ISRAEL’S card-happy official Orel Grinfeld will be thrust into the spotlight this summer as he referees in his first ever senior international tournament.
Grinfeld’s inclusion at this summer’s tournament will undoubtedly be the highlight of his rising reputation whilst opening the door for more Israeli referees in the European game of which there have been few.
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He whistled England’s 2-0 win in Albania in March and Rangers ill-tempered Europa League last 16 second leg against Slavia Prague sending off two Rangers players in the process.
Who is Orel Grinfeld?
Israeli official Orel Grinfeld was born in 1981.
Grinfeld’s journey in the professional game began in 2009 when he made his debut in Israel’s top-flight.
Grinfeld has been on the FIFA list of international referees since 2012 and in that year, he took charge of his first international fixtures at the UEFA European under-17 championship.
In 2012, he also took charge of his first European club match – a Europa League qualifier between Siauliai of Lithuania and Levadia Tallinn of Estonia.
Since then, the Israeli has officiated in the Europa League, Champions League and World Cup qualifiers and has been a mainstay ever since.
An excellent servant to the Israeli game, Grinfeld was appointed by UFEA to officiate Nation’s League games from its inception in 2018, refereeing games involving Netherlands, Germany and Belgium.
Since then he has taken charge of the likes of Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Man City, Juventus and Bayern Munich.
And this year he refereed a Champions League knockout tie for the first time, officiating Bayern Munich’s 4-1 last 16 victory away to Lazio.
Grinfeld will be hoping to impress this summer and give himself the platform to take charge of games in the latter stages of European competition in the coming seasons.
Style
Unafraid to reach into his pocket, Grinfeld has brandished five red cards in 29 games this season.
The Israeli whistler has shown 159 yellow cards in that time with a massive 69 of them shown over 12 games in the Israeli League, totalling an average of around six cautions per game.
What games is he taking charges of at Euro 2020?
This has not yet been confirmed but he is expected to officiate in the group stages of the tournament.
