The selection of Francois Letexier to officiate the Euro 2024 final between Spain and England has been made. He is not only an official but also a court bailiff on a part-time basis.
The encounter between the two European countries on Sunday, July 14th, promises to be an extremely thrilling one. The men’s national team hasn’t won a trophy since 1966, therefore the Three Lions, who made it to the Euro 2020 final but lost at the last hurdle, will be eager to advance this time.
However, Spain advanced to the Euro 2020 semifinals before falling to Italy once more. Spain previously triumphed in the competition in 2012. They haven’t advanced past that far in an international competition final. To put it succinctly, both teams will rise to the occasion.
A game of this calibre will thus require the best officials to oversee it, and UEFA has determined that Letexier is the ideal candidate for the position. For the 35-year-old Frenchman, it will be a proud moment.
Refereeing the Euro 2024 Final will be Francois Letexier.
A court bailiff, the Frenchman is also.
When he was chosen in 2016, the Brittany-born referee was actually the youngest in Ligue 1. Despite having reffed since the age of 14, it took him just a year to be promoted to the FIFA list.
In addition to his officiating responsibilities, it appears that his part-time employment as a court bailiff may also be the key to his success. In fact, he clarified why it’s beneficial to have two professional objectives rather than simply one, as reported in The Sun, saying:
The Officials for Euro 2024 Final
Well-known ref Szymon Marciniak will be fourth official
Letexier is impressively officiating at a big event for the first time with EURO 2024. He has officiated Spain’s 4-1 victory over Georgia in the round of 16 and served as the fourth official for the opening match between Germany and Scotland. He has so far overseen the group-stage matches between Croatia and Albania and Denmark and Serbia.
Letexier said of his call-up for the championship game that he was both shocked and incredibly proud to receive the match. “Obviously, it’s a big honour and a big satisfaction to have been appointed for this match,” he said to UEFA. It was unexpected because I had only attempted to maintain my concentration day by day throughout the competition and wasn’t prepared for something this significant.”
He also talked about how upsetting it was to get the news from Roberto Rosetti, the managing director of refereeing for UEFA. The Frenchman stated: “Roberto went straight to the target, and the conversation was brief.” I was anticipating anything, he asked. After I responded “no,” he informed me that I would just be the final’s referee.
“I was taken aback and delighted at the same time; it was an intense moment due to how uncommon it is. I hurried to tell my assistants, Mehdi Rahmouni and Cyril Mugnier, the news. I initially felt that way since it was a team prize. We have a lengthy history together from our eight years of working together, so I wanted to share this with them.”
Letexier has accumulated a great deal of high-level experience despite his youth, having played in seven UEFA matches since being assigned to his first, an Under-19 EURO qualifier against Sweden and Belgium. He was actually the fourth official for the Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, as well as the referee for the 2023 UEFA Super Cup between Manchester City and Sevilla.
But he hasn’t avoided controversy. In fact, during the 3-3 Champions League quarterfinal first-leg draw at Real Madrid in April 2024, the Frenchman inadvertently collided with Erling Haaland. The official lifted his arm to argue with Dani Carvajal and accidentally slapped the Man City star.
In the realm of referees, that is a rather insignificant error, but he has had more noteworthy incidents during his career. In France in 2022, the 35-year-old made a few controversial statements. First, in a Ligue 2 encounter against Le Havre, he showed St Etienne four red cards, dismissing three players and a coach. Then, following his controversial penalty calls during a Ligue 1 match between Nice and Nantes, where he also sent off Nantes’ Alban Lafont and Kader Bamba, he started receiving death threats on social media.
