 Mažić officiating the2017 Confederations Cup Final | |||
| Full name | Milorad Mažić | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1973-03-23)23 March 1973 (age 52) Vrbas,SR Serbia,SFR Yugoslavia | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2006–2020 | SuperLiga | Referee | |
| 2009–2012 | Liga I | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2009–2019 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
| 2013–2020 | UEFA Elite | Referee | |
Milorad Mažić (Serbian Cyrillic:Милорад Мажић,pronounced[mǐloradmǎʒitɕ]; born 23 March 1973) is a formerSerbian internationalassociation footballreferee. He became aFIFA referee in 2009. Beside working in theSerbian football league system, Mažić officiated numerous matches in theUEFA Champions League (including the2018 final) and theEuropa League, as well as the2016 UEFA Super Cup. He refereed matches at the2014 FIFA World Cup,UEFA Euro 2016,2017 FIFA Confederations Cup (including thefinal match). He was selected as a referee for the2018 FIFA World Cup. He was awarded a Silver Medal for Merits of the Republic of Serbia. He was selected the best Serbian referee nine consecutive times.
During the summer of 2006 Mažić was selected to referee theSerbian SuperLiga matches for the upcoming2006–07 season.
In 2008, Mažić refereed for the first time theEternal derby betweenBelgrade football clubsRed Star Belgrade andFK Partizan; throughout the years, he achieved the absolute record (both in former Yugoslav and Serbian football history), refereeing 13 matches between Belgrade's "eternal rivals".[citation needed]
His first international appearance happened in March 2009 at theEuropean Under-17 Championship qualifications, and also at theChampionship itself, where he officiated the match betweenGermany andItaly. Soon thereafter, he refereed the friendly match betweenMontenegro andWales on 12 August 2009.[citation needed] On 7 September 2009, Mažić acquired his first experience in the European club competition, refereeing the return leg of theEuropa League first qualifying phase tie betweenLlanelli andMotherwell.[citation needed] In total, Mažić refereed 12 league matches that season in Serbia's top flight.[1]
In October 2009 he refereed his first international senior match — a2010 World Cup qualifier betweenFinland and Wales inHelsinki. The sameseason also saw him referee a RomanianLiga I match betweenFC Politehnica Timișoara andDinamo București on 23 November 2009.[citation needed]
In theUEFA Champions League, Mažić first appeared at theCamp Nou Stadium on 19 September 2012, refereeingBarcelona's 3–2 win overSpartak Moscow match. During the same season, as referee of the UEFA Elite-development category, he officiated one of the semi-final matches of theUEFA Europa League – at theŞükrü Saracoğlu Stadium inIstanbul, on 25 April 2013, which was a precedent for a referee of the Elite-development category. He also refereed the semi-final first leg match betweenFenerbahçe andBenfica. Soon thereafter, following his success in that match, he was awarded the UEFA Elite category in June 2013.
In early April 2014, Mažić was selected as the referee of theChampions Leaguequarter-final first leg match betweenParis Saint-Germain andChelsea atParc des Princes. A month later, he refereed aEuropa Leaguesemi-final match, the return leg betweenValencia andSevilla atMestalla.[citation needed]
Mažić refereed theGermany vs.Portugalgroup stage match inSalvador da Bahia. In the 11th minute of the contest, he awarded apenalty shot to Germany,[2][3] and later, in the 37th minute with Germany now up 2–0, Mažić showedred card to Portugal'sPepe.[4][5] In the next game, Mažić refereed theArgentina vs.Irangroup stage match inBelo Horizonte.[6] After the game, Iranian managerCarlos Queiroz, unsatisfied with the referee, was quoted saying: "Will this man be able to sleep tonight? Or for the rest of his life?".[7]
Having refereed theChampions Leagueround-of-16 return leg in March 2015 betweenBorussia Dortmund andJuventus, Mažić was awarded the quarter-final first leg betweenAtlético Madrid andReal Madrid.[8] Thematch ended 0–0 and he handed out fiveyellow cards. After the matchMario Suárez, who received one of the cards, said "The referee is very bad. They can't use a Serbian referee for these type of games". This was taken by some as anethnic slur. Mario Suárez later apologized, tweeting that he just meant "that games of this magnitude should be given to a referee from one of the big leagues". However, after that match, Mažić was positively evaluated.[9][10] Mažić later refereed theEuropa Leaguesemi-final return leg in mid-May, his third time being involved in a match at this stage of competition, betweenDnipro andNapoli that was played inKyiv instead ofDnipropetrovsk due to theWar in Donbas.
In July 2015 Mažić got hired by theEgyptian FA to referee the country's biggest leaguederby betweenCairo cross-town rivalsAl Ahly andZamalek. The match of theEgyptian Premier League was played on 22 July 2015 in a neutral venue inAlexandria without a crowd.[11][12] Mažić was appointed in February 2016 to referee the UEFA Europa League match betweenManchester United andLiverpool at theOld Trafford Stadium, and was the only non-British referee alongsideCarlos Velasco Carballo to referee thederby between these two giants.[citation needed]
UEFA Referees Committee appointed the Serbian referee team, led by Mažić, to run matches at theEuro 2016 in France. The Serbian referee team was firstly appointed to referee theRepublic of Ireland vsSwedengroup stage match at theStade de France inParis on 13 June, which ended 1–1. They refereed the match on 17 June ingroup D betweenSpain andTurkey at theAlianz Riviera inNice which Spain won 3–0. In the next phase of the Cup, the Serbian team was appointed to run theRound of 16 match betweenHungary andBelgium at theStadium Municipal inToulouse, which the Belgians won 4–0.[citation needed]
During the tournament, Mažić also worked as a fourth official twice, at thePoland vs Portugal andFrance vsIcelandquarter-final matches. The general impression[according to whom?] was that Mažić refereed successfully in all three of his matches, keeping constant quality and even enhancing it. Thus, he was proposed, besideMark Clattenburg fromEngland andViktor Kassai fromHungary, to be a candidate for thefinal match. Ultimately, Clattenburg was appointed to be the referee at the final match.[13]
At the beginning of the2016–17 season, the UEFA Referees Committee appointed Mažić to officiate the2016 UEFA Super Cup between Real Madrid andSevilla at theLerkendal Stadium inTrondheim, Norway.[14] Real Madrid won hitting a goal at the end of the 120 minutes lasting match.
Mažić refereed the2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Final match betweenChile and Germany played inSaint Petersburg on 2 July 2017; Germany upset Chile in a hard-fought, physical match winning 1–0.[15]
On 26 May 2018, Mažić and his assistants Milovan Ristić andDalibor Đurđević refereed the2018 UEFA Champions League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid inKyiv.[16] He was the last official to referee a Champions League Final withoutVAR
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On 29 March 2018, FIFA announced that he will officiate some matches at2018 FIFA World Cup along with Ristić and Đurđević as assistant referees.[17]
The Serbian team officiated three matches. The first match was betweenSouth Korea andMexico inRostov-on-Don on 23 June. After that they were appointed to referee the match betweenSenegal and Colombia inSamara on 28 June. At the next phase, the Serbian team was appointed to officiatequarter-final match betweenBrazil and Belgium inKazan on 6 July. Mažić was once the fourth official at the tournament.
Mažić was successful in all three of his matches.[18][19][20] Serbian team stayed until the end of the World Cup with other candidates for thefinal match. Due toCroatia playing in the finals, the Serbian teamwas not eligible for the final match.
On 23 February 2019, it was announced that Mažić had been hired byCFA to become one of the professional referees in China. The same year he would be selected as the best referee of the Chinese Super League and thus become the first foreigner to win that recognition.[21]
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | UEFA Super Cup Final Referees 2016 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | FIFA Confederation Cup Final Referees 2017 | Succeeded by Tournament Abolished |
| Preceded by | UEFA Champions League Final Referees 2018 | Succeeded by |
