Who is Jesús Valenzuela Sáez, the referee for Pachuca vs Real Madrid, Intercontinental Cup final?
FIFA have announced the match officials for Wednesday’s Intercontinental Final at the Lusail Stadium in Qatar.
The final of the FIFA 2024 Intercontinental Cup as Pachuca face Real Madrid will be overseen by experienced Venezuelan referee Jesús Valenzuela Sáez.
The 41-year-old has been on FIFA’s books since 2013 and oversaw two matches at the Qatar 2022 World Cup as he officiated the group stage match between the United States and England, as well as France vs Poland in the Round of 16.
The official has also been in charge of several Copa America and is a regular in the both the Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana.
He has also overseen games in the Saudi Pro League and was recently in charge of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying games involving Argentina-Chile in September and Colombia-Chile in October. He also recently took charge of the Libertadores semi-final between River Plate and Atletico Mineiro.
Fellow Venezuelan nationals, Jorge Urrego and Tulio Moreno will be the assistants on each line with Honduran Iván Arcides Barton Cisneros keeping a keen eye on matters on the field from the VAR booth.
Iván Barton from Honduras will be the fourth official.
The game at Lusail Stadium starts at 1200 pm (ET) on Wednesday with Champions League winners Real Madrid facing Lika MX side CF Pachuca.
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