Cüneyt Çakır (, born 23 November 1976) is a former Turkish
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
referee
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
. He is best known for refereeing the
2015 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2015 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the 60th season of Europe's premier club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from ...
between
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
and
Barcelona. He was
FIFA listed
The FIFA International Referees List is an annual publication of the global list of FIFA international referees in the football-variants controlled by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) – association football (outdoor ...
since 2006 and a member of the
UEFA Elite since 2010 until his retirement.
Honors and Awards
His refereeing style has been highly regarded as accurate and controversial at the same time. Recently, he has been identified as the second best referee in the world by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics based on statistics from 2010-2020.
Refereeing career
Çakır has refereed more than 250 matches including 12
Super Lig
Super may refer to:
Computing
* SUPER (computer program), or Simplified Universal Player Encoder & Renderer, a video converter / player
* Super (computer science), a keyword in object-oriented programming languages
* Super key (keyboard butt ...
derbies, 5 of those being
The Intercontinental Derby; between
Fenerbahçe vs
Galatasaray, and was selected for the
UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals in Sweden in 2009, taking charge of three games including England's penalty shoot-out win against the hosts in the semi-finals.
He made his
UEFA debut as the fourth official in the
UEFA Champions League first qualifying round game between
Skonto FC and
Sliema Wanderers in July 2003. He took charge of two matches at the
2007 UEFA European Under-19 Championship
The UEFA U-19 Championship 2007 Final Tournament was held in Austria with matches played from 16–27 July 2007. Players born after 1 January 1988 were eligible to participate in this competition.
The draw was made on 13 June 2007. The venues were ...
in Austria and was also the referee for two
UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying fixtures.
He made his international refereeing debut in the
2008–09 UEFA Cup
The 2008–09 UEFA Cup was the 38th season of the UEFA Cup football tournament. The final was played at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium, home ground of Fenerbahçe, in Istanbul on 20 May 2009. This season was the final one to use the UEFA Cup for ...
, taking charge of two games including the group stage fixture between
FC Twente and
Schalke 04 in December 2008. He oversaw
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
's second-leg win against
Hamburger SV in the
2009–10 UEFA Europa League
The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years.
Spain ...
semi-finals, one of seven matches he refereed in total in the competition that season.
On 29 September 2010, Çakır made his debut in the
Champions League Group Stage when he took charge of group D fixture between
Rubin Kazan and
Barcelona, ending in a one all draw. He also took charge of the match between
Chelsea F.C. and
Spartak Moscow on 3 November 2010.
He has also refereed the
UEFA Europa League Round of 32 match
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
-
Dynamo Kyiv on 17 March 2011, which ended in a 1–0 win for Manchester City, but Dynamo Kyiv advanced to the next round after winning 2–1 on aggregate. In that game, Çakır sent off
Mario Balotelli and dished out eight yellow cards. In August 2011, he officiated five games including semi-final between Portugal and France
2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup
The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil who claimed their fifth title.
At a FIFA ...
, hosted in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
.
On 24 April 2012, he officiated the
Champions League semi final
A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...
between
FC Barcelona and
Chelsea at
Camp Nou
Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...
,
Barcelona. Çakır sent off
John Terry in first half. Chelsea won 3–2 on aggregate. On 11 June 2012, he officiated the Euro 2012 Match between
Ukraine and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
.
On 18 June, he also officiated the Euro 2012 match between Italy and Ireland where he was very precise when it came to ensuring the correct distance from the ball to the defenders' wall,
though he also angered the Irish by sending off
Keith Andrews one minute before the end of the game. He was not selected to referee a quarter-final game but he was fourth official in the England v Italy quarter-final. On 27 June 2012, he officiated the semi-final match between
Portugal and
Spain. Çakır showed 9 yellow cards in this match in 120 minutes.
On 1 July 2012, he was appointed as fourth official in the
Euro 2012 final, between Spain and Italy, which was played in
Kyiv. On 14 December 2012, he was appointed to referee the
2012 FIFA Club World Cup Final
The 2012 FIFA Club World Cup Final was the final match of the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup, an association football tournament hosted by Japan. It was the ninth final of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised tournament between the winners of the ...
, between
Corinthians and
Chelsea, which was played in
Yokohama. Corinthians won 1–0. Çakır sent off
Gary Cahill in this game.
On 5 March 2013, Çakır officiated the
UEFA Champions League match between
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
and
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
, and, in a controversial decision, sent off Manchester United player
Nani during the second half of the match, a decision that enraged
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...
in what became his last Champions League game as United manager. On 9 July 2014, he was appointed to referee the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
semi-final match, between Netherlands and Argentina, which was played in
São Paulo.
Çakır officiated the
2015 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2015 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League, the 60th season of Europe's premier club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 23rd season since it was renamed from ...
match between
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
and
Barcelona at
Olympiastadion
Olympiastadion is the German, Finnish and Swedish word for Olympic Stadium and may refer to:
* Stockholm Olympic Stadium, the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics (though mostly referred as simply ''Stockholms Stadion'')
* Olympiastadion (Berlin), the ...
in
Berlin, Germany on 6 June 2015 and showed his yellow card three times.
In 2016, Çakır officiated two different semi-final matches in the
2015–16 UEFA Champions League
The 2015–16 UEFA Champions League was the 61st season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 24th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona were t ...
, the first referee to do so. Çakır officiated the
2016–17 UEFA Champions League
The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final was pla ...
semi-final match between
Atlético Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...
and
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
at
Vicente Calderón
Vicente Calderón Pérez-Cavada (; 27 May 1913 – 24 March 1987) was a businessman and president of Atlético Madrid for 20 years.
As President of Atlético Madrid he helped in getting their new stadium built, and in 1971 it was rena ...
in
Madrid, Spain on 10 May 2017.
In the
2017–18 UEFA Champions League
The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League.
The final was pla ...
, Çakır officiated the group stage match between
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...
and
Paris Saint-Germain in December 2017, as well as the round of 16 game between
FC Barcelona and
Chelsea at the
Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to:
* Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England
** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066
* Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge
* Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...
on 20 February 2018. Later, he refereed the semifinal second leg match between
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
and Bayern Munich in Madrid.
Çakır officiated the first round of the
2018–19 UEFA Champions League
The 2018–19 UEFA Champions League was the 64th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 27th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. For the first tim ...
between
Liverpool and
Paris Saint-Germain.
On 5 August 2022, via the official website of the Turkish Football Association his retirement is announced; from now on, his role will consist in training young referees.
FIFA World Cup
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cakir, Cuneyt
1976 births
Living people
Sportspeople from İzmir
Turkish football referees
UEFA Champions League referees
UEFA Europa League referees
2014 FIFA World Cup referees
Insurance agents
UEFA Euro 2012 referees
UEFA Euro 2016 referees
2018 FIFA World Cup referees
Football referees at the 2016 Summer Olympics
UEFA Euro 2020 referees