This Sunday, UEFA has announced that Turkish referee Cüneyt Çakir (35) will be in charge of the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals between FC Barcelona and Chelsea.

Well considered by UEFA, Çakir is one of the 12 referees chosen for this summer’s European Championships in Poland and Ukraine. This is the first time the Turkish referee will be in charge of a semi-final in the Champions League, a competition where he made his debut in September 2010, in a 1-1 draw in the group stages between Rubin Kazan and FC Barcelona (with both goals coming from penalties).

This season he has blown the whistle in four Champions League matches (Villarreal-Bayern, Madrid-Lyon, ManU-Benfica in the group stages and Marseille-Inter in the Round of 16) and in two Europa League games: Porto-ManCity in the Round of 32 and Athletic-ManUtd in the Round of 16.

Çakir has only been in charge of one Chelsea match, when the English side beat Spartak Moscow (4-1) in last year’s Champions League group stages.

Source: Mundo Deportivo; Image: REUTERS/Eddie Keogh