Soares Dias referee for Conference League Final Olympiacos-Fiorentina | OneFootball

Portuguese referee Artur Soares Dias will officiate the Conference League Final between Fiorentina and Olympiacos on May 29, but is already familiar with Greece.

The showdown will kick off at the AEK Arena in Athens on Wednesday May 29 at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).

There will inevitably be more Olympiacos supporters than Fiorentina, because it was a mere coincidence that the Final had been scheduled for Athens, without knowing a Greek team would qualify.

UEFA confirmed that Soares Dias will be assisted by Paulo Soares and Pedro Ribeiro, with Sweden’s Glenn Nyberg as the fourth official.

The VAR is Tiago Martins of Portugal, with Germany’s Christian Dingert as his assistant and Marco Fritz as VAR Support.

This will be the first major UEFA Final for 44-year-old Soares Dias.

Soares Dias record with these Finalists

He has officiated Fiorentina before in the Europa League, overseeing a 2-1 win over Dnipro in December 2013 and a 4-2 home defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach in February 2017.

His overall record with Italian club sides is of eight wins, one draw and four defeats.

Soares Dias officiated Olympiacos twice in the Greek Super League, a 1-0 win over Panathinaikos in November 2020 and 1-1 draw away to AEK Athens in September 2023.

Foreign referees were not unusual in the Greek Super League, but UEFA withdrew their use in May 2023 following fears for their safety.