English referees snubbed for Champs League

ENGLISH referees have been dropped for the Champions League knockout stages.

Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor were involved in the group stage of Europe’s elite club competition this season but have not been given a shot in the last-16 by Uefa as the Premier League does not use VAR.

It has been introduced in the Champions League at the current stage, but not in the English top flight until next season.

With appointments having been made for 12 games, not a single English referee has been selected.

A Uefa spokesperson told The Sun: “For the knockout matches of the Champions League and final, referees with previous experience of VAR are being appointed”.

Referees from six different countries have been selected for the first-leg last-16 ties — Holland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Turkey and Slovenia.

Slovenia do not use VAR but Damir Skomina, the referee from that nation, has taken charge in Saudi Arabia, where they use the system. He was also at the World Cup in Russia. Referees selected for this week’s secondleg ties have come from Holland, Germany, Slovenia and Turkey.

England were also snubbed for the World Cup last summer after deciding initially not to use VAR.

Oliver and Taylor, who have used VAR four times each in cup competitions, will instead referee in the Europa League.

Neither is likely to get a chance to succeed Mark Clattenburg in taking charge of the final, as he did in 2016.

They may also be snubbed for the Europa League final, which will use the VAR system.

Oliver took charge of three group games — Porto against Galatasaray, Club Brugge hosting Monaco and Ajax against AEK.

Taylor refereed Schalke’s win against Lokomotiv Moscow, Borussia Dortmund beating Atletico Madrid and Roma visiting Viktoria Plzen. — dailymailonline.