Markus Merk
Encyclopedia
Dr. Markus Merk is a former top-level German football referee. He is a six-time winner of the German Referee of the Year Award and the record holder in games refereed in the Bundesliga. In 2005, Merk was awarded the German Bundesverdienstkreuz
(Federal Cross of Merit) in recognition of his service to football and his charity work in India. He ended his career by refereeing the match between Bayern München and Hertha BSC Berlin on the last day of the Bundesliga season 2007/08 on May 17, 2008.
He is considered to be one of the best referees to ever officiate, being ranked 2nd behind Pierluigi Collina
, in the all-time rankings.
He is currently the main referee commentator of Lig TV (which has the rights of the Turkish Super League) in 2010-2011 season. http://www.maraton.com.tr
. He became a FIFA
referee four years later, and officiated at the 1992 Summer Olympics
in Barcelona
. In the following years, Merk established himself as a headstrong, reliable referee. He was elected an unprecented six times as German Referee of the Year.
and FC Bayern Munich
. Bayern was leading Schalke by three points, however, Schalke had the better goal differential. In the 93rd minute, HSV were leading Bayern 1-0, and Schalke had just won 5-3 versus SpVgg Unterhaching
. Then Merk awarded a indirect free kick for Bayern following a HSV back pass, which Bayern's Patrik Andersson converted. Schalke lost the title, and Merk suffered intense verbal and physical abuse after that. Merk never again refereed a Schalke game.
, was a dental patient of Merk. Nevertheless, Merk received worldwide recognition for his excellent refereeing in this game.
(2) and the UEFA Euro 2004 (3). In that tournament, he also whistled the final, becoming the first German referee since Rudi Glöckner
of East Germany in 1970, to helm a World Cup or European Championship Finals. His assistants were Jan-Hendrik Salver and Christian Schräer. Merk also refereed the 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final
, and the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final
. He was the referee in the semi final of the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
between Cameroon and Colombia, a game remembered for the death of Marc-Vivien Foé
.
In the 2006 World Cup, he whistled three matches with mediocre results. After the match Australia-Brazil, he was verbally blasted by Harry Kewell
for allegedly lop-sided, pro-Brazil refereeing http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/australia/5094458.stm, and after Ghana's victory over the United States, US Coach Bruce Arena
and several players heavily criticized Merk's controversial call where he awarded a vital penalty kick to Ghana. The United States vs. Ghana game was the last game in the 2006 World Cup for Merk, as he was not chosen to referee any of the games in the knockout stages. Merk was highly critical of the whole FIFA refereeing process after that, stating in the German sports TV show das aktuelle Sportstudio, it "robbed me two weeks of my life" being forced to stay in the referee camp without a call-up, and adding a mere two was a bitterly meagre payoff regarding the fact he (among others) had to visit countless seminars and were sent on small junior tournaments all over the world to merely assist, comparing it to as if Ronaldinho
would have to agree to sit on the bench for the Brazilian U 20 in order to qualify for the World Cup.
Merk is also a long-time proponent of instant video replay to judge critical scenes. On March 1, 2008, Werder Bremen
striker Markus Rosenberg
scored a goal from clear offside position; Merk initially gave the goal, but immediately after that realised it was illegal, but it was too late to retract his error. He called it "the most bitter moment of my career" and called for introduction of instant replay.
, providing basic dental care for the poor since 1991. He helps the Indienhilfe Kaiserslautern, which erects schools and housing for the homeless, as well as offering basic medical care.
with his wife and son. He was a professional dentist until 2005, when he stopped practising because of his opposition to the so-called Praxisgebühr, a measure introduced by the German government taxing patients visiting doctors. Today, he leads motivational seminars. During his youth and teens, Merk suffered ridicule because of his high-pitched, squeaky voice. After undergoing extensive speech therapy, he now talks in a normal baritone. (Reference: his book BeWEGEnd).
Merk is also one of the fittest referees in the game. He regularly laps his colleagues in the annual fitness tests, and in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
of April 15, 2006 (p. 55), it is said that he has run a marathon
in a time of 2:42. In comparison, the Olympic record is only about half an hour faster. He is also a dedicated triathlete. http://www.faz.net/s/Rub81395A1084CE4DE0A416D80576BEA59C/Doc~E333E855D2ED841B8BEB6C8775726AD1D~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html
As a side note, "Merk" is the imperative form of the German verb "merken" (to notice, to keep in mind). For this reason, his homepage is named merk-es-dir.de ("keep-it-in-mind.de").
He is currently the main referee commentator of Lig TV (which has the rights of the Turkish Super League) in 2010-2011 season. http://www.maraton.com.tr
Bundesverdienstkreuz
The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany is the only general state decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has existed since 7 September 1951, and between 3,000 and 5,200 awards are given every year across all classes...
(Federal Cross of Merit) in recognition of his service to football and his charity work in India. He ended his career by refereeing the match between Bayern München and Hertha BSC Berlin on the last day of the Bundesliga season 2007/08 on May 17, 2008.
He is considered to be one of the best referees to ever officiate, being ranked 2nd behind Pierluigi Collina
Pierluigi Collina
Pierluigi Collina is a former Italian football referee. He is still involved in football as non-paid consultant to the Italian Football Referees Association , and is a member of the UEFA Referees Committee...
, in the all-time rankings.
He is currently the main referee commentator of Lig TV (which has the rights of the Turkish Super League) in 2010-2011 season. http://www.maraton.com.tr
Bundesliga career
In 1988, Merk was appointed the youngest Bundesliga referee ever, aged 25, representing his home club 1. FC Kaiserslautern1. FC Kaiserslautern
1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern, also known as 1. FCK, FCK or simply Kaiserslautern, is a German association football club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900...
. He became a FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
referee four years later, and officiated at the 1992 Summer Olympics
1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
. In the following years, Merk established himself as a headstrong, reliable referee. He was elected an unprecented six times as German Referee of the Year.
2001 Bundesliga season finals incident
In the last gameday of the 2000-1 Bundesliga season, Merk was assigned to referee the match between Hamburger SVHamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein, usually referred to as HSV in Germany and Hamburg in international parlance, is a German multi-sport club based in Hamburg, its largest branch being its football department...
and FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....
. Bayern was leading Schalke by three points, however, Schalke had the better goal differential. In the 93rd minute, HSV were leading Bayern 1-0, and Schalke had just won 5-3 versus SpVgg Unterhaching
SpVgg Unterhaching
Spielvereinigung Unterhaching is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich....
. Then Merk awarded a indirect free kick for Bayern following a HSV back pass, which Bayern's Patrik Andersson converted. Schalke lost the title, and Merk suffered intense verbal and physical abuse after that. Merk never again refereed a Schalke game.
Statistics
- 1988/89 7 Games 15 yellow cards (Average 2.14) 0 Red Cards
- 1989/90 8 Games 24 yellow cards (Average 2.00) 2 Red Cards
- 1990/91 9 Games 30 Yellow Cards (Average 3.33) 1 Red Card
- 1991/92 13 Games 46 Yellow cards (Average 3.54) 3 Red Cards
- 1992/93 11 Games 40 Yellow cards (Average 3.64) 6 Red Cards
- 1993/94 11 Games 42 Yellow Cards (Average 3.82) 6 Red Cards
- 1994/95 13 Games 58 Yellow Cards (Average 4.46) 8 Red Cards
- 1995/96 13 Games 58 Yellow Cards (Average 4.46) 3 Red Cards
- 1996/97 18 Games 84 Yellow Cards (Average 4.67) 6 Red Cards
- 1997/98 18 Games 70 Yellow Cards (Average 3.89) 5 Red Cards
- 1998/99 17 Games 65 Yellow Cards (Average 3.82) 1 Red Card
- 1999/00 20 Games 70 Yellow Cards (Average 3.5) 3 Red Cards
- 2000/01 22 Games 91 Yellow Cards (Average 4.55) 5 Red Cards
- 2001/02 17 Games 75 Yellow Cards (Average 4.41) 5 Red Cards
- 2002/03 22 Games 81 Yellow Cards (Average 3.68) 4 Red Cards
- 2003/04 24 Games 101 Yellow Cards (Average 4.21) 8 Red Cards
- 2004/05 22 Games 75 Yellow Cards (Average 3.41) 3 Red Cards
- 2005/06 25 Games 108 Yellow Cards (Average 4.32) 6 Red Cards
- 2006/07 24 Games 63 Yellow Cards (Average 2.63) 0 Red Cards
UEFA Euro 2004 Final
Markus Merk's refereeing of the final match of UEFA Euro 2004 was strongly opposed by Portugal. Portugal's opponent was Greece, whose team's coach, Otto RehhagelOtto Rehhagel
Otto Rehhagel is a German football coach and former football player. Along with Helmut Schön, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Udo Lattek and Hennes Weisweiler, he is considered one of the most successful German managers....
, was a dental patient of Merk. Nevertheless, Merk received worldwide recognition for his excellent refereeing in this game.
FIFA career
Merk was referee in the 1992 Olympics (2 call-ups), the UEFA Euro 2000 (3), the 2002 FIFA World Cup2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
(2) and the UEFA Euro 2004 (3). In that tournament, he also whistled the final, becoming the first German referee since Rudi Glöckner
Rudi Glöckner
Rudolf "Rudi" Glöckner was the first German to referee a football World Cup final when he took charge of the 1970 FIFA World Cup final between Brazil and Italy in Mexico City....
of East Germany in 1970, to helm a World Cup or European Championship Finals. His assistants were Jan-Hendrik Salver and Christian Schräer. Merk also refereed the 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final
1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final
The 1997 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match contested between FC Barcelona of Spain and the cup holders, Paris Saint-Germain of France. It was the final match of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1996–97 and the 37th Cup Winners' Cup Final. The final was held at Feyenoord Stadion in Rotterdam...
, and the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final
2003 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2003 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match that took place at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on 28 May 2003 to decide the winner of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League. The match was contested by two Italian teams in the shape of Juventus and Milan. The match made history as the...
. He was the referee in the semi final of the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
2003 FIFA Confederations Cup
The 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup football tournament was the sixth FIFA Confederations Cup, held in France in June 2003. France retained the title they had won in 2001, but the tournament was overshadowed by the death of Cameroon player Marc-Vivien Foé, who died of heart failure in his side's...
between Cameroon and Colombia, a game remembered for the death of Marc-Vivien Foé
Marc-Vivien Foé
Marc-Vivien Foé was a Cameroonian international footballer, who played in midfield for both club and country. With success in the French League, and stints in the English Premier League, his sudden death, while in the middle of an international competitive fixture, came as a shock to the worldwide...
.
In the 2006 World Cup, he whistled three matches with mediocre results. After the match Australia-Brazil, he was verbally blasted by Harry Kewell
Harry Kewell
Harold "Harry" Kewell is an Australian professional football midfielder who plays for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Internationally he has received 55 caps, and scored 16 goals, while playing for the Australian national team...
for allegedly lop-sided, pro-Brazil refereeing http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2006/teams/australia/5094458.stm, and after Ghana's victory over the United States, US Coach Bruce Arena
Bruce Arena
Bruce Arena is a former coach of the United States men's national soccer team as well as a former professional soccer and lacrosse player...
and several players heavily criticized Merk's controversial call where he awarded a vital penalty kick to Ghana. The United States vs. Ghana game was the last game in the 2006 World Cup for Merk, as he was not chosen to referee any of the games in the knockout stages. Merk was highly critical of the whole FIFA refereeing process after that, stating in the German sports TV show das aktuelle Sportstudio, it "robbed me two weeks of my life" being forced to stay in the referee camp without a call-up, and adding a mere two was a bitterly meagre payoff regarding the fact he (among others) had to visit countless seminars and were sent on small junior tournaments all over the world to merely assist, comparing it to as if Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira , commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Flamengo and the Brazilian national team as an attacking midfielder or forward. He is a two-time winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year, awarded to the best player over the year...
would have to agree to sit on the bench for the Brazilian U 20 in order to qualify for the World Cup.
Merk is also a long-time proponent of instant video replay to judge critical scenes. On March 1, 2008, Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen
SV Werder Bremen is a German sports club best known for its association football team playing in Bremen, in the northwest German federal state of the same name. The club was founded on 4 February 1899 as Fußballverein Werder by a group of sixteen vocational high school students who had won a prize...
striker Markus Rosenberg
Markus Rosenberg
Nils Markus Rosenberg , born 27 September 1982 in Malmö) is a Swedish footballer currently playing for German side Werder Bremen. As of 11 February 2009, Rosenberg, who is nicknamed "Sillen" , has played 30 games and scored six times for the Swedish national team.-Early career:Rosenberg started his...
scored a goal from clear offside position; Merk initially gave the goal, but immediately after that realised it was illegal, but it was too late to retract his error. He called it "the most bitter moment of my career" and called for introduction of instant replay.
Accolades
- DFB German Referee of the Year: 1995, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006
- Bundesverdienstkreuz (major order of merit of the Federal Republic of Germany) 2005
Charity
The religious Merk is active helping slums in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, providing basic dental care for the poor since 1991. He helps the Indienhilfe Kaiserslautern, which erects schools and housing for the homeless, as well as offering basic medical care.
Personal life
A dentist by trade, Merk lives in OtterbachOtterbach
Otterbach is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the river Lauter, approx. 5 km north of Kaiserslautern....
with his wife and son. He was a professional dentist until 2005, when he stopped practising because of his opposition to the so-called Praxisgebühr, a measure introduced by the German government taxing patients visiting doctors. Today, he leads motivational seminars. During his youth and teens, Merk suffered ridicule because of his high-pitched, squeaky voice. After undergoing extensive speech therapy, he now talks in a normal baritone. (Reference: his book BeWEGEnd).
Merk is also one of the fittest referees in the game. He regularly laps his colleagues in the annual fitness tests, and in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , short F.A.Z., also known as the FAZ, is a national German newspaper, founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt am Main. The Sunday edition is the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung .F.A.Z...
of April 15, 2006 (p. 55), it is said that he has run a marathon
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometres , that is usually run as a road race...
in a time of 2:42. In comparison, the Olympic record is only about half an hour faster. He is also a dedicated triathlete. http://www.faz.net/s/Rub81395A1084CE4DE0A416D80576BEA59C/Doc~E333E855D2ED841B8BEB6C8775726AD1D~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html
As a side note, "Merk" is the imperative form of the German verb "merken" (to notice, to keep in mind). For this reason, his homepage is named merk-es-dir.de ("keep-it-in-mind.de").
He is currently the main referee commentator of Lig TV (which has the rights of the Turkish Super League) in 2010-2011 season. http://www.maraton.com.tr
Literature
- Markus Merk: BeWEGEnd
- Markus Merk: Untersuchungen zur Formänderung kalt- und heißpolymerisierender Prothesenkunststoffe nach Behandlung im Ultraschallbad ("Examinations on the form change of cold- and hot-polymerising prothesis plastics after ultrasound treatment"), Dissertation by Markus Merk, University of Cologne, 1990.