Sergey Karasev said he won’t get any younger “when everything comes back”, and is unlikely to get appointments to state matches in Europe immediately
Photo: Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images
Russian FIFA referee Sergei Karasev told Match TV that he considers his international career over.
Karasev has been a FIFA referee since 2010, he refereed matches at the World and European Championships, the Olympics, the UEFA Super Cup.
Asked if his goal was to work in the Champions League and Europa League finals, Karasev replied: “That was the goal until February. Now I clearly understand that my international career is over.”
According to the 43-year-old referee, Russian judges have not worked in Europe for almost a year and it is not known how long it will last.
“And when it all comes back, I won’t be young anymore. A lot of time not to judge in Europe is still simple. You don’t have international matches of a serious level, neither the Champions League, nor the Europa League. If there have been no such games for a long time, there will be no dating for a long time. I fully understand that the international career is 100% over” Karasev said.
UEFA and FIFA suspended Russian teams and clubs from international competitions at the end of February. The sanctions did not affect the Russian referees, but UEFA declaredthat he will still not give them assignments for tournament matches under his auspices due to problems with overseas travel.
