Velasco Carballo to handle EURO opening match

The match officials for the first four games of UEFA EURO 2012 have been announced, with Spain's Carlos Velasco Carballo taking charge of the tournament opener on Friday between co-hosts Poland and Greece.

The Group A fixture at the National Stadium in Warsaw, kicking off at 18.00CET, is Carballo's second prestigious appointment in 13 months. An engineer from Madrid, he was the man in the middle for the 2011 UEFA Europa League final in Dublin between FC Porto and SC Braga.

The other fixture in the section, between Russia and the Czech Republic at the Municipal Stadium Wroclaw (20.45), will be handled by England's Howard Webb.

On Saturday, Damir Skomina, of Slovenia, will officiate Netherlands versus Denmark (18.00) in Kharkiv. France's Stéphane Lannoy will oversee Germany against Portugal (20.45) in Lviv, the second match in Group B.

The officials for the remaining games will be announced two days before the matches at 09.00CET and will be published on UEFA.com and on the Media Information System (MIS), which is accessible for all accredited media representatives of UEFA EURO 2012.

In total 12 referees have been appointed to handle the 31 matches of the final tournament. They will work together with 24 assistant referees and 24 additional assistant referees in teams of the same nationality.

The full refereeing teams for the first four matches can be found here.