England vs Slovakia referee: Who is Euro 2024 official Umut Meler?

The Turkish referee takes charge of his third match at Euro 2024 - six months after being attacked and hospitalised following a game in Turkey’s Super Lig

Umut Meler will take charge of England’s last-16 clash against Slovakia at Euro 2024 tonight.

The 37-year-old Turkish referee, who has been a FIFA-listed official since 2017 and a member of the UEFA Elite group for two years, was the man in the middle for Belgium’s group game against Slovakia and Poland’s group stage clash with Austria.

• LIVE! Follow all the action from England v Slovakia

Meler returned to refereeing this year despite being attacked and hospitalised by MKE Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca following a game in the Turkish Super Lig in December 2023. He sustained a facial fracture and bleeding to the eye, but no permanent damage.

Meler took charge of Liverpool’s first-leg clash against Atalanta in the Europa League in April. Euro 2024 is his first major international tournament.

See below for the officiating team in full for England vs Slovakia:

Referee: Umut Meler (TUR)

Assistant Referees: Emre Eyisoy (TUR) and Kerem Ersoy (TUR)

Video Assistant Referee: Marco Fritz (GER)

Assistant VAR 1: Christian Dingert (GER)

Assistant VAR 2: Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)

Fourth official: Rade Obrenovic (SVN)

Umut Meler is the referee for England’s last-16 clash against Slovakia (Getty Images)

What TV channel is it on?

England v Slovakia will be shown on ITV1 with coverage starting at 3.30pm. The match can also be streamed live online via the ITVX platform and app. You can find a full list of which channel is showing each match here.

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