West Ham United v SC Freiburg
UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg, London Stadium, Thursday 14 March 2024, 5.45pm GMT
Referee: Marco Guida (ITA)
Assistant Referees: Filippo Meli (ITA) and Giorgio Peretti (ITA)
Fourth Official: Daniele Chiffi (ITA)
VAR: Aleandro Di Paolo (ITA)
Assistant VAR: Luca Pairetto (ITA)
The match officials for the UEFA Europa League round of 16 second-leg clash at home to SC Freiburg on Thursday evening have been confirmed.
A full Italian contingent will be led by Marco Guida, who has been a FIFA referee since 2014.
The 42-year-old was born in Pompei and has been officiating since 2007, going on to take charge of his first game in Serie A - a 1-1 draw between AC ChievoVerona and Bologna - in January 2010.
Guida has overseen close to 400 matches at both domestic and international levels, including five Milan derbies between Inter and AC.
He has never officiated at a West Ham United match, but has been the man in the middle in games involving Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester United and Leicester City.
Indeed, Guida refereed RC Lens’ 2-1 win over the Gunners in this season’s UEFA Champions League group stage, with the Frenchmen having gone on to be defeated by Freiburg in the Europa League knockout round play-off ahead of this round of 16 tie.
He has also held the whistle during three England international fixtures, most recently a 4-0 win for the Three Lions over Bulgaria in a UEFA European Championship qualifier in September 2019.
Serving alongside Guida at London Stadium will be assistants Filippo Meli and Giorgio Peretti.
Both regularly run the line at an elite level, with Meli having held assistant duties in Serie A 162 times, and Peretti on 141 occasions. The latter was in action during the Hammers’ 3-1 victory over Viborg in the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round first leg last season.
Daniele Chiffi is set to be the fourth official. The 39-year-old took on the same role in West Ham’s 1-0 defeat at home to Dinamo Zagreb in the 2021/22 Europa League group stage. He has refereed nine Serie A games this season.
Finally, Aleandro Di Paolo will oversee Video Assistant Referee duties. He served as the assistant VAR during Aston Villa’s goalless Europa Conference League round of 16 first leg against Ajax last week.
West Ham United v Aston Villa
Premier League, London Stadium, Sunday 17 March 2024, 2pm GMT
Referee: Jarred Gillett
Assistant Referees: Darren Cann and Akil Howson
Fourth Official: Sam Allison
VAR: Tony Harrington
Assistant VAR: Nick Greenhalgh
West Ham will return to Premier League action three days after the Freiburg fixture, at home to Aston Villa, with Jarred Gillett having been confirmed as the referee for that game.
The 37-year-old has been a part of Professional Game Match Officials Limited’s (PGMOL) Select Group One since the start of the 2021/22 season, after establishing himself in his native Australia and joining Select Group 2 in England in 2019.
He has 40 Premier League games under his belt, including four Hammers fixtures. Three of those came in the 2022/23 campaign, most recently a 1-0 win away at Fulham little under a year ago.
This term has seen Gillett referee in the English top flight on 14 occasions, as well as twice apiece in UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying and UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying.
He also served as the Video Assistant Referee during West Ham’s 3-0 home win over Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier in 2023/24, just before Christmas.
Darren Cann and Akil Howson will run the line as the assistant referees on Sunday.
A former young professional with Crystal Palace and Norwich City, Cann began refereeing in 1991 and has worked in the Premier League since 2005.
He holds the distinct honour of running the line in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final, the 2010 UEFA Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, and the 2006 FA Cup final between West Ham United and Liverpool.
Howson, meanwhile, was promoted to Select Group 1 in 2023 and was the first person of black, Asian or mixed heritage to be a permanent official in the English top flight in 15 years.
Sam Allison duly became the first black referee in the Premier League in 15 years when he oversaw Luton Town’s 3-2 win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Boxing Day 2023.
He is set to work as the fourth official at London Stadium, having taken on the same role in August’s 3-1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Video Assistant Referee duties are to be overseen by Tony Harrington.
One of the newest top-flight referees, who was promoted to Select Group One ahead of the 2021/22 season, Harrington worked as the VAR during West Ham’s victory at Everton earlier in March.
