English referee Mark Clattenburg will take charge of Sunday’s Euro 2016 final.
UEFA has announced that the 41-year-old Premier League official, who refereed the Champions League final in May, will work on the final between France and Portugal in Paris.
He becomes the second man to referee the Champions League and European finals in the same year, following on from Portuguese official Pedro Proenca in 2012.
📰 Clattenburg's appointment follows on from refereeing @EmiratesFACup and @ChampionsLeague Finals in recent months. https://t.co/MjiMofqBzV
— The FA (@FA) July 8, 2016
Clattenburg will be joined by English assistants Simon Beck and Jake Collin, while fellow Premier League referees Andre Marriner and Anthony Taylor will serve as additional assistants.
Clattenburg also refereed the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Crystal Palace in May and becomes the first English referee of a European Championship final since Arthur Holland in
Clattenburg was criticised in some quarters for his performance during the FA Cup final. He twice awarded Palace free-kicks when arguably he should have played the advantage.
His decision not to send off Real Madrid defender Pepe during the Champions League final in May also attracted criticism, with the Portuguese being pulled up on a number of occasions by Clattenburg for simulation.
He is set to come across Pepe again on Sunday, with Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and France forward Antoine Griezmann two other players set to feature on Sunday who also played in the European club final in Milan.
Clattenburg also refereed the 2012 English League Cup final and men’s Olympic final, the 2013 Community Shield and the 2014 European Super Cup.
In November 2012 he was cleared of using “inappropriate language” towards Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel during their 3-2 Premier League defeat to Manchester United the previous month. The Nigerian, who was later banned and fined for threatening Clattenburg after the match, had alleged that the referee racially abused him but the FA found Clattenburg innocent of the charge.
Clattenburg was also cleared of misconduct by the FA in January 2014 when Southampton alleged he made inappropriate comments towards Adam Lallana, who played for Saints at the time.
In 2005, he and his assistants failed to award a goal when a long-range shot from Tottenham’s Pedro Mendes was fumbled well over the line by Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll.
He was withdrawn from officiating the 2008 Community Shield and sacked by the Professional Game Match Officials board in August of that year following a disciplinary inquiry over issues relating to his private business affairs. He was reinstated on appeal in February 2009.
He was involved in another controversial Manchester United moment in 2010 when he allowed a goal by Nani against Tottenham to stand. The Portuguese forward – another who will likely be on the pitch in Paris on Sunday night – tapped the ball in when Spurs goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes put it down in the belief his side had been awarded a free-kick. They had not, however, so the goal correctly stood.
Clattenburg is a highly-regarded official however despite those controversies.
His appointment as a Football League referee at the age of 25 was then a post-war record. He is also one of only six Englishmen to oversee a European Cup final.
