Referee Istvan Kovacs is said to have had luck at Inter Milan and Italian teams in the past.
Mr. Istvan Kovacs has been appointed referee of this year’s Champions League final – Photo: Reuters
The 2024-2025 Champions League Final between Inter Milan and PSG will take place at 2 a.m. on June 1 at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.
The European Football Association (UEFA) has officially announced that Romanian Istvan Kovacs will be the newest referee. The 40-year-old “Black King” has been a FIFA referee since 2010 and is classified as a UEFA head referee since 2019.
Supporting Mr. Kovacs will be two assistants, compatriots Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi. The fourth referee is Joao Pedro Silva Pinhero of Portugal, while VAR will be carried out by Mr. Catin Sorin Popa (Romania) and Johan Higler (Netherlands).
What makes Inter Milan fans pay special attention to and consider this as a positive signal is Kovacs’ “charm” for Italian teams.
This will be the third European Cup final that the “black king” has controlled. In both cases, victory belonged to the Italian representative.
While Roma beat Feyenoord 1-0 to take the throne in the Conference League final in the 2021-2022 season. And recently, Atalanta beat Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final in the 2023-2024 season.
Inter Milan remain unbeaten every time Mr Istvan Kovacs ‘holds the whistle’ in the Champions League – Photo: Reuters
Furthermore, Inter Milan themselves also have an impressive record when playing under referee Kovacs. The Nerazzurri are undefeated in the three Champions League games that this referee has been in charge of.
Most recently, it was Inter Milan’s 1-0 victory over Arsenal in this season’s Champions League group stage. In the match, Inzon coach Simone Inzaghi had to receive a yellow card from Mr. Kovacs.
Towards PSG , the history of matches with Mr. Kovacs being controlled brings mixed results. The team from the Paris capital has won 3 and lost 2 in 5 matches in the Champions League thanks to this Romanian referee “holding the whistle.” This season, he controlled PSG’s 0-1 loss to Bayern Munich in the group stage.
In the 2024-2025 Champions League, referee Istvan Kovacs has overseen a total of 7 matches, issued 20 yellow cards, 2 red cards and awarded one penalty stroke.
