Clattenburg to referee Euro 2016 final

Paris, July 9 (IANS) English football umpire Mark Clattenburg will referee the Euro 2016 final between hosts France and Portugal at the Stade de France here on Sunday.

Clattenburg, 41, who also refereed the UEFA Champions League final in May, has become the second man to take charge of both major European football occasions in the same year after Pedro Proenca in 2012. UEFA on Friday named Clattenburg as the referee for the final, reports Xinhua.

Clattenburg will be joined by English assistants Simon Beck and Jake Collin, plus compatriot additional assistants Anthony Taylor and Andre Marriner, when Portugal play France.

Former electrician Clattenburg made history in May when he became the first man to preside over the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals in the same season.

An international referee since 2007, he has also overseen the 2012 Olympics' final and 2014 UEFA Super Cup among many major matches.

He is the first English referee of a Euro final since Arthur Ellis (1960) and Arthur Holland (1964) were in the middle for the inaugural two deciders.

Clattenburg was one of the pioneering additional assistant referees when the role was trialled at UEFA EURO 2012.

At this summer's tournament in France he has refereed Belgium vs Italy, Czech Republic vs Croatia and the opening round of 16 game between Switzerland and Poland. He was also a fourth official at the Stade de France when Iceland played Austria.

--IANS

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