Urs Meier
Encyclopedia
Urs Meier is a retired, Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 referee, a grocer by trade who owns a brand of household appliances in Würenlos
Würenlos
Würenlos is a municipality in the district of Baden in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It lies north of the river Limmat, next to the canton of Zürich, located in the Limmat Valley .-Geography:...

, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. From 1994 until 2004 he was an international FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 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
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....

 in 2002. He also refereed the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final
2002 UEFA Champions League Final
The 2002 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The show-piece event was contested between Bayer Leverkusen of Germany and Real Madrid of Spain at the Hampden Park in Glasgow, on Wednesday, 15 May 2002, to...

 as well that year. He also appeared at Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, refereeing the quarter-final between England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 and Portugal
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

 in 2004.

Meier received FIFA appointments and refereed in the Swiss top division until he reached the mandatory retirement age for each. He appears as an expert summariser on the German television channel ZDF
ZDF
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen , ZDF, is a public-service German television broadcaster based in Mainz . It is run as an independent non-profit institution, which was founded by the German federal states . The ZDF is financed by television licence fees called GEZ and advertising revenues...

 during World Cups and European Championships.

USA vs Iran

At the 1998 World Cup, Meier refereed the heated USA-Iran match. It was an emotional match because of the political situation, and supposedly a hard one to referee because of this, in what was one of his earliest games as a World Cup referee.

Denmark vs Romania

During a qualification match for Euro 2004 between Romania
Romania national football team
The Romania national football team is the national football team of Romania and is controlled by the Romanian Football Federation.Romania is one of only four national teams, the other three being Brazil, France, and Belgium, that took part in the first three World Cups.However, after that...

 and Denmark
Denmark national football team
The Denmark national football team represents Denmark in association football and is controlled by the Danish Football Association , the governing body for the football clubs which are organized under DBU...

, he awarded a controversial penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

 for Denmark. Meier also let play go on for longer than the amount of time added on originally announced by the fourth official, making it six minutes instead of four, in which Denmark equalized (2-2), a goal which eliminated Romania.

As a result, the Romanian press and fans complained: 14,000 angry e-mails were sent to him, as several Romanian newspapers had published his email address. Also, several petitions, signed by thousands of people were sent to UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

, 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 (e.g. due to timewasting, substitutions or other delays).

Portugal vs England

In the Euro 2004
2004 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, better known as Euro 2004, was the 12th European Football Championship, a quadrennial football tournament for European national teams. It was hosted in Portugal, for the first time, between 12 June and 4 July 2004, following its selection by UEFA, in...

 quarter-final between England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 and Portugal
Portugal national football team
The Portugal national football team represents Portugal in association football and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home ground is Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, and their head coach is Paulo Bento...

 at Lisbon, with the score at 1-1, he disallowed a goal by Sol Campbell
Sol Campbell
Sulzeer Jeremiah "Sol" Campbell is an English footballer who is currently a free agent. A central defender, Campbell has played for Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Portsmouth, Notts County and Newcastle United, as well as the English national team.Born in East London to Jamaican parents, Campbell's...

 in the 89th minute due to a foul by John Terry
John Terry
John George Terry is an English professional footballer. Terry plays in a centre back position and is the captain of Chelsea in the Premier League...

 on the Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira
Ricardo Pereira
Ricardo Alexandre Martins Soares Pereira, OIH , simply Ricardo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Vitória de Setúbal as a goalkeeper....

. The match ended in a draw, and Portugal proceeded to the next stage following a penalty shootout
Penalty shootout (football)
A penalty shoot-out, referred to as kicks from the penalty mark in the Laws of the Game, is the FIFA official term for a method used in association football to decide which team progresses to the next stage of a tournament following a tied game...

 and reached the final (where they lost to Greece
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...

).

UEFA backed Meier, but English fans and media contested the accuracy of his decision — condemning Meier. English tabloids dubbed him "Urs hole", "idiot ref", "Swiss banker" and "bugger".

After Meier's personal details were published by British tabloid newspapers, Meier received more than 16,000 abusive e-mails, and death threats. Reporters of The Sun
The Sun (newspaper)
The Sun is a daily national tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and owned by News Corporation. Sister editions are published in Glasgow and Dublin...

even travelled to Switzerland and placed an oversized English flag on a field near his home. As a result, he was placed under police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

protection.

External links

Urs Meier's page on referee career Urs Meier's company
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