Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli, who was selected with nine other footballing legends by photographer Fred Merz and Hublot to feature in the campaign “What is your Euro moment?”, is considered by many to be one of the best referees in the world. Instead of referring another France-England match in the quarter-finals, as some were hoping, after Iceland engineered England’s surprise exit from Euro 2016, Rizzoli will refer tonight the semi-final opposing France to Germany. The “moment” chosen by Nicola Rizzoli was the first European Championship match he refereed, between England and France.
He was selected by FIFA to officiate at the World Cup final between Argentina and Germany in 2014, which was the year the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) ranked him the world’s best referee. In 2013 he came second. As Nicola Rizzoli points out, “Mistakes can happen at any time. You do everything to prevent them, but they happen nevertheless. Do referees realise when they’ve made a mistake? No, not really. But sometimes you are aware that you’ve taken a decision without being in possession of all the elements necessary to judge the situation correctly.”
In the Fred Merz photo the international referees holds in his hands not his whistle, but one of the famous Hublot referee boards, designed to indicate player substitutions and extra time. These Hublot boards have been used at every international competition for the last ten years (e.g. the UEFA Champions League, or the UEFA Euro 2016), updated with the appropriate graphics, and are now part of Europe’s footballing landscape. Perhaps one day we’ll even see a Hublot Ballon d’Or?
