the end of his career at Monday’s press conference at Brdo pri Kranju. He stated that he wanted to stay in football, revealing that he would run for the presidency of the third division team Izola.

Cyprus' soccer federation has suspended all matches after a referee walkout over a bombing attack against a colleague's car.

The federation said on Friday all matches are on hold indefinitely.

Police said the predawn detonation of an explosive device placed on the hood of the car caused extensive damage.

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system changed 29 decisions in the first eight weeks of Turkish football league.

A Turkish referee will officiate at Wednesday's England-Croatia World Cup semifinal match.

The Saudi Football Federation have banned referee Fahad al-Mirdasi for life over bribery and urged FIFA to remove him from the pool of referees for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Greece's Super League will finally kick off this weekend after the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) and the Super League ended their feud over referees on Monday.

Some 40 masked and helmeted hooligans burst into a refereeing seminar in an Athens suburb on Monday, the Greek soccer federation said.

"A criminal organization which has been acting undisturbed lately continues to endanger the lives and physical integrity of people involved in soccer. Another incident of violence has been added to the chain of such events," the federation said.

The former referee Nicolae Rainea has passed away at 81 years of age, the Romanian Football Federation and the Referees Central Commission announced on Wednesday.

Foto: (c) Silviu MATEI / Arhiva AGERPRES

There are few more hazardous occupations in world sport at the moment than being a referee in the Greek Cypriot football league with officials on the Mediterranean island having suffered six criminal attacks in a year. 

Former referee Hugh Dallas has been appointed as the head referee of the Greek Super League, the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The 56-year-old Scot earned the position by a majority vote of the EPO's executive committee members.

Dallas will oversee the selection and assessment of referees as well as their appointments for matches.