His selection for this evening's showpiece clash, which was announced on Thursday, comes after a serious of lauded displays both in the Champions League this season and in last summer's World Cup finals. And he has beaten off the challenge of other more noted and more experienced officials off the back of some excellent performances.
"A Champions League final is an absolutely top match, so we can expect a celebration of football," Kassai said to Uefa.com.
"I hope all the spectators in the stadium and watching on TV will enjoy the match, and I hope it'll be a nice game."
Kassai passed his refereeing exams in June 1990 at the age of just 14, and less than three years later he was officiating in Hungarian football's fourth tier. It wasn't long before his qualities were being utilised at the highest domestic level either, as he became the youngest man to take charge of an NB1 match at the age of just 23 in a game between Zalaegerszeg and BVSC.
By 25, the sales manager refereed his first international match in the Uefa Regions Cup in Eastern Slovakia and by 2005 he was being selected by higher profile international tournaments. In 2008 he was on the reserve list for the European Championships, and his biggest achievement to date came later that year when he was given the chance to lead out the sides in the Olympic final between Argentina and Nigeria. His reputation continued to flourish, and last year he was chosen to officiate at the World Cup in South Africa, where he oversaw four fixtures, including the semi-final between Germany and Spain.
In the Hungarian League, the showpiece game of the season between Ujpest and Ferencvaros, dubbed as the ‘Hungarian Derby’, is always officiated by Kassai nowadays as his ability is considered to be far in advance of anything else on offer in the country. The Hungarian Derby is always a tasty affair, but with Kassai’s calm and assurance, the games always seem to run freely, with things very rarely getting tipped over the edge.
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