The referee for the UEFA Champions League final

The UEFA Referees Committee has appointed Romania's István Kovács to referee the match. The 40-year-old, an international referee since 2010, will be officiating his third UEFA club competition final after his appointment as the referee for the 2024 UEFA Europa League final in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, between Atalanta and Leverkusen, and the 2022 UEFA Conference League final between Roma and Feyenoord in Tirana, Albania. He has refereed seven Champions League matches this season, including the round of 16 second leg between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain.

2025 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL REFEREEING TEAM

Referee: István Kovács (Romania) Assistants: Mihai Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi (both from Romania) Fourth Official: Joao Pedro Silva Pinheiro (Portugal) Reserve AR: Bruno Miguel Alves Jesus (Portugal) VAR: Dennis Johan Higler (Netherlands) VAR assistant: Catalin Sorin Popa (Romania) VAR Support: Paulus van Boekel (Netherlands)

PREVIOUS ENCOUNTERS WITH INTER

Inter have already had the same refereeing trio – Kovács with assistants Marica and Tunyogi – in the Champions League this season, specifically in their match against Arsenal on 6 November 2024 (decided by Hakan Calhanoglu's goal). Before this, Kovács also took charge of Inter 1-0 Atletico Madrid on 20 February 2024 (Champions League round of 16 first leg, Arnautovic with the winner) and Shakhtar Donetsk 0-0 Inter on 28 September 2021.