FIFA referee Elchin Masiyev has been appointed for the UEFA Under-21 Championship Finals in Slovakia in June. The match officials he headed took charge to officiate the group stage matches the Czech Republic vs England (1-3) as well Georgia vs Portugal (0-4). Masiyev was also a reserve referee for the quarter-final match Germany vs Italy (3-2) and the semi-final match England vs Netherlands (2-1).
The 33-year-old first category referee expressed his views in his interview with the AFFA press service:
- How did the UEFA Referees Committee evaluate your refereeing during the UEFA Under-21 Championship Finals?
- Our refereeing during the games was at a good level, the UEFA Committee members expressed positive opinions. Even Björn Kuipers, a member of the UEFA Referees Committee who had recently visited Baku, watched the match Czech Republic vs England from the stands and evaluated my performance. However, we were not aware of this. After the match, he talked to me about it, said that he liked my refereeing very much and was satisfied.
- You were appointed for the quarter-finals and semifinals of the tournament. Did you have a chance to be appointed for the final?
- In fact, I was a candidate for the final match. I really wanted to officiate in the decisive match. As you know, the final match was refereed by a Dutch referee. And the Netherlands national team lost the semi-finals. If the Netherlands had qualified for the final, I would most likely have been appointed to the final match. The main thing is that the impressions were good, we were remembered for a successful performance. We pleasantly surprised the members of the UEFA Referees Committee. If they kept us there until the end, this is also a good indicator.
- How will the appointment for UEFA European Championship affect your future career?
- I believe that this factor will be beneficial for my career. I think that this refereeing will have a positive impact on future appointments. We will try to justify the trust placed in us and get appointments to higher level tournaments.
- What competitions do you mean by a higher level tournament?
- This is the second largest tournament on the continent after the UEFA European Championship for A-teams. We were told that the referees appointed for the Under-21 continental championship are in the spotlight and are candidates for the final stage of the UEFA European Championship in the future. True, we will still go through certain stages to reach that level. One of the main tests was the tournament in Slovakia, and we successfully passed it. In the upcoming season of UEFA EURO, we will try to take a step closer to the UEFA European Championship with confident refereeing.
- You were promoted to FIFA Category I in December 2024 and were appointed to the UEFA Under-21 Championship last month. What are your biggest goals as a referee?
- Every referee's biggest dream is to officiate the UEFA Champions League final match. My biggest goals are to be appointed to the UEFA Champions League, UEFA EURO and the FIFA World Cup and to officiate the final match of these tournaments. We know that it is doubly difficult for representatives of countries like ours. However, we will do our best to justify the trust and be appointed to games at that level.
