UEFA confirm officials for Sunderland's Europa League tie at Lech Poznan
Sunderland will take on Polish champions Lech Poznan in their latest Europa League tie on Thursday evening.
UEFA have announced the team of officials that will oversee Sunderland’s Europa League tie at Lech Poznan on Thursday evening.
Tuesday brought confirmation referee Balázs Berke will lead an all-Hungarian team of officials as the Black Cats look to extend their perfect start to their maiden Europa League campaign with an away win against the Polish champions on Thursday evening.
The 42-year-old official has already taken charge of a Europa League fixture this season after he was named as the man in the middle for Omonia Nicosia’s 1-0 home win against La Liga side Celta Vigo last month. He was also referee for a Conference League qualifying round tie between Danish side Midtjylland and Croatian outfit HNK Rijeka and also took charge of a UEFA Nations League fixture earlier this month as Iceland claimed a 3-0 home win against Bulgaria. Berke is not shy of handing out cautions after showing 48 yellow cards in the ten games he has officiated so far this season - although he has only shown one red card during that time as he handed a second yellow card to Lamin Colley in a Hungarian League fixture between Debrecen and Puskas Akademia.
Berke has only officiated one European tie involving an English club and that came as Aston Villa scrapped their way to a 1-1 draw with Bosnian side HSK Zrinjski Mostar in the league stage of the 2023/24 UEFA Conference League. In total across his entire career, Berke has shown 1,646 yellow cards and 81 red cards and has awarded 114 penalties in 384 games.
He will be assisted by Balázs Buzás and Balázs Szert and Gergő Bogár has been named as fourth official for the tie. Tamás Bognár will be on Video Assistant Referee (VAR) duties and his assistant will be Katalin Kulcsár. European football’s governing body have also confirmed Dutchman René Temmink will be Referee Observer and Hungarian Attila Tömő is the UEFA delegate.
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