Viktor Kassai (''Kassai Viktor'', Hungarian pronunciation: ; born 10 September 1975) is a Hungarian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

official and a former

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

who is the current head of refereeing department of the

Bulgarian Football Union The Bulgarian Football Union ( BFS) is the governing body of association football in Bulgaria, and a member of UEFA since 1954. It organizes a football league, Bulgarian Parva Liga, and fields its Bulgaria national football team in UEFA and F ...

. He participated in the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

and refereed the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final. He has been a full international referee for

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

since 2003. He retired as a referee on 30 December 2019.

Career

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the scor ...

in Canada, where he refereed the group stage match between

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, as well as the

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

match. Kassai refereed in

UEFA Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA ( ...

as the fourth official in several matches. During 2008, he also officiated in the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

, including in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

2010 World Cup

Kassai was preselected as a referee for the

. He refereed in the first leg of the AFC 5th vs OFC winner qualifier between

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. On 5 July, it was announced that he would be in charge for the

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

semifinal. It was his fourth match in the World Cup. This is the highest prestige match a Hungarian referee has been in charge of since Sándor Puhl's 1994 FIFA World Cup Final. His first appearance in the

was a group stage match between

and

on 15 June 2010, which Brazil won 2–1. He refereed two matches in the group stage. The United States vs Ghana match finished after extra time, becoming the first match in the World Cup to happen so. It was the first time that either Ghana or the United States played in a World Cup match ending in extra time.

2011 Champions League Final

Kassai was the head of an all-Hungarian crew in the 2011 UEFA Champions League Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he cautioned two players apiece on both the

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

( Daniel Alves and Victor Valdés) and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

(

Antonio Valencia Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia (; born 4 August 1985), is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developin ...

and

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional Association football, football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough. He is considered as one of the best midfield ...

) sides.

Euro 2012

At the

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

, Kassai officiated matches Spain vs Italy and England vs Ukraine. This was the first international tournament where two additional assistant referees were introduced on the goal-lines. During the England and Ukraine game a Ukrainian strike was cleared by English defender

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional Coach (association football), football coach and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, the En ...

, but TV re-plays showed that the ball had crossed the line. This led to a debate on the effectiveness of the inclusion of the two additional officials and the need for goal-line technology.

president

Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...

said, "goal-line technology was a necessity" following the England vs Ukraine match.

2016 FIFA Club World Cup

On 14 December 2016, Kassai became the first referee to award a penalty after viewing a video replay in a Club World Cup match, doing so in the

2016 FIFA Club World Cup The 2016 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2016 presented by Alibaba YunOS Auto for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club association footbal ...

semi finals between

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

and

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

Post-refereeing career

On 9 January 2020 he was appointed the head of refereeing department of the

Russian Football Union The Russian Football Union (, ''Rossiyskiy Futbolnyy Soyuz'' or RFS) is the official governing body of association football in the Russian Federation. With headquarters in Moscow, it organizes Russian amateur and professional football, includi ...

. He resigned from the position on 13 September 2021. On 26 January 2022 Kassai was appointed the head of refereeing department of the

. He will be in this position until the end of June 2023.

Controversies

Kassai was involved in two different incidents, in the

and the

2016–17 UEFA Champions League The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pla ...

. On 18 April 2017, he refereed the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals second-leg between

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

FC Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional association foo ...

. He was criticized for poor refereeing decisions, as Real Madrid and Bayern Munich had scored two respectively one goal in which they were offside. He was also criticized for not sending off Madrid player

Casemiro Carlos Henrique Casimiro (born 23 February 1992), also known mononymously as Casemiro , is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the ...

and

Arturo Vidal Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (; born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chilean Primera División club Colo-Colo and the Chile national football team, Chile national team. His displ ...

in the 48th minute. Madrid won 4–2 after extra time, and advanced to the semi-finals. On 7 November 2018, Kassai refereed the

2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League group stage began on 18 September and ended on 12 December 2018. A total of 32 teams competed in the group stage to decide the 16 places in the knockout phase of the 2018–19 UEFA Champions League. Draw The dra ...

fixture between

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk () is a Ukrainian professional Association football, football club that was based in the city of Donetsk until 2014 when, due to the War in Donbas (2014–2022), War in Donbas, the club was forced to move to Lvi ...

. During the game he awarded the home side a penalty when Raheem Sterling unintentionally tripped himself in the box, while there was clearly no contact between him and Shakhtar defenders at all. The penalty was converted in by

Gabriel Jesus Gabriel Fernando de Jesus (born 3 April 1997) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Arsenal and the Brazil national team. Jesus began his senior club career at Palmeiras, where he was voted Best Newcomer a ...

and Man City won 6-0.

References

External links

FIFA profile

Kassai Viktor on WorldReferee.com

– origo.hu
Viktor Kassai {{DEFAULTSORT:Kassai, Viktor 1975 births Living people Hungarian football referees 2010 FIFA World Cup referees UEFA Champions League referees UEFA Europa League referees People from Tatabánya UEFA Euro 2012 referees UEFA Euro 2016 referees Sportspeople from Komárom-Esztergom County