Quick Facts
Biography
Nicola Rizzoli (Italian pronunciation: [niˈkɔla ritˈtsɔli]; born 5 October 1971) is an Italian football referee who has refereed in the Italian Serie A since 2002 and has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2007. When not refereeing, Rizzoli works as an architect. He refereed the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final between Germany and Argentina on 13 July at the Estádio do Maracanã and the 2013 Champions League Final at Wembley. As of 2011, Rizzoli has won six consecutive AIC Serie A Referee of the Year Awards, with his most recent success coming in 2016. On 18 February 2017, Rizzoli was put on the list of the top 5 referees in the 21st century by Soccer 360.
Career
He refereed his first UEFA Champions League qualifying match in August 2007, and took charge of his first Champions League group stage match, a 2–0 Sporting CP victory over Basel, on 1 October 2008. On 7 April 2010, Rizzoli took charge of the Champions League quarter-final second leg between Manchester United and Bayern Munich. With the score at 3–1 to Manchester United (4–3 on aggregate), Rizzoli sent off their right-back, Rafael, for a second bookable offence. Bayern then scored again and won the tie on away goals.
On 12 May 2010, Rizzoli refereed the 2010 UEFA Europa League Final, as Atletico de Madrid defeated Fulham 2–1.
At international level, Rizzoli served as a referee at UEFA Euro 2012 and has officiated in qualifiers for the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
In May 2013, Rizzoli was selected by UEFA to referee the 2013 Champions League Final at Wembley.
FIFA named Rizzoli to its list of 52 candidate referees for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Rizzoli was selected, and was the head referee for a group stage match between Spain and the Netherlands. He refereed the 2014 FIFA World Cup Final between Germany and Argentina on 13 July at the Estádio do Maracanã.
Rizzoli was named the 2014 and 2015 World's Best Referee by IFFHS. In December 2015, he was named one of the eighteen referees appointed for UEFA Euro 2016.
On 15 September 2015, Rizzoli was in charge of the UEFA Champions League Group Stage match between PSV Eindhoven and Manchester United where PSV's Héctor Moreno broke the leg of Manchester United Defender Luke Shaw. Former World Cup Final Referee Graham Poll said Rizzoli was one of top officials, but "missed a poor tackle" which should have led to a red card. UEFA chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina reminded officials of their responsibility to player safety after the incident.
On 24 March 2017, Rizzoli was again accused of leniency for failing to show Gareth Bale a red card for a dangerous tackle on John O'Shea in a World Cup Qualifying match between Ireland and Wales. Critics claimed that his leniency towards Bale may have led to the reckless challenge from Neil Taylor that broke Seamus Coleman's leg a minute later in the same match.
Honours
- Serie A Referee of the Year (5): 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
- IFFHS World's Best Referee (2): 2014, 2015
- Globe Soccer Award for the Best Referee of the Year (1): 2014