He joins a very closed club. At 40, Clément Turpin will become, on Saturday May 28, the sixth French referee to officiate in a Champions League final. The C1 poster opposes this season Liverpool to Real Madrid at the Stade de France. Turpin joins Robert Héliès, Michel Kitabdjian, Robert Wurtz, Georges Konrath and Michel Vautrot, the last Habs to have led a match of this magnitude, in 1986. A nomination from UEFA symbol of recognition for the Montcellien, who made a place of choice in the world of French and international arbitration since its beginnings in pro, 14 years ago.
Licensed to FC Montceau Bourgogne since 1989, he began refereeing around 15 years old. “I was going to referee on Saturday afternoon and I was playing on Sunday, because I think that at that age, you still want to play with your friends”, he confided in 2018. If he takes the whistle at the start for fun, he ends up taking a liking to it and decides to make it his profession, taking his first license during the 1997-1998 season. Over the years, Turpin climbed the national ladder until leading his first games in the top flight, in 2008. To 26 years old, he then becomes the youngest referee in Ligue 1.
Two years later, in 2010, his career took an international turn when he was chosen to lead the Under-21 Euro qualifier between Italy and Hungary. Since then, Clément Turpin has been regularly chosen for major international matches: qualifying and group stage matches for the Europa League in 2011 and then the Champions League from 2014.
The summer of 2016 was marked by his first refereeing at the Euros and the Olympic Games before his consecration, two years later, at the 2018 World Cup. The only tricolor referee in the competition that year, he was reappointed for the one disputed in Qatar this winter – alongside Stéphanie Frappart in particular. Earlier in 2018, he was also the fourth referee in the Champions League final, already opposing Real Madrid to Liverpool.
UEFA has appointed Clément Turpin to referee the Champions League final on Saturday May 28 at the Stade de France between Real Madrid and Liverpool (9 p.m.)! https://t.co/B5J6D6Njbs
—FFF (@FFF) May 11, 2022
All these appointments make him one of the most famous French referees. In all, the Montcellien led 244 Ligue 1 games, 35 of C1, including four quarter-finals and 26 Europa League games, including last year’s final which saw Villarreal be crowned at the expense of Manchester United.
Much in demand in the 1970s and 1980s (five French referees in 15 finals), French refereeing disappeared from UEFA’s radar for a long time. Saturday, at the Stade de France, Clément Turpin will be the first referee from France in 36 years to officiate in a Champions League final. A designation seen with a very good eye by Pascal Garibian, technical director of arbitration at the FFF, who sees “recognition of the excellent season of Clément Turpin” and “constant progress made by French arbitration”.
For the main interested party, named best referee in Ligue 1 last season, this appointment is “a great mark of confidence on the part of UEFA and represents a long-term effort”. “I feel very proud, especially since the final will be played in France, said Clement Turpin. I will be proud to represent French refereeing and I have a real thought for the 22,000 French referees.