“It’s still hard for me to believe at the moment,” the 42-year-old Russian match official told UEFA.com after learning of his assignment to take charge of the annual curtain-raiser to the new club competition season. “It will fully come home to me as the match gets closer.”
“It will be something special to walk out on to the field. This is a great honour, and I’m grateful for the trust that UEFA has shown in me and my team,” added the Moscow-based father of three, who is enjoying a positive summer – the call-up for this week’s big game at Northern Ireland’s National Football Stadium at Windsor Park follows a month as part of the acclaimed UEFA EURO 2020 refereeing squad.
Refereeing wins out
Karasev took up refereeing as a teenager. His path was similar to many other top officials who saw refereeing rather than playing as a better way for them to be involved in football. “It came about through my father,” he says. “I was playing youth football, and one day, when I was 16, one of his work colleagues was the match referee. He spoke about refereeing with my Dad, who suggested to me that I try it.”
“I continued playing until I was 18, and then I decided to put refereeing before playing. I realised that I wasn’t going to be a professional footballer, so I started taking charge of amateur matches – I soon knew that refereeing was for me, and that I could stay in football for a longer time than I would as a player.”
Correct decision
Sergei Karasev refereed three matches at UEFA EURO 2020
Sergei Karasev refereed three matches at UEFA EURO 2020
UEFA via Getty Images
The move proved judicious. Karasev eventually also chose to pursue refereeing instead of becoming a lawyer after university studies, rose through the ranks, and by his late 20s, he was ready in 2008, as part of a new generation of promising young Russian officials, to take charge of his first domestic top-fight match. The FIFA international badge followed two years later, and he has never looked back since – his performances earning him regular assignments in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and major national team competitions. In addition to EURO 2020 duty, he also featured in the referees’ teams for UEFA EURO 2016 and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
“I’ve always been realistic where objectives are concerned,” he reflected. “I’ve taken things step by step. The first target was to establish myself in the Russian Premier League – I didn’t really think of the Champions League or EUROs. I just aimed to do as well as I could along the way.”
Watching Champions League matches on TV as a young referee helped Karasev collect the tools that would serve him well on his career pathway. “I didn’t have a role model as such,” he explains. “But there were some great referees around at that time – I tried to take the best parts of all of them, put together the pieces like a puzzle and develop my own style.”
‘Great sense of achievement’
Karasev will be accompanied at Wednesday’s big occasion in Belfast by compatriots Igor Demeshko and Maksim Gavrilin, while Alexey Kulbakov (Belarus) will be fourth official. The video assistant referee (VAR) role has been assigned to Marco Fritz (Germany), and he will be accompanied by Pawel Gil (Poland) and Massimiliano Irrati (Italy). Reserve assistant referee Filippo Meli (Italy) completes the line-up.
Sergei Karasev lines up with assistants Igor Demeshko (left) and Maksim Gavrilin (right) ahead of the EURO match between Italy and Switzerland in Rome
Sergei Karasev lines up with assistants Igor Demeshko (left) and Maksim Gavrilin (right) ahead of the EURO match between Italy and Switzerland in Rome
UEFA via Getty Images
He insists that his success would be impossible without the crucial contribution of his fellow officials. “You can’t do the job alone,” he said. “I’ve been together with Igor and Maksim as a team for three years now, and the Super Cup appointment is a reward for the hard work that we’ve put in. When we’re lining up with the teams before the match on Wednesday, I think we’ll all be feeling a great sense of achievement.”
Karasev places considerable emphasis on human skills as a key to efficient refereeing. “Of course, you have to be strong,” he says, “but you must have soft skills to manage players, coaches and situations. You need flexibility, and to respect everyone involved in a match. If you show your human side, it helps you to gain respect as well.”
Relishing the atmosphere
The challenge of refereeing high-stake matches in front of big crowds presents no problem. “If there are 80,000 people in a stadium, it acts as a motivation for me,” Karasev says. “It doesn’t really disturb me either, because I’m concentrated on the match. But I will say that it’s been quite a different feeling to take charge of matches during the COVID period, when spectators haven’t been present. You do miss the special atmosphere generated by a crowd.”
Sergei Karasev acted as fourth official at three EURO 2020 matches - here,
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