UEFA has appointed referees for the return play-off match of the Champions League qualification round between Austrian Salzburg and Dynamo Kyiv, which will take place next Tuesday, August 27, in Salzburg.
Halil Umut MelerAll referees represent Turkey. The referee in the field is Halil Umut Meler. He will be assisted on the lines by Kerem Ersoy and Ibrahim Çağlar Uyarcan. Fourth referee: Arda Kardesler. The match will also feature a VAR video assisted referee system led by Luca Pairetto from Italy.
As for the head referee of the upcoming encounter, the 38-year-old Mehler has been officiating international matches since 2017 and has worked in 75 such matches (total at club level and at national team level in competitions of all age categories). This season, the Turk has not been involved in international matches yet, but last summer he worked at three Euro 2024 matches (Belgium vs Slovakia - 0:1; Poland vs Austria - 1-3; England vs Slovakia - 2:1).
It will not be the first time that Meler will officiate a match involving Dynamo Kyiv: in the season-2021/22 the Turk worked as the chief referee of Kyiv's home match with Bayern Munich (1-2) in the 5th round of the Champions League group stage, and in the season-2019/20 this referee fixed a draw (1:1) in the match of the Europa League group stage between Dynamo and Danish Copenhagen.
Scandalous beating right on the soccer field
Meler is also known for being at the center of a high-profile scandal last season. In December 2023, after the final whistle in the match of the 15th round of the Turkish championship between Ankaragücü and Rizespor (1:1), the president of the host club ran onto the field and delivered a powerful fist blow to the face of the main referee of the match, who was Halil Umut Meler. The referee was knocked down, and while on the turf he received a number of blows with his legs.
This story got such a resonance in Turkey that even the president of the country Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave his comment on this matter.
VIDEO of the scandalous beating of Meler see in our Telegram channel.
Statistics of matches of Halil Umut Meler with Ukrainian teams
Season-2017/18. Bulgaria (U-17) - Ukraine (U-17) - 0:3. Euro 2018 qualifying cycle (U-17)
Season-2017/18. Ukraine (U-17) - Azerbaijan (U-17) - 6:1. Euro 2018 qualifying cycle (U-17)
Season-2019/20. " Dynamo vs Copenhagen (Denmark) - 1:1. Europa League group stage
Season-2021/22. " Dynamo vs Bayern Munich (Germany) - 1:2. Champions League group stage.
Meler can be called a rather strict referee: he shows an average of 5 yellow cards per match, and he resorts to direct penalties in about every 7th match. On average, the Turk awards a penalty in every second match.
