THE UEFA announced, in the form of a statement issued through official platforms early this Tuesday morning, that Jasper Vergoote is the man chosen to referee the match on the third round of the Europa League league phase, which will pit Omonia and Benfica face to face.
The 34-year-old judge will lead an almost 100% Belgian team, made up of assistants Michele Seeldraeyers and Martijn Tiesters, fourth referee Kevin Van Damme and AVAR Bert Put, with the only exception being Italian Gianluca Aureliano, who will be at the helm of VAR, in the game scheduled for 8pm (Mainland Portugal time) on Thursday, at Neo GSP, in Nicosia, Cyprus.
This will be the first time in his career that Jasper Vergoote will come across Benfica, at the highest level, after having been present in the defeat suffered by the under-19 team against Real Sociedad, on 8 November 2023, by 2-1, in a game counting for the group stage of the UEFA Youth League.
The CV also includes one game for FC Porto, one for Santa Clara and another for the under-17 national team, which all culminated in victories, respectively, over Rangers (in January of this year, 3-1), NK Varazdin (in July 2025, 2-0) and Poland (in May 2024, 2-1).
French referee at Ferencváros-Torreense…
Still in the Europa League, the clash between Ferencváros and Torreense, which will take place from 5:45 pm on Thursday, at the Groupama Arena, in Budapest, Hungary, will be refereed by Frenchman Jérôme Brisard, who, in this case, will have a team exclusively made up of compatriots at his disposal.
Alexis Auger and Aurélien Berthomieu will be the assistants, Eric Wattellier the fourth referee, Mathieu Vernice the VAR and Nicolas Rainville the AVAR, in what will be a complete debut for the judge born in Châteaubriant in terms of the opportunity to guide Portuguese team games at senior level.
This is because Jérôme Brisard only has one game on his CV for the FC Porto under-19 team (defeat), one for the under-20 national team (draw), one for the under-19 team (win) and another for the under-16 team (victory).
…and Latvian at Sporting de Braga-Gent
In the European Conference League, the duel between Sporting de Braga and Gent, which has a kick-off scheduled for 8pm on Thursday, at the Braga Municipal Stadium, will be refereed by Andris Treimanis, curiously, the most experienced of the three judges assigned to the games of these three Portuguese teams.
Compatriots Haralds Gudermanis and Arturs Sakurovs will be his assistants, Aleksandrs Golubevs the fourth referee and Kristaps Ratnieks the AVAR, with the Greek Angelos Evangelou, who will be in charge of VAR operations, as the only ‘intruder’, as he does not have Latvian nationality.
This is a ‘known face’ of Portuguese football, as he has been present, in the past, in three FC Porto matches (a win, a draw and a defeat) and one against Benfica (a draw).
