Istvan Kovac has refereed several important matches in recent years, and now the Romanian “center” is delegated for the opening match of the World Cup 2022. The game Qatar – Ecuador (Group A) will take place on Sunday at the Al-Bayt Stadium, from 18:00.

Istvan KovacsPhoto: Orange Pics BV / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia

The other teams in this group, the Netherlands and Senegal, will meet on Monday at 18:00.

Istvan Kovac, substitute for Daniele Orsato in the match Qatar – Ecuador

Kovacs was appointed as the fourth referee in the match between Qatar and Ecuador. The Romanian will be Daniele Orsato’s reserve referee. The Italian will be assisted by his compatriots Ciro Carbone and Alessandro Giallatini (assistants).

According to FRF, another Romanian, Ovidiu Mihai Artene, will be a back-up assistant for this game, while the VAR room, due to the large number of cameras used to film the games, will have 4 officials: Massimiliano Irrati (Italy) – VAR referee, Paolo Valeri (Italy), Benoit Millau (France), Pawel Sokolnytskyi (Poland) – VAR assistants.

“I also know Istvan Kovac very well, he is a top referee, otherwise he wouldn’t be here. He is very good, he showed his qualities in the Champions League. He’s certainly happy to be here and I’m sure Ovidiu is proud of him too.” Danny McKelleyDutch referee, about Istvan Kovac.

Assistant Vasile Marinescu is also part of the group of referees of the World Cup in Qatar.

Know:

  • The last “center” from Romania, present at the final tournament of the World Cup, was Ioan Igna in 1986.
  • The last Romanian “tushie” delegated to the World Cup was Nicolae Grigorescu in 1998.