Urs Meier
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Urs Meier (born January 22 1959) is a retired Swiss football referee and a grocer by trade. From 1994 until 2004 he was an international FIFA referee. He was elected by an expert jury to be the second-best referee in 2002 and third-best in 2004.
He officiated at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, taking charge of the semi-final between South Korea and Germany in 2002. He also appeared at Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, refereeing the quarter-final between England and Portugal in 2004.
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England-Romania
At Euro 2000 he awarded Romania an 89th minute penalty kick which eliminated England from the competition.
Denmark-Romania
During a qualification match for Euro 2004 between Romania and Denmark, he awarded a very controversial penalty kick for Denmark and let play go on for much longer than the amount of time added on originally announced by the fourth official, making it five minutes instead of two, in which Denmark equalized (2-2), a goal which eliminated Romania.
As a result, the Romanian press and fans reacted: 14,000 angry e-mails were sent to him, as several Romanian newspapers published his email address. Also, several petitions, signed by thousands of people were sent to UEFA, but they were disregarded. It should be noted, however, that the amount of time shown by the fourth official is only intended to serve as an indication of the amount of time added on at that particular stage of the match; further time may be added on during the time indicated (eg due to timewasting, substitutions or other delays).
Portugal-England
In the Euro 2004 quarter-final between England and Portugal, with the score at 1-1, he disallowed a goal by Sol Campbell in the 89th minute due to a perceived foul by John Terry on the Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira. The match ended in a tie, and Portugal proceeded to the next stage following kicks from the penalty mark (penalty shootout) and reached the final (where it lost to Greece).
Some English "fans" reacted angrily. After his personal details were published by British tabloid newspapers, Meier received death threats, more than 16,000 abusive e-mails and even had an English flag placed at his home. As a result, he was placed under police protection.
He continued to receive FIFA appointments and referee in the Swiss top division until he reached the mandatory retirement age for each.
External links
- http://www.ursmeier.ch/referee - Urs Meier's page on refereeing (German)
- http://www.wewererobbed.co.uk/ - page arguing that Urs Meier's refereeing decision in the England-Portugal match was incorrect.bg:Урс Майер