No. 1 Referee Who Officiated Most Matches in FIFA World Cup

Category :Soccer

Have a glimpse on the profile of this referees who took charge most of the matches in the final tournament of FIFA World Cup.

Performing official duties within the field of a soccer match is not an easy job whether it is a district match or regional match. Much more when it is national or international. Every call and decision is within the viewers’ criticism. Shouts of complain and sometimes disgust are some of the response you may acquire if you are one of the referees being in charge in the hole of the whistle. It is very essential to have self-confidence in making a call or decision when you are on the field.

Talking about carrying out official duties within the pitch of a match for the world’s most prominent soccer tournament, FIFA World Cup is somewhat a different and high level. Being a referee on that competition is far from a normal match. Billion of fans, thousand of managers and players are expecting you to decide accurately.

Looking on to the FIFA World Cup history specifically on those referees who took charge of the matches, there is only one who appears to have the most matches officiated in FIFA World Cup.

And that is in the person of Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov.

Irmatov had taken charge of the nine matches in the final tournament of FIFA World Cup on his appearances in the year 2010 and the recent FIFA World Cup. In his World Cup experience, he had witnessed a total of 21 goals slipped on the goalkeepers’ guard on the matches he officiated.

Giving warning to all players who had committed foul plays, Ravshan had given a total of 30 yellow cards and one red card. One of the nine matches he officiated was ended in penalty shootout.

Proving his excellence in holding the whistle inside the football pitch, Ravshan Irmatov had been the AFC Referee of the Year for four consecutive years (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011).

Ravhsan’s skill in refereeing matches was inherited by his father who also works in taking charge in Soviet soccer competitions. His commitment to FIFA as one of the exemplary referee was started since the year 2003.

In the year 2007, he was one of the referees who had outstandingly officiated the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Canada. The matches he took charge were between Gambia and Mexico, and Chile and Congo.

Some of the highly celebrated soccer tournaments he officiated in his career were during the final matches for both 2008 and 2011 FIFA Club World Cup.