Mohammad Aslam will lead a Norwegian refereeing team for the UEFA Europa League first qualification round return match between "Shakhtar" Donetsk and Finnish side "Ilves". UEFA announced the officiating appointments for the upcoming fixture scheduled for Thursday, July 17 in Finland.
Aslam will be assisted by his Norwegian colleagues Jorgen Valstadstve and Alf Olav Rossland, with Marius Hansen-Gretta serving as the fourth official. The VAR duties will be handled by Kristoffer Hagenes, with Emily Dokset appointed as his assistant.
Interestingly, this will be Aslam's first encounter with Ukrainian club teams. His only previous experience with Ukrainian football came at youth level, where he officiated two Ukraine U-17 national team matches in European Championship qualifying – both ending in 3-0 defeats for Ukraine against Ireland and Italy.
"Shakhtar" heads into the return leg with a commanding advantage after demolishing the Finnish side 6-0 in the first match. The Donetsk club kept a clean sheet while putting half a dozen past their opponents.
By the way, the winner of this tie will advance to the second qualification round as they continue their European journey. Will the Norwegian officials have much work to do given the lopsided first-leg result? Thursday's match should answer that question.
