UEFA have named the team of officials for Sunderland’s Europa League opener against Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar.
French official Jérémie Pignard has been appointed as referee for Sunderland’s historic Europa League opener against Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday night.
The 39-year-old has already enjoyed an eventful season after handing out nine yellow cards in two Ligue 1 fixtures and overseeing stormy affair between Lens and PSG in French Super Cup. Lens claimed a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from former Newcastle United winger Florian Thauvin - but Pignard was a the heart of the action as he showed red cards to Lens defender Kyllian Antonio for a poor challenge and PSG left-back Nuno Mendes for violent conduct in the closing stages.
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UEFA have named the team of officials for Sunderland’s Europa League opener.placeholder image
UEFA have named the team of officials for Sunderland’s Europa League opener. | AFP via Getty Images.
The latter of those decisions caused anger from Champions League winners PSG as Pignard described Mendes action as ‘a violent strike off the ball’ after he struck Lens star Michal Skoras with his elbow and that led to fears the Portugal international could have faced a lengthy ban. However, Mendes was only handed a three-match suspension and returned to action in PSG’s 1-0 win at Stade Brestois on Sunday.
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Pignard has already seen action in European competitions during the current season after taking charge of two Conference League qualifiers as FC Copenhagen romped to a 5-1 home win against Hungarian outfit Debrecen and Maccabi Tel Aviv earned a 1-1 home draw with FC Lugano. Pignard has only taken charge of one game involving an English club and that came as Chelsea claimed a 2-0 home win against Swiss side Servette in the qualifying round of the Conference League in August 2024.
Pignard will be aided by several of his compatriots as the Stadium of Light with Aurélien Drouet and Hicham Zakrani now confirmed as his assistants. Romain Lissorgue has been named as the fourth official for the game and Bastien Dechepy will be on Video Assistant Referee (VAR) duties. The only official that is not from France that will be on hand for Wednesday’s game is Croatian Mario Zebec, who has been appointed as assistant Video Assistant Referee for the tie.