Hategan, the youngest UCL referee

Romanian Ovidiu Hategan will referee next week his first ever UEFA Champions League match. At 31, he will become the youngest referee appointed in the most important European club competition.
Physician by profession, Hategan became referee in 1996 and advanced to the first division in 2006. Two years later, he got his FIFA badge and in 2009 he was included by UEFA in the Talents and Mentors program under the coaching of Andreas Schluchter (SUI). In the same year, he was appointed for the UEFA U-19 European Championship in Ukraine. Seen as one of the Europe’s young hopes in refereeing, he was promoted into the First Class at the beginning of this year. As a result, in 2011 he was assigned two Euro 2012 qualifiers (Czech Republic – Liechtenstein and Norway – Iceland), an international friendly (Russia – Serbia), as well as two Europa League group matches (Dinamo Kyiv – Stoke City and Twente – Odense). If UEFA will be pleased with his performance in the UCL, he is expected to be promoted next year to the Premier Development Class.