Kuchin's pride at finals role

The UEFA European Under-17 Championship gives a chance to shine on the international stage for promising young players – and match officials.

For the six referees and eight assistants in Liechtenstein this is their first taste of an international final tournament. Their number includes the first referee from Kazakhstan to take part in such a finals, 32-year-old Artyom Kuchin.

A former player who switched to refereeing in 2002, Kuchin was an assistant in the Kazakhstan league within two years and then moved into the middle. Promoted to the international list last year, Kuchin has refereed UEFA Europa League and UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers among other games, and in the U17 finals he has taken charge of Portugal against Switzerland and England versus Greece.

"It is different, because it is a final tournament," Kuchin told UEFA.com. "I am human, and a little bit nervous but when I blow the first whistle my nerves go and I concentrate only on refereeing. The atmosphere is great."

Kuchin is part of a four-man 'team' with assistants Roland Brandner of Austria and Orkhan Mammadov from Azerbaijan, plus Latvian referee Vadims Direktorenko. "We have referees from other countries here, we discuss how we referee and how we communicate," Kuchin said. "Teamwork is the most important thing. We speak about my country, their countries; we get to know each other."

Prior to these finals Kuchin has been part of the UEFA talents and mentors scheme, which since 2000 has paired young referees and now assistants with experienced European officials. They keep in close contact, visiting each other and discussing their development and performances – seven of the ten European referees at the 2010 FIFA World Cup have taken part in the scheme.

Jozef Marko, a member of the UEFA Referees' Committee and an observer here in Liechtenstein, explained: "Because of his good performances in the last year and after messages from observers, he was selected for the talents and mentors programme and we appointed him [for these finals] to show him more publically. This is not only for him – for other referees from his country it is also an incentive. We have never had a referee from Kazakhstan for such an event. It should be a good sign to Kazakhstan that UEFA gives everyone a chance, wherever they come from."

Kuchin, who has been working with former international referee and now instructor Jørn West Larsen, said: "Of course I was very happy, it was a surprise for me and our country too. It is an honour to represent our country in this programme. I played football, I wanted to become a good player but I wasn't able to. That's why this programme will be a good way for me to reach the top level. Of course all referees dream of going to the World Cup, refereeing in the Champions League."