UEFA has appointed referees for the match of the 2nd round of the main stage of the Europa League between German Hoffenheim and Dynamo Kyiv, which will be held next Thursday, October 3, in Sinsheim.
All referees represent North Macedonia. The referee in the field is Aleksandar Stavrev. On the lines he will be assisted by Dejan Kostadinov and Goce Petreski. Also the VAR video assisted refereeing system will be used at the match, led by Nejc Kajtazovic from Slovenia.
As for the head referee of the upcoming match, the 47-year-old Stavrev has been officiating international matches since 2006, and for all that time he has worked 119 such matches (in total at club level and at national team level in competitions of all age categories).
It will not be the first time Stavrev will officiate a match involving Dynamo Kyiv: in the season 2019/20 the Macedonian worked as the chief referee of Kyiv's home match with Swedish Malmo (1:0) in the 1st round of the Europa League group stage.
Season-2010/11. Ukraine (U-21) - England (U-21) - 0:0. Euro 2011 (U-21)
Season-2010/11. "Debrecen (Hungary) - Metalist - 0:5. Europa League group stage
Season-2013/14. "Lyon" (France) - "Chornomorets " - 1:0. 1/16 finals of the Europa League
Season-2018/19. "Braga" (Portugal) - "Zorya " - 2:2. Europa League qualification
Season-2019/20. " Dynamo vs Malmo (Sweden) - 1:0. Europa League group stage
Season-2023/24. "Breidablik (Iceland) vs Zorya - 0:1. Europa League group stage.
Stavrev 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 6th match. The Macedonian awards penalties on average in every fourth match.