Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg says the appointment of French referee Francois Letexier is a ‘big surprise’, given the 35-year-old’s lack of big-game experience.
UEFA have confirmed that Letexier will be the man in the middle for Sunday’s final in Berlin when England take on Spain at the Olympiastadion, in what will be by far the biggest game of his career so far.
Letexier’s most high-profile match so far was the 2023 UEFA Super Cup between Manchester City and Sevilla, but he has been FIFA-listed since 2017 and has been a regular official in the Champions League and Europa League over the past four seasons.
This is Letexier’s first senior tournament, with the Frenchman taking charge of Croatia versus Albania and Denmark versus Serbia in the group stage, before overseeing Spain’s last-16 win over Georgia.
But Clattenburg believes that Letexier is not even the best official in France, as he thinks Clement Turpin was not selected to due to errors made in the tournament’s opening match between Germany and Scotland.
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Writing in the Mail, Clattenburg also discounted Italian referee Daniele Orsato who will be retiring after the tournament meaning it ‘would have been an emotional match for him to try to focus on refereeing fairly’.
Polish official Szymon Marciniak is perhaps the most experienced referee at the tournament, but Clattenburg believes that rumours he will be heading to Saudi Arabia will have counted against him, all of which led to Letexier’s appointment.
“He’s officiated well at these Euros, keeping controversy to a minimum, but the most important match he has refereed up to now was the 2023 Super Cup between Manchester City and Sevilla,” Clattenburg wrote in the Mail. “This will be a massive step up so the pressure is on.
“If a big decision needs making, it will inevitably divide opinion, like the penalty for England against the Netherlands. Denzel Dumfries led with his studs in trying to stop Harry Kane from shooting and UEFA want these challenges punished wherever they occur on the pitch.
“Just because it happened in the box doesn’t mean Dumfries should have been allowed to get away with it, and he didn’t. Hopefully Letexier will be as strong in the Euro 2024 final if a similar situation occurs.”
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