Courtesy: The FA.com


Birkett heads for Euros

Thursday, 02 February, 2012

English Futsal official heads for EURO 2012 in Croatia.

Derbyshire referee Marc Birkett has received the honour of being selected as England’s sole representative for UEFA Futsal Euro 2012, which will take place in January and February 2012 in Croatia.

Marc, 33, who lives in Derby, has been refereeing Futsal since 2004 and quickly progressed through the levels domestically before being selected for promotion to the FIFA list in 2008.

He referees in The FA National Futsal League, which comprises of a North, Midlands and South Division and decided to step back from refereeing 11-a-side football, where he operated at Level 4, at the end of the 2010-11 season to concentrate solely on Futsal and to spend more time with his young family, a decision that has reaped its rewards with this fantastic appointment.

Internationally, he has refereed several big games, including taking charge of the Barcelona Futsal team in the UEFA Futsal Cup (Futsal’s equivalent of the UEFA Champions League) in Latvia, and Serbia v Russia in a World University Championship Semi-Final. Marc has recently returned from Slovenia where he refereed FIFA World Cup Qualification matches between Serbia, Israel, Moldova, and hosts Slovenia.

Marc, who is also Derby’s Get Into Football Officer, has also been instrumental in developing Futsal within Derby at Willows Sports Centre, and tutored a Futsal Referee Conversion course for Derbyshire FA Referees that saw 15 officials qualify as Futsal referees.

Derbyshire FA Referee Development Officer Nick Hopton said: “It is always fantastic when any Derbyshire referee gets appointed to officiate at any big game, but to have one of our referees representing England at the European Championships is something extra special, and I would like to offer Marc my congratulations for his fantastic achievement. There is only one other referee in England who can say he has been selected to referee at Euro 2012 next year, and that is Howard Webb, so Marc is in excellent company!”

You can follow UEFA Futsal Euro 2012 on Eurosport and Eurosport 2, as well as on the UEFA website.




Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com