 Micheľ in September 2009 | |||
| Born | (1968-05-16)16 May 1968 (age 57) Stropkov,Czechoslovakia (nowSlovakia) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Other occupation | Factory Manager | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1993 – 2008 | Slovak Superliga | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1993 – 2008 | UEFA | Referee | |
Ľuboš Micheľ (Slovak pronunciation:[ˈʎubɔʂˈmixeʎ]; born 16 May 1968) is a retired Slovakfootball referee. He is considered one of the best Slovak international referees in the history. He regularly refereedChampions League matches with the highlight being at the2008 Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea. He officiated atWorld Cups in 2002 and2006 and at the 2004 and 2008 EUROs. He ended his refereeing career in 2008.
Micheľ debuted in the Slovak Superliga on 16 May 1993 in the match between Humenné vs. Prešov (0:0). Shortly after domestic debut, he became aFIFA referee at the age of 25 (in 1993). At a young age, Micheľ refereed a number of games inLebanon.
In 1995, Micheľ officiated the semifinal at Euro U16 and in 1998 he was selected as a referee in the final game at Euro U21 in Romania.[1]
Micheľ was one of three Europeans - along with German Fandel and Frenchman Breu - to referee the tournament at the2000 Olympic Games in Sydney (Nigeria - Honduras, Republic of Korea - Chile).
When Micheľ took charge of theParaguay vSouth Africa game at the2002 FIFA World Cup, he became the first Slovak to referee aFIFA World Cup Finals match. (Three Slovak referees,Martin Macka (1958),Karol Galba (1962, 1966) andVojtech Christov (1982, 1986) count toCzechoslovakia).
Micheľ was selected to referee the2003 UEFA Cup Final inSeville,Spain, between Porto andCeltic, one of the biggest appointments for a UEFA referee.[2]
Micheľ officiated atEuro 2004, taking charge of 3 games, including the quarter-final betweenSweden and theNetherlands. He issued 16yellow cards, but noreds, at an average of 5.33 cards per game, placing him sixth on the cards-per-game table.
In the2004–05 UEFA Champions League, during the semi-final second leg match betweenLiverpool andChelsea atAnfield in which the home team won by 1–0 and hence qualified for theFinal, there was debate over whether a "ghost goal" had been scored by Liverpool wingerLuis García.[3] A computerised 're-enactment' suggested the ball had not crossed the line, and that Micheľ would have been unable to see it from his angle,[4] while motion expert Mike Spann concluded that Micheľ had made the correct decision.[5] Micheľ himself stated that his decision was based on the reaction of the assistant referee because had he not awarded Liverpool the goal, he would have awarded them apenalty kick and sent off Chelsea goalkeeperPetr Čech for a foul onMilan Baroš instead.[6][7][8] After studying a series of still images of the incident, motion expert Dr. Mike Spann concluded that Micheľ had made the correct decision by signalling a goal.[9]
Micheľ was ranked the world's third best referee in 2005 by theIFFHS, second best in 2006 and third best again in 2007.[10]
Micheľ was selected as one of 21 referees for the2006 World Cup inGermany. After his performance in the first two rounds,FIFA chose him as one of twelve referees to officiate the final eight games of the tournament. Micheľ has handed out the second highest number of cards per match (8) of any referee in the tournament. The only person with a higher tally isValentin Ivanov, who handed out an average of ten.
Micheľ matches have been considered tempestuous. In the group stage he took charge of the game betweenPortugal andMexico; the game ending 2–1 to Portugal. He issued 8 yellow cards, sent a player off for diving, gave two penalties, and rejected a claim for one in the second half.
In the Round of 16 he took charge of theBrazil-Ghana match, won by Brazil 3–0. He sent off one Ghanaian player for diving and ordered the Ghana coach,Ratomir Dujković, to leave the field after the coach argued with him about an offside goal.[11]
Micheľ refereed the quarterfinals loss ofArgentina to the hostsGermany, which was tied 1–1 and went into extra time and ended on penalty kicks. He handed out seven yellows during the match. Micheľ gave a red card to Argentina's unused substituteLeandro Damián Cufré for kickingPer Mertesacker during the post-game melee involving the two teams and some members of their coaching staffs.[12]
Micheľ was selected to be the referee of the2008 UEFA Champions League final, the match betweenManchester United andChelsea. The match went to a penalty shootout which, after much excitement, was eventually won by Manchester United. Micheľ became only the second referee to give a red card in aUEFA Champions League final (the first beingTerje Hauge in2006) when he sentDidier Drogba off in extra time for a slap atNemanja Vidić's chin.[13]
Michel was selected to be a referee at theUEFA Euro 2008, where he refereed the Group A game betweenSwitzerland andTurkey, the Group C game betweenFrance andItaly and the quarter-final match betweenNetherlands andRussia.
On 23 October 2008, he retired from active referee activity due to problems with his Achilles’ tendon.[14] His last match was the gameMetalurh Zaporizhya againstMetalist Kharkiv in theUkrainian Premier League.
Micheľ was a manager of a car tyre factory outside of refereeing,[15] and previously a teacher. He speaksEnglish,Russian,German andPolish in addition to his nativeSlovak. He founded the societyTalent to support young Slovak football players. Micheľ has been a Member ofNational Council of the Slovak Republic since 2006.
On 27 October 2008, Micheľ signed a contract withShakhtar Donetsk as the head of the international competitions department.[16]
For a brief period of time between 2006 and 2010, Ľuboš Micheľ was serving as a lawmaker in the Slovak parliament, where he was elected in the 2006 elections.[17]
Between December 2015 and November 2018, he worked forPAOK FC as Sporting Director and president. Since September 2021, Micheľ has worked as president for1. FC Tatran Prešov.[18]
In October 2022, Micheľ ran unsuccessfully for Mayor ofPrešov.[19]
In August 2024, Micheľ step down from president role at 1. FC Tatran Prešov due to family and work reasons. In the 19 July 2025, he was again named as president of the club from Prešov.[20]
I believe Chelsea would have preferred the goal to count rather than face a penalty with just ten men for the rest of the game. If my assistant referee had not signalled a goal, I would have given a penalty and sent off goalkeeper Petr Čech.
| Preceded by | UEFA Cup Final referees 2003  Ľuboš Micheľ | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | FIFA Confederations Cup Final referees 2005 Ľuboš Micheľ | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | UEFA Champions League Final referees 2008 Ľuboš Micheľ | Succeeded by |
