Robert Schorgenhofer of Austria will referee Celtic’s Champions League qualifier against Qarabag on Wednesday night.
It’s hardly a big deal or a controversial choice but on Friday, five days before the match kicks off, the names of the officials appeared on the Qarabag website.
And according to the World Referee website Martin Strombergsson will referee the return match next week in Baku.
This morning the UEFA website has the letters TBD (to be determined) against the referee for the match in common with all matches for Wednesday night. The referees for Tuesday’s matches have been announced.
With the long distances involved and in some cases visa requirements it’s natural that UEFA make arrangements as early as possible.
Spanish referee Javier Estrada needed as much notice as possible that he will be on duty in Moscow for the match between CSKA and Sparta Prague rather than the short hop to take charge of Young Boys of Berne against Monaco.
It’s likely that clubs are made aware of the referee in advance of a public announcement but in an age where football authorities worldwide are battling against corruption it’s surprising that the referee for a UEFA match is known so far in advance.
Over the weekend the World Referee website were able to announce that Schorgenhofer would take charge of the match.
The 44-year-old has vast experience of taking charge of big matches and refereed Celtic’s Champions League win away to HJK Helsinki in the third round qualifier in 2012.