He’s the only Premier League official to face the axe
UEFA have published a list of officials placed into different categories, which feature a number of Premier League referees.
A selection of top-flight officials are selected by the European football governing body to take charge of games in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League, as well as international tournaments.
Four Premier League referees are currently on duty at Euro 2024 – Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver, with Stuart Attwell and David Coote on VAR duty.
Taylor and Oliver are the only two officials on the elite list, meaning they are allowed to take charge of Champions League and Europa League fixtures and according to ESPN, will remain in the top tier alongside three refs from Germany, Spain, Italy and France.
One unlucky referee faces demotion
While Taylor and Oliver have done enough to keep their place among the elite, one referee has found himself promoted in John Brooks.
Brooks was statistically the best official in the Premier League last season has been promoted to the “first” list. He’s now alongside Chris Kavanagh in the two-person list.
For Craig Pawson though, he has had contrasting fortunes and has been relegated to the “second list”.
He joins Attwell, Darren England, Jarred Gillett, Rob Jones and Andy Madley in that tier list.
The news of the rankings come days after English referees came under fire for the way they handled Xavi Simons’ disallowed goal against France.
VAR has been praised for being used so efficiently throughout the tournament but on Friday night supporters were made to wait way longer than they’ve had to in any of the other fixtures.
