Who is the referee for Rangers v Club Brugge? 'World's best' confirmed for Ibrox clash plus VAR details
Who is the referee for Rangers v Club Brugge on Tuesday?
Rangers will aim to take a massive step towards qualification for the Champions League when they welcome Club Brugge to Ibrox in the final qualification round on Tuesday night.
It has been a tough start for new Rangers head coach Russell Martin domestically, though he has found some respite in Europe, making it all the way through to the final playoff stage of the Champions League qualifiers following wins over Panathinaikos and Viktoria Plzen.
The Gers boss will head into the game with almost a fully fit squad after Thelo Aasgaard and Hamza Igamane both returned to the matchday squad against Alloa Athletic in the Premier Sports Cup at the weekend. There are doubts over Cyriel Dessers (knee) and Jayden Maghoma (international clearance), while Dujon Sterling is a long-term absentee.
Ahead of the game, we look at who UEFA has confirmed as the match officials for Tuesday’s mammoth clash at Ibrox:
Who is the referee for Rangers v Club Brugge?
The man in the middle for the game will be Francois Letexier of France, who has officiated in the Champions League, Europa League, FIFA Club World Cup, European Championship, the Nations League, and Ligue 1.
He took charge of 19 games across Europe during the 24/25 season, and handed out a total of 83 yellow cards (an average of 4.47 per game) and six red cards (0.32 per game). This season, he has taken charge of just four matches and has already shown 19 yellow cards and two red cards. The last time Letexier refereed a Rangers game was in April 2022, where he took charge of the Europa League quarter-final match against Braga at Ibrox, which the home side won 3-1 after extra time. In that game, he sent off two Braga players and awarded Rangers a penalty following VAR interventions.
Last year, he was recognized as the Best Referee in the World by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), a prestigious accolade not awarded to a French referee since Michel Vautrot in 1988–1989. At 35, he became the youngest referee to officiate a European Championship final (Spain vs. England at Euro 2024), surpassing the previous record held by Anders Frisk.
Rangers v Club Brugge VAR and match officials
Letexier will be assisted by an all French teams of officials, which include Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni as assistant referees, and Thomas Leonard as the fourth official. On VAR duties it is Willy Delajod, and he will be assisted by Eric Wattellier.
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