Markus Merk
| Markus Merk | |
|---|---|
Markus Merk at an international friendly between Switzerland and Brazil in November 2006
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| Born |
15 March 1962 Kaiserslautern |
| Occupation | Dentist, football referee |
| Children | 1 |
Markus Merk (born 15 March 1962 in Kaiserslautern) is a former top-level German football referee. He is a six-time winner of the German Referee of the Year Award and the record holder in games refereed in the Bundesliga. In 2005, Merk was awarded the German Bundesverdienstkreuz (Federal Cross of Merit) in recognition of his service to football and his charity work in India. He ended his career by refereeing the match between Bayern München and Hertha BSC Berlin on the last day of the Bundesliga season 2007/08 on 17 May 2008.
He was ranked the best referee by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics in 2004, 2005 and 2008.
He is currently a pundit for Sky Deutschland and was the main referee commentator of the Turkish football channel Lig TV (which has the rights of the Turkish Super League) in 2010–2011 season. [1]
In 1988, Merk was appointed the youngest Bundesliga referee ever, aged 25, representing his home club 1. FC Kaiserslautern. He became a FIFA referee four years later, and officiated at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. In the following years, Merk established himself as a headstrong, reliable referee. He was elected an unprecedented six times as German Referee of the Year.
Markus Merk's refereeing of the final match of UEFA Euro 2004 was strongly opposed by Portugal. Portugal's opponent was Greece, whose team's coach, Otto Rehhagel, was a dental patient of Merk. Nevertheless, Merk received worldwide recognition for his excellent refereeing in this game.
On 21 April 2004, during a Champions League semi-finals match against former team Porto, Jorge Andrade, Deportivo's defender, was sent off by Markus Merk for a kick on Deco. The gesture was of a friendly nature, but the referee was eluded by it, and immediately gave the defender his marching orders.[2][3] He was forced to serve a one-match ban. Eventually Jose Mourinho's team will qualify to the final.
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