Who are the referees at the 2025 UK Snooker Championship in York?

Six of the finest white glove operators in the sport have been selected to take charge of the main draw, televised matches in the second-most prestigious ranking event on the World Snooker Tour. Over £1.2 million in prize money will be won at the first Triple Crown event of the season.

The tournament is in safe hands...

Ben Williams

Williams has taken charge of two major finals - the 2021 UK Championship (won by Zhao Xintong who claimed his maiden ranking title) and the 2024 Masters at the Alexandra Palace in London when Ronnie O’Sullivan won a record-extending eighth crown.

The Englishman refereed his first televised final at the 2016 World Seniors Snooker Championship, with his maiden ranking event final coming the following year at the 2017 Riga Masters in Latvia.

He made his Crucible Theatre debut for the World Championship in 2018, and three years later he refereed at the semi-finals stage within the iconic one-table set-up.

Olivier Marteel

Away from the green baize, Belgium’s Marteel wears a different type of glove as a qualified nurse, and was working on the frontline during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

Nicknamed by master of ceremonies Rob Walker as ‘The Belgian Truffle’, Marteel took charge of his first professional match in 2006.

Marteel is in an exclusive club of referees who have taken charge of multiple World Championship finals; the 2015 showpiece won by Stuart Bingham, and seven years later when O’Sullivan recorded his record-equalling seventh Crucible crown.

A fan of football club Standard Liege, Marteel has refereed all three Triple Crown finals on multiple occasions, and also oversaw the inaugural Saudi Arabia Masters title decider in 2024.

Now in his 21st season on the professional tour, Marteel - who himself has a highest break of 133 in practice - has refereed three 147 breaks in official competition.

Malgorzata Kanieska

Malgorzata Kanieska made her breakthrough refereeing on snooker's premier circuit at a European Players Tour Championship event in Prague in 2010. The next year, she made her television debut with the white gloves during a tournament in Warsaw, the capital city of her home country Poland.

Kanieska has continued her career rise in subsequent years. In 2023, she was nominated to referee the Tour Championship final in Hull between Shaun Murphy and Kyren Wilson.

So far, Kanieska has refereed four professional maximum 147 breaks, and she played a big role at the Barbican Centre in York for the televised stages of the 2024 UK Championship where she led the thrilling semi-final between Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins.

In 2025, she made her debut at the Crucible Theatre for the World Championship.

Rob Spencer

Former policeman Spencer has been a referee on snooker's premier circuit since 2013. On top of his role out in the arena, he also plays a big part in administrative work behind the scenes, too.

The Stockport County FC fan took charge of the 2023 World Championship semi-final between Luca Brecel and Si Jiahui within the one-table set-up, and later in the same year he officiated the UK Championship final between Ronnie O’Sullivan and Ding Junhui.

Spencer currently holds the record of having refereed the most number of maximum 147 breaks in professional competition with 12 - the latest of those came at last year’s UK Championship in York when Zhang Anda struck perfection.

Desislava Bozhilova

It has been an incredible rise up the ranks for Bozhilova, from passing her international referring exams in 2012 to becoming the second woman to officiate a Triple Crown event final, and then the sport’s ultimate fixture - the World Championship final - following in the footsteps of the trailblazing Michaela Tabb.

From Sliven in Bulgaria, Bozhilova played cuesports and became interested in snooker refereeing after watching on television. She made her debut as a referee on the professional circuit on home soil at the 2012 Bulgarian Open, and just four years later she took charge of her first ranking event final at the 2016 Riga Masters.

Bozhilova - who has a Masters degree in Landscape Architecture - was selected to referee at the Crucible for the first time in 2019.

In 2022 she assumed responsibility of her maiden major finals at the Masters and UK Championship, and Bozhilova completed the Triple Crown set in 2025 when she officiated the World Championship final between Zhao Xintong and Mark Williams.

Bozhilova has overseen six professional 147 breaks - two of these came at the 2024 Masters. Elsewhere in the cuesports world she has refereed 9-ball pool on the World Nineball Tour.

Leo Scullion

Scotland's Scullion is one of the most experienced referees on the World Snooker Tour having been qualified with the white gloves since the 1990s.

Former taxi driver and policeman Scullion has nearly 25 years of television refereeing experience. He has been in charge of a plethora of big finals on the circuit and officiated the sport's biggest fixture of all in 2019 at the Crucible when Judd Trump defeated John Higgins 18-9 in a record-breaking World Championship final that featured 11 century breaks.

Scullion has overseen five 147s on the top flight, including O’Sullivan’s memorable title-winning effort at the 2014 Welsh Open final.

Kevin Dabrowski

Dabrowski is one of the sport's top all-rounders; as well as being an elite referee, he is an accomplished player who has won national medals, and a qualified coach.

The Pole made his debut with the white gloves on the professional tour on home soil in 2014 at the Gdynia Open; he is now a regular face in front of the television cameras.

He superintended his first ranking event final at the 2020 Snooker Shoot Out, and was also in charge of the 2023 title decider at that unique event between Chris Wakelin and Julien Leclercq.

In December 2024 he was selected for the Riyadh Season Championship showpiece, and earlier this season at the English Open.

Away from the table, Dabrowski has worked in the video game industry and written scripts for commercials.