Rangers vs Athletic Bilbao referee and VAR: 'Card happy' match official confirmed for Europa League clash

The first leg clash between the pair takes place on Thursday 10 April, with kick off scheduled for 8pm, and will see Rangers’ interim boss Barry Ferguson seek to take an advantage into the crucial return leg next week at the Estadio de San Mamés.

The first time the two sides have faced other since the 1968/69 season, they last clashed in the quarter-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup - a precursor to the modern UEFA Europa League - which saw the Gers win 4-3 on aggregate.

Rangers head into the game on the back of their worst run of home form in their history, with Saturday’s dismal 2-0 defeat to Hibs marking their fifth successive home defeat in all competitions. With the Scottish Premiership title race all but over, and the Glasgow giants already out of the Scottish Cup, success in Europe will take precedent.

As for visitors Athletic Bilbao, they have been one of the competition’s most impressive sides this season. Winning six of their eight League Phase games, Ernesto Valverde’s side finished in second place in the Europa League, before dumping out AS Roma in the last 16 by winning 4-3 on aggregate. Listed as one of the competition’s leading favourites, the final of the Europa League is set to take place at their home ground and Bilbao will be desperate to ensure they are one of the two finalists come May.

With plenty of the line for both sides, UEFA have now confirmed the match officials for Thursday’s first leg:

Who is the referee for Rangers vs Athletic Bilbao

UEFA have confirmed that Romanian referee Istvan Kovacs will take charge of the game on Thursday night.

Kovacs was the referee in last year’s Europa League final between Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen, but has not taken charge of any Europa League games this term. However, he has officiated seven UEFA Champions League games, handing out a total of 19 yellow cards (an average of 2.71 per game) and two red cards.

Kovacs has officiated at two European Championship finals (Euro 2020 and 2024), and has been a FIFA international referee since 2010 and a UEFA elite referee since 2019, earning assignments for significant finals, including the 2022 UEFA Europa Conference League final, alongside last year’s Europa League final.

His handling of the 2022 Champions League semi-final first leg between Manchester City and Real Madrid, where he allowed an advantage leading to a goal, was widely praised by media and analysts for its decisiveness and understanding of the game’s flow. He has received wide criticism previously though, and was deemed ‘card happy’ for his officiating of the Euro 2024 game between Czech Republic vs Turkey though. He issued a record-breaking 16 yellows and two reds, which drew significant criticism for losing control and turning the game into chaos.

He last officiated a game involved Rangers on 17 March 2022, He was the man in the middle for the Europa League last 16 game against Red Star Belgrade in Serbia. Rangers lost 2-1 on the night, but progressed to the quarter-finals 4-2 on aggregate.

Rangers vs Athletic Bilbao match officials and VAR

Kovacs will be joined by Romanian officials Mihai Marius Marica and Ferencz Tunyogi, who will act as assistant referees. The fourth official is Horațiu Mircea Feșnic. On VAR duties, we have Cătălin Sorin Popa, who will be assisted on VAR by Marcel Bîrsan.