The referee for the European Championship opening match on Monday evening (9 p.m./live ServusTV and ARD) against France is not a good omen for Austria’s national football team. The match in Düsseldorf will be refereed by Spaniard Jesus Gil Manzano, UEFA announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old was the referee for the only ÖFB defeat in the last 16 international matches – the 2:3 in the European Championship qualification in October in Wien against Belgium.
Manzano caused a scandal at a Real Madrid game
Gil Manzano has been a FIFA referee since 2014, and this will be his first European Championship match. The man from the Extremadura region caused a stir at the beginning of March this year when he refereed the league match between Valencia and Real Madrid (2:2) immediately before a cross from Brahim Diaz in the 99th minute. Real’s supposed winning goal by Jude Bellingham The header did not count. Instead, the young English star received a red card for criticism.