Byron Moreno

Byron Aldemar Moreno Ruales (born November 23, 1969) is a former Ecuadorian football referee.

During the 2002 FIFA World Cup Moreno refereed a match between Italy and South Korea in the round of 16, where he was criticised by the Italian team after a golden goal by Damiano Tommasi was ruled offside and for showing a second yellow card to Francesco Totti for diving, following their elimination from the tournament. In September 2002, while a candidate in October elections for places on the Quito city council, he was suspended for twenty matches and investigated by Ecuadorian football authorities. This came after he made timekeeping errors in a match he officiated between Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito and Barcelona Sporting Club. FIFA also investigated due to controversies "...in Japan, Italy and South America over the past few months". In May 2003, in his third game back from his suspension, Moreno was again suspended, for one match, after he sent off three players from visiting Deportivo Quito in a 1–1 draw at Deportivo Cuenca. He retired the following month, blaming low performance marks for his retirement.

Moreno was arrested on September 21, 2010 at the John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, while trying to smuggle in six kilograms (over thirteen pounds) of heroin, which was hidden in his underwear. In January 2011, he pleaded guilty to the charges in a New York courthouse, facing a possible ten years in prison. On September 23, 2011, Moreno was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on the heroin smuggling charges. He was released from prison 26 months later and returned to Ecuador.