Luigi Agnolin

Luigi Agnolin was born in Bassano del Grappa (Vicenza), on March 21 1943. His father Guido was also a top referee.

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Luigi followed his father's footsteps and made his Serie A debut on March 19 1973 in a Fiorentina vs Cagliari game. He went on to officiate 226 games in Serie A between 1973 and 1990.

He also became an international referee in 1978 and in 1986 represented Italy at the World Cup in Mexico where he was in charge of three games including the semi-final between West Germany and France. He was also at Italia '90 but was sent home after one match (Yugoslavia vs Colombia) after a falling out with FIFA boss Joseph Blatter.

In Europe he refereed the 1987 Cup Winners Cup final (Ajax vs Lokomotiv Moscow), the 1988 European Cup final (PSV Eindhoven vs Benfica) and the 1986 UEFA Super Cup return leg final (Dynamo Kiev vs Steaua Bucharest).

In Italy he was the referee for two Coppa Italia finals (1985, 1987). He was also in charge of 7 Juventus-Torino derbies, 5 Milan-Inter, 5 Lazio-Roma and 4 Genoa-Sampdoria plus countless top games and decisive league title clashes.

He retired in 1990.

In 2012 he was included in the Hall of Fame of Italian football.

On retiring he was in charge of picking the referees for the Serie C games between 1990 and 1992. He then resigned over divergences with the Head of the Federation, Antonio Mattarese.

His other jobs post-refereeing include: General Director of Roma, CEO of Verona, President of FIGC School and Youth Sectors, General Director of Perugia and General Director of Siena. He also worked in television reviewing and commenting on the famous "moviola" (basically action replays of controversial episodes).

Outside football he was involved with the "Comunità Villa S.Francesco" hosting youths from problematic families and was also centre-right candidate at the local Bassano del Grappa elections for Senator but was not successful.

He will be best remembered as a referee. An authoritative one who for almost two decades was one of if not the most important and respected Italian referees.

Luigi Agnolin died in Bassano del Grappa, on September 29, 2018.

Sources

Wikipedia