Daniel Siebert will referee the UEFA Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal in Budapest on Saturday evening, the biggest assignment of his career so far. The 42-year-old German was told by Roberto Rosetti, UEFA’s director of refereeing, and said it was a moment he shared with his wife when the call came.
For Siebert, the appointment is the reward for a season that already included nine Champions League matches and two games at UEFA EURO 2024. He has also handled three matches at UEFA EURO 2020, and the final will be his first UEFA competition final. That makes the jump to Budapest a step up even by the standards of an official who has been on UEFA’s international list since 2015.
Siebert said Rosetti congratulated him and his team, called the decision warm and emotional, and told him they had earned the final. He also said he was delighted for his assistants Jan Seidel and Rafael Foltyn, and especially for Bastian Dankert, who will complete every possible final as a VAR. Those names matter because the final is not a solo assignment; it is the end point of a crew that has worked together through the season.
The call to the top did not come without concern. Siebert said he suffered a calf injury partway through the season and feared it could end his campaign before the final appointment ever arrived. His doctors got him fit again, and he went on to take charge of Bodø/Glimt against Inter in February, his first knockout match of the campaign. From there, he kept moving until the final placed him in the middle of Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal.
Siebert, who began refereeing at 14 and is also a qualified teacher, is no stranger to pressure. He has two children, has worked in a sports school and is not currently active as a teacher. This season he also refereed two former pupils, Linton Maina of FC Köln and Fisnik Asllani of Hoffenheim, a detail that underlines how long he has been in the game.
He said what matters most is the trust of the players and the way they accept his decisions. That will be tested in Budapest on Saturday evening, when his first UEFA final becomes the defining night of his refereeing career.
