István Kovács (; born 16 September 1984) is a Hungarian-Romanian football referee who officiates primarily in the

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

. He has been a full international for FIFA since 2010 and a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

elite referee since 2019.

Career

Kovács was selected for

Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

alongside his compatriot

Ovidiu Hațegan Ovidiu Alin Hațegan (born 14 July 1980) is a Romanian professional football referee who officiates primarily in the Liga I and for FIFA as a FIFA international referee. He is ranked as a UEFA elite category referee. Football career Born in ...

. He was in charge of one group stage game between the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

. On 26 April 2022, Kovács officiated the first leg of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

semi-final between Manchester City and Real Madrid, which the English side won 4–3. After a good performance, Kovács was praised by the media especially for the advantage let before

Bernardo Silva Bernardo Mota Veiga de Carvalho e Silva (; born 10 August 1994), known as Bernardo Silva or simply Bernardo, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder, forward or a winger for club Manchester City and the ...

's goal. As a reward, the UEFA Referees Committee chose him to officiate the

2022 UEFA Europa Conference League final The 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League Final was the final match of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, the first season of Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. It was played on 25 May 2022 at the Arena Kombëtar ...

. On 25 May 2022, Kovács was in charge of the

between

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

and

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club (association football), football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names bef ...

, the first final in this competition. István Kovács was appointed for the 2022 FIFA World Cup along with his compatriot assistant referees Vasile Marinescu and Mihai Artene. He was the

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the L ...

in eight matches, but did not referee any games at the tournament. On 19 January 2023, Kovács refereed the final of the

25th Arabian Gulf Cup The 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, known as Khaleeji Zain 25 for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th edition of the biennial football competition for the eight members of the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation. The tournament was hosted in Iraq for the fi ...

between

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

and

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

. In January 2023, he was one of six match officials appointed for the

2022 FIFA Club World Cup The 2022 FIFA Club World Cup will be the 19th edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised international club football tournament between the winners of the six continental confederations, as well as the host nation's league champions ...

in Morocco. On 7 February, he oversaw the semi-final between

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football ...

and Al Hilal.

Personal life

Born in

Carei Carei (; , ; /, yi, , ) is a city in Satu Mare County, northwestern Romania, near the border with Hungary. The city administers one village, Ianculești ( hu, Szentjánosmajor). History The first mention of the city under the name of "Karul ...

to a Hungarian father and a Swabian mother, Kovács is a dual citizen, having acquired Hungarian citizenship in 2011. His younger brother, Szabolcs, is also a referee in the

Honours

* Honorary Citizen of Carei (2023)

References

External links

* * * * 1984 births Living people People from Carei Romanian football referees UEFA Champions League referees UEFA Europa League referees UEFA Euro 2020 referees 2022 FIFA World Cup referees FIFA World Cup referees Romanian people of Hungarian descent Romanian people of German descent Citizens of Hungary through descent Romanian schoolteachers {{Romania-footy-bio-stub

Career

Personal life

Honours

See also

References

External links