Portuguese referee Artur Soares Dias will be the main official for the European Championship match between Poland and the Netherlands, UEFA has announced.
His assistant referees on the lines will be fellow Portuguese Paulo Soares and Pedro Ribeiro, with Bosnian Irfan Peljto serving as the fourth official. Portuguese Tiago Martins has been appointed as the VAR referee, assisted by Germany’s Christian Dingert and Marco Fritz.
Dias, who turns 45 in July, has been an international referee for over a decade. He regularly officiates in European club competitions and was a referee for two matches at the European Championships in 2021 and two matches at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
In October 2023, he officiated a match involving the Polish national team for the first time, overseeing a Euro 2024 qualifier in which Poland, under the leadership of Michał Probierz, disappointingly drew 1-1 with Moldova in Warsaw.
Previously, his only interaction with Polish football was refereeing a match between Legia Warsaw and Slavia Prague in 2021, which Legia won 2-1, advancing to the group stage of the Europa League.
Born in Porto and residing in Vila Nova de Gaia, a center renowned for port wine production, Dias will officiate the Netherlands for the fourth time. However, the referee does bring some ominous signs for the men in red and whites—in all three matches that Dias has officiated involving the Dutch, they have remained unbeaten, drawing 1-1 in friendly matches against Ireland in 2016 and Belgium in 2018, and securing a 4-2 victory against Germany in a Euro 2020 qualifier in 2019.
Polish fans will be hoping that the streak will finally break on Sunday, as the Poles take on the Dutch in Hamburg. The match will start at 3 PM local time.
Dias, who turns 45 in July, has been an international referee for over a decade. He regularly officiates in European club competitions and was a referee for two matches at the European Championships in 2021 and two matches at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
In October 2023, he officiated a match involving the Polish national team for the first time, overseeing a Euro 2024 qualifier in which Poland, under the leadership of Michał Probierz, disappointingly drew 1-1 with Moldova in Warsaw.
Previously, his only interaction with Polish football was refereeing a match between Legia Warsaw and Slavia Prague in 2021, which Legia won 2-1, advancing to the group stage of the Europa League.
Born in Porto and residing in Vila Nova de Gaia, a center renowned for port wine production, Dias will officiate the Netherlands for the fourth time. However, the referee does bring some ominous signs for the men in red and whites—in all three matches that Dias has officiated involving the Dutch, they have remained unbeaten, drawing 1-1 in friendly matches against Ireland in 2016 and Belgium in 2018, and securing a 4-2 victory against Germany in a Euro 2020 qualifier in 2019.
Polish fans will be hoping that the streak will finally break on Sunday, as the Poles take on the Dutch in Hamburg. The match will start at 3 PM local time.
Source: PAP, TVP World
