Concetto Lo Bello

Concetto Lo Bello (born 13 May 1924 in Syracuse—died 9 September 1991 in the same city) was an Italian association football international referee. He holds the record for refereeing the most games in Serie A (328).

His career spanned the years 1944 to 1974, refereeing his first international match in 1958.

He officiated at 34 international matches, including the West Germany–USSR semi-final in 1966. He had been provisionally chosen to referee the 1970 FIFA World Cup Final, but the Italian team reached the final, so he could not officiate.

Lo Bello also refereed the European Cup finals of 1968 (Manchester United–Benfica) and 1970 (Feyenoord v Celtic), as well as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 2nd leg final in 1966 and the UEFA Cup 2nd leg final in 1974. The latter final occurred shortly after his fiftieth birthday, making him the oldest official at a European final. He retired after this match.

After retirement, he entered politics, as a deputy for the Christian Democrat party. He was Minister of Sport for a spell, and, briefly, was Minister for Drought. In 1986, he was elected mayor of Syracuse, but was only in the job for five months. In 2012, he was posthumously inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.

His son, Rosario Lo Bello, was also a Serie A and international referee.