István Kovács Named Referee As Three Nigerians Set To Clash In Europa League Final

At Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, on Wednesday, May 22, Italian Serie A side, Atalanta will attempt to stop Bayer Leverkusen’s unbeaten run in all competitions.

Recall that Bayer Leverkusen won the German Bundesliga title without any defeat for the first time in the history of the league. They are seeking to win their second major title in their history and they have to achieve that by beating Atalanta on Wednesday.

While Atalanta will be banking on the skills of Ademola Lookman, Bayer Leverkusen will be banking on the talents of two other Nigerian players, Victor Boniface, and Nathan Tella to grab their first-ever Europa League title.

Meanwhile, the European football governing body, UEFA, has announced the refereeing team for the 2024 UEFA Europa League final.

The centre referee for the Europa League final is István Kovács from Romania. He will be assisted by his countrymen Vasile Florin Marinescu and Mihai Ovidiu Artene.

Netherlands’ Pol van Boekel will lead the VAR team of the game, and he will be assisted by Catalin Popa from Romania and Rob Dieperink from the Netherlands.

A statement from UEFA reads: “Kovács’ appointment comes at the end of another impressive campaign for the Romanian official and represents the third consecutive season he has been on duty at a UEFA club final.

“He took charge of the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League showpiece in Tirana in 2022 and was fourth official at the UEFA Champions League decider in Istanbul last June. Such experiences stand him in good stead for what awaits on Wednesday night in Dublin”.

The 2023-2024 Europa League final will kick off at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22.