Quick Facts
Biography
Massimo De Santis (born April 8, 1962) is an Italian football referee. De Santis was born in Tivoli, Lazio. In addition to being a referee, he is a police constable in Rome. De Santis speaks Italian and English. His first international game was January 1, 2000. He was an official at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
De Santis was selected as Italy's refereeing representative at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but was barred by the Italian Football Federation due to the Serie A match fixing scandal in 2006. In July 2006, he was banned for 4½ years for his involvement in the scandal.
De Santis strongly denied guilt, saying "If I committed any offences I did so on the field of play, if mistakes were made - but then we would have to try all the referees in the history of the game. I'm not taking this charge lying down. I expect justice."