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The 6 Worst and Most Hated Football Referees of All Time

Most Hated Football Referees

We all get things wrong but some referees have made calls so horrifically wrong that it’s impossible not to think that they’re match fixing. Let’s take a look at the six worst, most hated and corrupt football referees of all time.

6. Stuart Attwell

Stuart Atwell is one of the worst and most hated football referees of all time thanks to the ghost goal he awarded in a Championship game in 2008. Atwell bizarrely awarded a goal after the ball went over for a goal kick. Astonishingly the ball was over two yards away from the goal making it one of the worst refereeing decisions in history.

Atwell has a reputation for being trigger happy with red cards and time and time again he’s found ways to destroy a football game. The FA has even upheld claims of wrongful dismissal following his errors. Atwell has found himself demoted from Premier League officiating in the past due to his errors.

5. Mourad Daami

Tunisian referee Mourad Daami had an absolute shocker at the 2000 AFCON Final between Nigeria and Cameroon. Nigeria beat Cameroon 4-3 on penalties after Daami had ruled out Victor Ikpeba’s fourth penalty for Nigeria. TV replays clearly showed that the ball crossed the line.

Later that year Daami was banned from refereeing African football matches after being caught trying to influence the decisions of fellow referee Robbie Williams at the African Champions League Final. It’s surprising that FIFA even allowed Daami to officiate at the 2002 World Cup. He officiated the group stage match between Mexico and Ecuador.

4. Anthony Taylor

Anthony Taylor is the most hated referee in the world based on the online abuse he cops. Many consider him one of the worst football referees of all time and certainly the worst referee in England. Taylor trended on Twitter after his horrible performance in the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Arsenal in 2020. Taylor caused a stir when he sent off Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

Unfortunately VAR couldn’t help with Taylor’s terrible call as the process cannot overrule on yellow cards and only on straight reds. Xhaka’s theatrics sold Taylor into giving an undeserved yellow card that changed the game. Should Taylor have even been officiating the game in the first place? Fellow referee Mark Clattenburg admitted afterwards that he shouldn’t have been.

3. Gamal Al-Ghandour

After only a year refereeing professionally, Egyptian Gamal Al Ghandour had the honour of becoming the first African to referee a UEFA match after taking charge of Netherlands vs. Belgium in EURO 2000.

Al-Ghandour infamously refereed the 2002 World Cup quarter-final between South Korea and Spain. In extremely dubious circumstances Spain were disallowed two perfectly fine goals by Al-Ghandour. He also overlooked South Korean Lee Woon-Jae stepping off his line when stopping Spain’s penalty shots which South Korea won in a shootout.

It’s rumoured Al-Ghandour received a car from South Korean Chung Mong-joon – who was FIFA vice-president at the time – in exchange for favouring South Korea with some of the worst refereeing decisions of all time. Al-Ghandour quit shortly after the controversy which isn’t suss at all…

2. Tom Henning Ovrebo

Tom Henning Ovrebo would have topped the list of worst and most hated football referees of all time had it not been for what number one on the list got caught for. The Norweigian referee had a disgraceful performance in the 2009 Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona.

Ovrebo turned down four clear Chelsea penalty appeals which allowed Barcelona to clinch a spot in the finals thanks to an Andres Iniesta equaliser in stoppage time which cancelled out Michael Essien’s ninth-minute opener. How Ovrebo didn’t get done for match fixing the game is bewildering. The performance marked one of the darkest days in European football and makes him one of the worst football referees of all time.

1. Byron Moreno

Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno is no doubt the most corrupt and most hated football referees of all time. Moreno is most known for his outrageous handling of the 2002 World Cup Round of 16 match between South Korea and Italy. During an extra time period that surprised everybody, Moreno gave Italy’s Francesco Totti a second yellow card for an alleged dive.

The Italians then had a 111th minute goal disallowed for an off-side nobody else could see. Alessandro del Piero was then elbowed without punishment and Korea took full advantage as they went on to score a 117th minute winner.

Read Also: The 10 Best MLS Players of All Time

In 2003 Moreno, the most corrupt referee in the world, was suspended from refereeing Ecuadorean football matches for 20 games after adding 11 minutes of stoppage time between Ecuador’s Barcelona and Liga de Quito. Moreno was then found guilty of attempting to smuggle 10 pounds of heroin into America in 2011. After being caught at New York’s JFK Airport he served 26 months in prison. That pretty much sums up why he is the worst and most hated football referee of all time.

Matt Ieriko

Matt Ieriko is a freelance writer who’s evolved his lifelong passion for sport into the creation of WolfgangSport.com in 2020 – an American sports blog covering the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL, MLS and more. As an Australian, he’s always been fascinated with the cultural differences and global significance of sports in America.

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