"Who's the ref tonight?"Answered in one search.
The appointment drops two days before kick-off and your piece is due in an hour. Every official's full story — career record, discipline numbers, history with both clubs — is one search away, and citable.
Free to use with attribution — "per Referee.Observer".
Colour for the broadcast, facts for the piece.
Instant referee bios
Career appearances, badges, competitions, milestones and season-by-season records for every official — the pre-match paragraph writes itself.
Story-ready angles
"First Champions League match", "hasn't refereed this club since that penalty", "most yellow cards in the league" — milestones and rankings surface the angle.
Head-to-head with both clubs
Every official's record with each club in the fixture: results, cards, penalties — the stat the gaffer will be asked about in the presser.
Appointments as they land
New appointments are imported within hours of federation publication — check tonight's crew before your rundown meeting.
Strictest-referee rankings
League-by-league discipline tables for officials — perennial content that updates itself every matchday.
Cross-language names solved
Transliterations resolved to one canonical profile — no more three spellings of the same Ukrainian assistant in your archive.
Citable methodology
Public sourcing and methodology pages mean your fact-checkers can verify every number you quote.
Frequently asked questions
Can I cite Referee.Observer in articles and broadcasts?+
Yes — the data is free to quote with attribution ("per Referee.Observer"). For data feeds, graphics packages or API access for your newsroom, see the data partners page.
How quickly do new appointments appear?+
Typically within hours of official publication by the federation or competition — often the same morning.
Do you cover assistants, VAR and fourth officials?+
Yes, full crews for every covered match, each with their own career profile.
Never write "little is known about the referee" again.
Search the official the moment the appointment drops.
Also on Referee.Observer: Newsroom API & feeds · Strictest referees · Incident feed