Pierluigi Collina
Pierluigi Collina as a head of referees for the Football Federation of Ukraine in 2010
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| Full name | Pierluigi Collina | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
13 February 1960 Bologna, Italy |
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| Other occupation | Financial advisor, UEFA Head of Referees | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1988–1991 | Serie C2/Serie C1 | Referee | |
| 1991–2005 | Serie B/Serie A | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1995–2005 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Pierluigi Collina (Italian pronunciation: [ˌpjɛrluˈiːdʒi kolˈliːna]; born 13 February 1960) is an Italian former football referee. He has been named FIFA's "Best Referee of the Year" six consecutive times and for this reason he's considered the best football referee of all time. Collina is still involved in football, as an unpaid consultant to the Italian Football Referees Association (AIA), as the Head of Referees for the Football Federation of Ukraine since 2010, and as a member of the UEFA Referees Committee.
Collina was born in Bologna and attended the University of Bologna, graduating with a degree in economics in 1984. During his teenage years, he played as a central defender for a local team, but was persuaded in 1977 to take a referee's course, where it was discovered that he had a particular aptitude for the job. Within three years he was officiating at the highest level of regional matches, while also completing his compulsory military service. In 1988, he progressed more rapidly than normal to the national third division, Serie C1 and Serie C2. After three seasons, he was promoted to officiating Serie B and Serie A matches.
About this time, Collina contracted a severe form of alopecia, resulting in the permanent loss of all his facial hair, giving him his distinctive bald appearance and earning the nickname Kojak.
In 1995, after he had officiated at 43 Serie A matches, he was placed on FIFA's Referees List. He was allocated five matches at the 1996 Olympic Games, including the final between Nigeria and Argentina. He refereed the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Manchester United; he cited this as his most memorable game because of the cheers at the end, which he described as a "lions' roar". In this game he allowed three minutes of added time, as Bayern Munich led 1–0 with 90 minutes on the clock through an early Mario Basler goal, only for two stoppage time goals to give the trophy to United in the Nou Camp.
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