Italy's Roberto Rosetti said being in charge of tomorrow's final between Germany and Spain was an honour for all Italian referees.

"We would like to share this important achievement with all Italian referees right the way up from the young ones taking charge of local games to the professionals working in the Italian Serie A and B," he told a press conference yesterday.

The Italian game was hit by a scandal in 2006 when clubs were found guilty of trying to procure favourable referees but Rosetti, 40, said he did not look on his appointment as a chance to restore the reputation of the country's officials.

"Historically, Italian referees have always enjoyed great respect and consideration in international tournaments," said Rosetti, who was not himself involved in the scandal.

"Foreign players and the public have always respected us and this is probably due to the history of former great referees such as Pierluigi Collina who was not only a great referee but also became a symbol of international football in general.

"I would not see (tomorrow)'s game as being about getting our own back. It is more a sign of respect in our professionalism by UEFA's refereeing committee."

Rosetti and his assistants are set to become the first match officials to take charge of both the opening game and the final at a European Championship.

After refereeing Czech Republic's 1-0 win over co-hosts Switzerland in the's opening game, he then presided over Russia's 1-0 group stage victory against Greece and Turkey's quarter-final penalty shootout victory over Croatia.

"The committee has shown great esteem for us with this appointment," Rosetti said.