Damir Skomina

Damir Skomina
Damir Skomina (2018)
Personal
Surname	Damir Skomina
birthday	5th August 1976
place of birth	Koper , SFR Yugoslavia
job	Tourism organizer , real estate agent
Games by division
Years	Division	Games
since 1995 since 2000 since 2003 since 2003	lower leagues Slovenska Nogometna Liga UEFA referee FIFA referee
Tournaments
U-17 European Football Championship U-19 European Football Championship U-21 European Football Championship Olympic games European Championship qualification World Cup qualification UEFA Europa League UEFA Champions League

Damir Skomina (born August 5, 1976 in Koper , SFR Yugoslavia ) is a Slovenian football referee who has also appeared internationally since 2003 and has already played various games between national teams and games in major competitions such as the UEFA Cup (later UEFA Europa League ) or the UEFA Champions League .

Career

Beginnings as a referee

His real career as a football referee began in the summer of 1976 in the city of Koper , in what was then SFR Yugoslavia , in 1995, where he was initially used in the lower Slovenian leagues. Over the years he continued to rise and was finally brought into the top division of the country as a "junior referee" in 2000 , where he made his debut soon afterwards. Three years later, on January 1, 2003, Skomina was brought to international level as a referee and at the same time was appointed UEFA and FIFA referee. He finally made his debut in such a position on April 30, 2003 in the friendly international match between Hungary and Luxembourg (5-1). Also in 2003, the young Slovene was appointed as one of the main referees for the U-17 European Championship 2003 finals , where he made his debut in the first group match between Portugal and Denmark (3-2) in his first FIFA tournament on May 7th. He was also used in the group game between Italy and Israel (4: 0) and in the semi-final game between Portugal and England (2: 2; 3: 2 n.E.). After completing the tournament, he received his first promotion through UEFA arbitration, where he was promoted from Category 4 to Category 3. One of his first encounters between two senior national teams was the game between Austria and Luxembourg at the end of April 2004 , which the Austrians won 4-1.

Slow establishment

He finally had other noteworthy missions in 2005, where he first played in some games in the UEFA Regions' Cup in 2005 and was then selected as one of the main referees for the finals of the U-19 European Championship . At the European Championships in Northern Ireland , he led the matches between Greece and Germany (0: 3) and between Armenia and England (1: 1) in the group stage. This was followed by a further promotion from category 3 to category 2. In 2005 he was also called up for the first time for the European qualifying zone for the 2006 World Cup , where he also led some matches. In those early years of his involvement as a UEFA and FIFA referee, he was also selected several times as a referee for the preliminary round of the UEFA Champions League , although his appearances were still very sporadic. In 2006 Skomina finally made another big step in the UEFA Cup , where he accompanied a sixteenth-finals match between Sporting Braga and FC Parma (1-0). In the following year, Skomina was represented more and more often at the international level and as a referee led games in various tournaments and qualifications. Among other things, he also appeared as a referee at the U-21 European Championship in the Netherlands , where he even led the opening game between the Netherlands and Israel (1-0). In the further course of the tournament, the then 30-year-old Slovene was once again entrusted with the management of a game, which he finally managed on June 14 with the 2-2 draw between England and Italy .

Breakthrough to the referee elite

Due to his solid performance throughout the competition, Skomina was subsequently nominated as the game director for the European Championship final in Groningen between the Netherlands and Serbia . The game played on June 23 at Euroborg in Groningen was clearly won by the hosts 4-1. Skomina was also increasingly known for an action at the 2008 European Football Championship , where Skomina was the fourth official to accompany the encounter between Germany and Austria. Due to emotional outbursts and a dispute between Löw, the fourth official, Damir Skomina and the coach of the ÖFB, Josef Hickersberger , both coaches were sent to the stands in the 40th minute. In addition to numerous other national and international appearances, Skomina made it to UEFA referees such as the Austrian Thomas Einwaller , the Hungarian Viktor Kassai , the French Stéphane Lannoy and the German Wolfgang Stark as one of the game directors for the soccer tournament of the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing . There he led the group game between Honduras and Italy (0: 3), as well as the quarter-final match between Brazil and Cameroon (2: 0). For the Slovenian these were the only two appearances in the current tournament. After the Olympic experience, Skomina made his debut in the group stage of the Champions League soon after, when he led the clash between PSV Eindhoven and Olympique Marseille on October 22, 2008 in the 2008-09 season , which resulted in a 2-0 win for the Dutch ended, but in the end neither of the two opponents got any further.

The now 32- and 33-year-olds celebrated his breakthrough at the beginning of the 2009/10 season when he was brought into the elite category of UEFA referees by UEFA, where he has since played alongside the best referees in Europe. Over time, Skomina quickly established itself as one of the best referees in Europe and was often used as a game director at major tournaments and important games. Also in the CL season 2009/10 , the Slovenian was often the main referee on the field. However, he did not get beyond appearances in the group stage. Due to his consistently solid performance, Skomina, who often causes excitement in his home country Slovenia , especially due to the relatively high number of red cards distributed, was rated as one of the possible candidates for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa , but made it from the 54 people shortlist not for the final round. He made another personal breakthrough in the 2010/11 CL season , where, in addition to various group games, he also led the second leg of the second leg on March 16, 2011 between Real Madrid and Olympique Lyon , which the home side won 3-0 . He was also in charge of the second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals between FC Schalke 04 and Inter Milan .

On December 20, 2011, UEFA announced that Skomina had been nominated as one of twelve referees to oversee the matches at the 2012 European Football Championship . After he was not considered for the 2014 World Cup , UEFA nominated him as one of the 18 referees for the 2016 European Football Championship in France . There he directed a total of 4 games, including the quarter-finals between Wales and Belgium . His career highlight so far is the nomination as referee for the final of the Europa League on May 24, 2017 in Solna between Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester United . On April 27, 2017, he was appointed as one of three UEFA referees for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup nominated. There he directed the group game between Cameroon and Chile on June 18, 2017 .

On March 29, 2018, FIFA nominated him as the only Slovenian referee for the 2018 World Cup . Jure Praprotnik and Robert Vukan accompanied him as assistants.

On May 14, 2019, UEFA nominated Skomina as referee for the final of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League on June 1, 2019 in Madrid, Spain, between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool FC . His compatriots Jure Praprotnik and Robert Vukan supported him on the sidelines, while the fourth official was the Spaniard Antonio Mateu Lahoz . The Dutchman Danny Makkelie officiated as video referee. At the end of the year, Skomina was elected World Referee 2019 by the IFFHS .

Referee missions

Appearances at the European Football Championship 2012

phase	date	Venue	Home team	Visiting team	Result
Group stage	0June 9, 2012	Kharkiv	Netherlands	Denmark	0: 1 (0: 1)
Group stage	June 15, 2012	Kiev	Sweden	England	2: 3 (0: 1)
Quarter finals	June 22, 2012	Danzig	Germany	Greece	4: 2 (1: 0)

Appearances at the European Football Championship 2016

phase	date	Venue	Home team	Visiting team	Result
Group stage	June 15, 2016	Lille	Russia	Slovakia	1: 2 (0: 2)
Group stage	19th June 2016	Lille	Switzerland	France	0: 0 (0: 0)
Round of 16	June 27, 2016	Nice	England	Iceland	1: 2 (1: 2)
Quarter finals	0July 1, 2016	Lille	Wales	Belgium	3: 1 (1: 1)

Appearances at the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017

phase	date	Venue	Home team	Visiting team	Result
Group stage	18th June 2017	Moscow	Cameroon	Chile	0: 2 (0: 0)

Appearances at the Football World Cup 2018

phase	date	Venue	Home team	Visiting team	Result
Group stage	19th June 2018	Saransk	Colombia	Japan	1: 2 (1: 1)
Group stage	June 28, 2018	Kaliningrad	England	Belgium	0: 1 (0: 0)
Round of 16	03rd July 2018	St. Petersburg	Sweden	Switzerland	1: 0 (0: 0)

Web links

• Damir Skomina on weltfussball.de
• Damir Skomina on worldreferee.com (English)
• Damir Skomina on transfermarkt.de
• Damir Skomina on the official website of the kicker
• Damir Skomina on soccerway.com (English)
• Med četrtimi sodniki tudi Damir Skomina | Damir Skomina in a portrait on siol.net (Slovenian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Referees appointed for first games , accessed March 16, 2011
2. ^ Skomina whistles in Arnhem , accessed on March 16, 2011
3. ↑ Skomina whistles final in Groningen , accessed on March 16, 2011
4. ↑ Referee at the 2008 Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing , accessed on March 16, 2011
5. ↑ UEFA announcement, accessed on December 20, 2011
6. ↑ Eighteen referees appointed for UEFA EURO 2016 , uefa.org (English). Retrieved December 22, 2015.
7. ↑ http://www.uefa.org/mediaservices/mediareleases/newsid=2468669.html UEFA announcement, accessed on 12 May 2017
8. ↑ https://www.confed-cup.de/die-confed-cup-2017-schiedsrichter/ The Confed-Cup 2017 referees, accessed on May 17, 2017
9. ↑ List of Match Officials for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. (PDF; 262 KB) (No longer available online.) FIFA, March 29, 2018, archived from the original on March 30, 2018 ; accessed on May 5, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
10. ↑ Referee team appointed for UEFA Champions League final in Madrid. UEFA, May 14, 2019, accessed May 14, 2019 .