Scotland v Switzerland referee: Who is Euro 2024 official Ivan Kruzliak?

The Slovakian referee was involved in one of the controversial moments of the season

Slovakian referee Ivan Kruzliak is in charge of Scotland’s crucial Euro 2024 game against Switzerland tonight.

Scotland football must pick themselves up and go again to save their Euro 2024 campaign as Steve Clarke’s side take on the Swiss in Cologne.

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The Tartan Army travelled to Germany in their thousands but saw their party come crashing down after a 5-1 defeat to the hosts on the opening night.

Clarke’s side require four points from their two remaining games, but Switzerland looked strong in their opening victory over Hungary in Group A.

Who is Euro 2024 official Ivan Kruzliak?

Kruzliak is Slovakia’s top referee with the 40-year-old regularly taking charge of games in the Slovakian top-flight as well as top European fixtures in the Champions League and Europa League.

Notably, he was the referee who showed Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez a second yellow card for timewasting in their Europa Conference League penalty shoot-out against Lille, but did not send off Argetinian due to a little-known rule.

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As a Uefa Elite official, he has been refereeing major European fixtures since his late 20s, having taken charge of an England friendly against Moldova at Wembley in 2013, but this is his first major Championships.

This season, Kruzliak oversaw British clubs in European competitions on a number of occasions, including when he sent off Casemiro in Manchester United’s 3-2 home defeat to Galatasaray in the Champions League group stages. He also refereed Rangers’ 1-0 defeat to Benfica and Celtic’s 5-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid.

In 2021 the Referees Committee of the Slovak Football Association banned Kruzliak for six weeks after awarding a controversial penalty in the match between AS Trenčín and Dunajska Streda, but he later returned to the top-flight in the following season.