ITV has replaced Peter Walton for Euro 2024 with former American player-turned-referee Christina Unkel to work on its coverage as a video assistant referee expert
Christina Unkel is ITV’s new officiating and video assistant referee expert for their coverage of the Euro 2024.
Unkel, 37, debuted during the channel’s coverage of the opening game between Germany and Scotland. The American made her mark 25 minutes into the match after the hosts had a penalty overturned after the video assistant referee Jerome Brisard intervened after the on-field decision by Clement Turpin.
After an initial communication breakdown with Sam Matterface in Munich, which also afflicted Seb Hutchinson in Berlin on Saturday afternoon during Spain versus Croatia, Unkel was back before half-time after Ryan Porteous lunged in on Ilkay Gundogan. She delivered authoritatively on debut and received rave reviews on social media, but who is Christina Unkel? Mirror Football explains below…
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Unkel rose to fame on television in the United States as a rules analyst. She started her broadcasting career in 2019 on FOX Sports’ FIFA Women’s World Cup coverage and also worked on the CONCACAF Gold Cup for the network.
Last season, she provided analysis for MLS Season Pass on Apple TV. In one of her first appearances on a broadcast, Unkel corrected her husband, Ted, who is an MLS referee, and they still disagree about the decision, as she told the Los Angeles Times last summer. Unkel is the daughter of Central American parents and now has an 8-year-old daughter, Quinn, with her husband.
But she is best known Stateside for working on CBS Sports’ Champions League and Europa League coverage. Now, she is in Germany, introducing herself to a non-American audience for the first time.
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“It was exciting,” Unkel told World Soccer Talk before the tournament about the opportunity to work for ITV, “and it was a bit of a surprise. I’ve never worked TV outside of the United States.
“To tap me as an analyst for what is one of their biggest productions, not just for ITV but for all of the UK, it is not lost on me the gravity of this tournament. I consider it an honour that they (recognise) my ability to break down the difficult refereeing decisions and provide that insight.”
Before refereeing, Unkel was a player. But both professions soon dovetailed as she became a certified referee aged 10, at the behest of her under-10s coach.
Fifteen years later, while still playing the sport in college, Unkel became FIFA -licensed. A knee injury curtailed both careers, but in 2015, she trained as a video assistant.
That aided her pivot to work in the media, as did serving on the FIFA referees assessment panel. Unkel is also the president of women’s football club Tampa Bay Sun, a team founded last year that will start playing in the USL Super League this summer.
Away from football, Unkel is a lawyer with an MBA and a managing partner of her eponymous law firm. She is also a businesswoman, being the CEO of multiple startups.
