The Premier League referees Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor have been selected by Uefa to officiate at Euro 2024, while Stuart Attwell has been named as a VAR, two days after Nottingham Forest questioned his integrity.
Taylor, who refereed Forest’s 2-0 defeat to Everton when Attwell was the VAR and the pair rejected three of the relegation-threatened club’s penalty appeals, has become established as one of Uefa’s leading referees.
The 45-year-old, who Forest accused of making “three extremely poor decisions”, officiated at three matches in Euro 2020 as well as the 2023 Europa League final and the 2021 Nations League final.
Oliver, who was also on duty at the 2022 World Cup, was in charge of the 2022 European Super Cup final as well as regular high-profile Champions League ties not involving English clubs.
Forest are facing Premier League and FA investigations after implying bias from Attwell, who is chosen as one of two English VARs, along with David Coote. Taylor and Oliver will be part of refereeing teams with English assistant referees.
Roberto Rosetti, Uefa managing director of refereeing, said: “We have selected the best referees to officiate these matches. All chosen referees have performed consistently to the highest standards in Uefa’s top competitions, and also in their domestic competition.”
All officials for Euro 2024 will attend a course in Frankfurt in May while, in a break from tradition, an Argentinian referee, Facundo Tello, and his assistants will take charge of matches.
The 18 European referees selected include Szymon Marciniak, the Pole who was given the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Champions League finals.
Daniele Orsato, the Italian who took charge of the 2020 Champions League final and a World Cup semi-final, is another of the senior officials chosen, along with France’s Clement Turpin, who refereed the 2022 Champions League final.
