The Chief Referee Story

“Why a Swiss?”

Americans are not so content about the World Cup match on 10th which would decide who gets to the second round because the chief referee of the match will be Urs Meier (43, Photo).

The American team has a jinx that it always loses the match when a Swiss referee officiates. In 1934, the American team lost against the Italian team by 1:7, in 1990, they lost against Czech by 1:5 and against Iran by 1:2 in 1998. The chief referees of all three matches were from Switzerland. Especially at the match against Iran in 1998, the chief referee was Meier who would be the chief referee of the coming match.

Meier became an international referee in 1994, and this is his 9th year. He served as a sub-referee of the third place match between Netherlands and Croatia in 98 World Cup in France and he is not the type who’d disturb the flow of the game. International referee Lim Eunju said, “Meier allows tough tackles and since both teams are famous for their speed and physical strength, the game will become a lively and dynamic match.”

Meier has refereed Belgium-Czech, Portugal-Netherlands and Norway-Ukraine matches in European preliminary round and Brazil-Argentina match in South America. Meier works for his own business when he is not in the stadium. He is fluent in English, French and Spanish, not to mention his mother tongue, German. His hobby is motorcycle and skiing.

The two sub-referees of the match are Egon Woeruter (39 Austria) and Ali Tomusange (38 Uganda).

Keuk-In Bae bae2150@donga.com