UEFA Europa League referees — who books, and who lets it flow
Every card price has one official silently included in it — not one of the players. The appointment is public before kick-off, the record is measurable, and the effect on the cards markets is the largest single factor the model prices, larger than the derby, larger than the opponent. This page is the file: card and foul rates for every official on the current panel, with the sample sizes shown, because a tendency built on six matches is a rumour and one built on a hundred is a fact. The player cards guide explains how the model turns these numbers into a price.
Career rates across every season we hold, for each referee who took charge of a UEFA Europa League match in 25/26. Deliberately not a next-season panel prediction — officials come and go every summer, so we profile who actually officiated. League averages: 4.55 cards and 24.2 fouls per match, a 18.8% foul-to-card conversion.
The panel, strictest first
Two columns do the real work here. vs league is each referee's card rate against the average — the number the model multiplies a player's booking chance by. And conversion is the tell: foul counts barely vary between officials, but the share of fouls that become bookings varies a lot. A referee at the top of this table isn't seeing a dirtier game than one at the bottom, but reaching for the pocket where a colleague lower down would have a word. That distinction, not the raw whistle count, is where a card tendency lives.
| Referee | Matches | 25/26 | Cards / match | vs league | Fouls / match | Conversion | Reds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matej Jug | 15 | 3 | 5.27 | 1.16× | 24.8 | 21.2% | 5 |
The newer officials — small samples, read gently
These referees took charge in 25/26 but haven't yet built a record worth betting on — under 15 career matches, a card rate is mostly noise wearing a decimal point. The model treats them exactly as this table presents them: shrunk toward the league average and carrying a confidence discount until the evidence arrives. We'd rather show you a thin sample labelled honestly than a confident number that hasn't been earned.
| Referee | Matches | 25/26 | Cards / match | Fouls / match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andris Treimanis | 10 | 3 | 7.60 | 28.3 |
| Kristo Tohver | 9 | 2 | 6.89 | 20.7 |
| Felix Zwayer | 8 | 3 | 6.75 | 28.9 |
| Sascha Stegemann | 10 | 3 | 6.70 | 26.8 |
| Chris Kavanagh | 7 | 2 | 6.57 | 26.6 |
| Jakob Kehlet | 4 | 1 | 6.50 | 23.3 |
| Istvan Kovacs | 6 | 2 | 6.33 | 28.3 |
| Nick Walsh | 9 | 4 | 6.11 | 27.8 |
| Georgi Kabakov | 10 | 3 | 5.90 | 25.5 |
| John Beaton | 8 | 2 | 5.88 | 24.1 |
| Danny Makkelie | 4 | 1 | 5.75 | 26.8 |
| Donatas Rumsas | 6 | 2 | 5.50 | 25.7 |
| Szymon Marciniak | 4 | 1 | 5.50 | 26.0 |
| Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez | 2 | 1 | 5.50 | 26.5 |
| Simone Sozza | 9 | 2 | 5.44 | 25.0 |
| Benoît Bastien | 7 | 1 | 5.43 | 23.4 |
| Davide Massa | 7 | 4 | 5.43 | 23.6 |
| Damian Sylwestrzak | 5 | 2 | 5.40 | 28.0 |
| Harm Osmers | 13 | 4 | 5.38 | 22.6 |
| Tobias Stieler | 10 | 3 | 5.20 | 21.9 |
| Allard Lindhout | 7 | 3 | 5.14 | 23.7 |
| Orel Grinfeeld | 8 | 2 | 5.00 | 25.5 |
| Espen Eskas | 6 | 1 | 5.00 | 22.3 |
| Ondrej Berka | 4 | 1 | 5.00 | 26.5 |
| Sander van der Eijk | 4 | 4 | 5.00 | 26.5 |
| Daniel Schlager | 1 | 1 | 5.00 | 20.0 |
| Michael Oliver | 6 | 1 | 4.83 | 23.5 |
| Horatiu Fesnic | 10 | 4 | 4.80 | 28.2 |
| Irfan Peljto | 12 | 3 | 4.67 | 24.0 |
| Sven Jablonski | 5 | 3 | 4.60 | 24.8 |
| Aliyar Aghayev | 7 | 2 | 4.57 | 25.4 |
| François Letexier | 9 | 1 | 4.44 | 21.8 |
| Manfredas Lukjancukas | 7 | 3 | 4.43 | 23.9 |
| Juxhin Xhaja | 8 | 3 | 4.38 | 23.6 |
| Filip Glova | 9 | 1 | 4.33 | 24.2 |
| Sandro Schärer | 9 | 2 | 4.33 | 26.2 |
| Luís Godinho | 6 | 2 | 4.33 | 25.2 |
| Mohammad Al-Emara | 3 | 2 | 4.33 | 22.3 |
| Enea Jorgji | 7 | 1 | 4.29 | 20.4 |
| Vassilis Fotias | 4 | 4 | 4.25 | 23.3 |
| Anastasios Sidiropoulos | 8 | 2 | 4.13 | 23.0 |
| Radu Marian Petrescu | 8 | 3 | 4.13 | 24.4 |
| Nikola Dabanovic | 13 | 4 | 4.08 | 24.5 |
| Mohammed Al-Hakim | 12 | 4 | 4.08 | 22.5 |
| Eric Lambrechts | 8 | 3 | 4.00 | 23.8 |
| Rade Obrenovič | 9 | 3 | 3.89 | 23.8 |
| Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxea | 9 | 3 | 3.89 | 21.2 |
| Glenn Nyberg | 8 | 3 | 3.88 | 22.6 |
| Rohit Saggi | 7 | 3 | 3.86 | 23.9 |
| José María Sánchez Martínez | 10 | 2 | 3.80 | 24.6 |
| Jesus Gil Manzano | 5 | 1 | 3.80 | 25.0 |
| Sebastian Gishamer | 8 | 3 | 3.75 | 21.8 |
| Srdan Jovanovic | 4 | 2 | 3.75 | 24.5 |
| Elcin Masiyev | 3 | 3 | 3.67 | 26.0 |
| Jérôme Brisard | 11 | 2 | 3.64 | 25.2 |
| Anastasios Papapetrou | 8 | 3 | 3.63 | 23.0 |
| Halil Umut Meler | 10 | 5 | 3.60 | 23.5 |
| Antonio Nobre | 5 | 2 | 3.60 | 23.0 |
| Balazs Berke | 5 | 2 | 3.60 | 21.0 |
| Giorgi Kruashvili | 10 | 3 | 3.50 | 23.2 |
| Javier Alberola Rojas | 2 | 1 | 3.50 | 20.5 |
| Juan Martinez Munuera | 2 | 2 | 3.50 | 29.5 |
| Oleksiy Derevinskyi | 2 | 1 | 3.50 | 22.5 |
| Mykola Balakin | 7 | 3 | 3.43 | 21.3 |
| Marian Barbu | 5 | 1 | 3.40 | 24.0 |
| Maurizio Mariani | 5 | 1 | 3.40 | 19.8 |
| Julian Weinberger | 6 | 2 | 3.33 | 26.7 |
| Nenad Minaković | 8 | 4 | 3.25 | 25.4 |
| Ivan Kružliak | 9 | 1 | 3.22 | 23.4 |
| Joao Pedro Pinheiro | 9 | 1 | 3.22 | 20.3 |
| Igor Pajač | 7 | 3 | 3.00 | 22.4 |
| John Brooks | 7 | 2 | 3.00 | 24.9 |
| Willy Delajod | 6 | 4 | 3.00 | 19.8 |
| Goga Kikacheishvili | 3 | 3 | 3.00 | 30.0 |
| Andrea Colombo | 2 | 1 | 3.00 | 26.5 |
| Morten Krogh | 9 | 2 | 2.78 | 24.6 |
| Marco Guida | 3 | 2 | 1.33 | 17.7 |
| Robert Hennessy | 1 | 1 | 1.00 | 23.0 |
| Jasper Vergoote | 2 | 1 | 0.50 | 28.0 |
How the UEFA Europa League compares
UEFA Europa League sits between the other leagues we cover on cards — 4.55 a match against La Liga's 4.86 and the Premier League's 4.08 — with 24.2 fouls a game.
| League | Cards / match | Fouls / match | Foul → card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 4.08 | 21.9 | 18.6% |
| Bundesliga | 4.07 | 22.1 | 18.4% |
| UEFA Champions League | 3.96 | 21.9 | 18.0% |
| Championship | 4.01 | 21.9 | 18.3% |
| EFL Cup | 3.29 | 21.0 | 15.7% |
| UEFA Europa League you're here | 4.55 | 24.2 | 18.8% |
| La Liga | 4.86 | 25.4 | 19.1% |
| Ligue 1 | 3.87 | 24.5 | 15.8% |
| UEFA Nations League | 3.97 | 22.5 | 17.7% |
| Serie A | 4.19 | 24.7 | 16.9% |
Career rates across every season we hold, built the same way in each competition. Stricter isn't better or worse — it's the baseline each referee on this page is measured against.
Other officials on record
Career records the model still uses for the matches each one covers. The season shown is the last with a UEFA Europa League match on record.
Anthony Taylor retired Alejandro Hernandez 24/25 Craig Pawson 24/25 Daniel Siebert 24/25 Lawrence Visser 24/25 Duje Strukan 24/25 Serdar Gozubuyuk 24/25 Clement Turpin 24/25 Aleksandar Stavrev 24/25 Artur Soares Dias 23/24 Daniel Stefanski 23/24 Harald Lechner 23/24 Marco Di Bello 24/25 Tamas Bognar 24/25 William Collum 23/24 Bartosz Frankowski 23/24 Paweł Raczkowski 26/27 Roi Reinshreiber 23/24 Urs Schnyder 24/25 Aleksey Kulbakov 22/23 Antonio Mateu Lahoz 22/23 Atilla Karaoglan 23/24 Evgeniy Aranovsky 22/23 Fabio Maresca 23/24 Sergiy Boyko 22/23 Slavko Vinčić 22/23 Stephanie Frappart 22/23 Ali Palabiyik 22/23 Christian-Petru Ciochirca 23/24 Daniele Orsato 22/23 Dennis Higler 22/23 Donald Robertson 23/24 Fran Jović 22/23 Jarred Gillett 26/27 Jeremie Pignard 26/27 Michal Očenáš 26/27 Patrik Kolarić 26/27 Robert Jones 23/24 Ruddy Buquet 22/23 Simovic Novak 22/23 Tiago Martins 22/23 Yigal Frid 26/27
What to do with this
A referee tendency tips a bet; it doesn't decide one. The archetypal card edge is a confluence — a combative midfielder, a strict official, a fixture with an edge to it — and the referee column is one input among several, applied to a player's own booking rate rather than replacing it. It's also worth saying plainly: the referee effect is strongest in the player to-be-carded market, and cards stay the hardest thing we price — in every league we grade, at least one card line (sometimes match totals, sometimes individual bookings) comes out no better than the base rate, and our public track record names which rather than hiding it. Anyone selling referee stats as a printing press is selling the fun half.
Frequently asked
How many referees are there in the UEFA Europa League?
The table above lists every official who took charge of a UEFA Europa League match in 25/26 and has built a meaningful record, with the newer ones shown separately rather than mixed in. The panel churns every summer, so the honest answer is whoever actually officiated — which is what this page shows, updated as the season runs.
Do referees really move card prices?
More than any other single factor in the player cards market. The table above shows how far each UEFA Europa League official's card rate sits from the average — and because the appointment is public before kick-off, it's measurable in advance. The modelling guide on player cards walks through exactly how we use it.
Why is this the 25/26 panel?
Because it's the one we can stand behind. The panel churns every summer — promotions, retirements, removals — so a page of officials nobody has appointed yet is partly fiction, and a season only a few matches old can't tell you who is on it either. We profile the officials who actually took charge of a UEFA Europa League match in 25/26, with career numbers across every season we hold, and the page moves on once the new season has enough behind it.
What does the conversion column mean?
The share of fouls that become cards under each referee. It's the honest way to separate strict from whistle-happy: foul counts barely vary between officials, but the rate at which a foul turns into a booking varies a lot — that's where a referee's real card tendency lives.
Does the model use these exact numbers?
Nearly. The model uses each referee's card tendency relative to the league, shrunk toward neutral when the sample is thin, and it discounts its own confidence for officials with young records — the same caution the small-sample table below wears openly.
Descriptive rates from public match data, shown with sample sizes for context. The model applies shrinkage and a confidence discount before any of this touches a price, and grades itself in public on the track record. 18+ — please gamble responsibly.