Quick Facts
Biography
Urs Meier (born January 22, 1959 in Würenlos, Aargau) is a retired Swiss football referee. He officiated at the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, taking charge of the semi-final between South Korea and Germany in 2002. He also refereed the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final as well that year. He also appeared at Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, refereeing the quarter-final between England and Portugal in 2004. He retired 6 months later.
Meier received FIFA appointments and refereed in the Swiss top division until he reached the mandatory retirement age for each. He now appears as an expert summariser on the German television channel ZDF during World Cups and European Championships. He also owns a brand of household appliances in Würenlos, Switzerland.
Career
At the 1998 World Cup, Meier refereed the USA-Iran match.
He refereed a qualification match for Euro 2004 between Romania and Denmark. Denmark equalized in extra time to eliminate Romania. After several Romanian newspapers published his email address after the game, Meier received 14,000 e-mails.
He refereed the Euro 2004 quarter-final between England and Portugal at Lisbon, which ended in a 1–1 draw. After the match Meier's personal details were published by British tabloid newspapers and Meier received more than 16,000 abusive e-mails. including death threats. Reporters of The Sun travelled to Switzerland and placed an oversized English flag on a field near his home. As a result, he was placed under police protection.