Eccentric top world soccer referee confesses: I delayed the World Cup final whistle to keep the ball

Former soccer referee Pierluigi Collina, one of the best-known match officials in the sport’s history, has revealed he used his power as World Cup final whistler to secure a major piece of memorabilia from the showpiece event.

In a recent interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, Collina recalled that he delayed the end of the 2002 men’s final, in which Brazil beat Germany 2-0, to ensure he left the field with the match ball in his possession.

“The ball stays with me”

“I have a collection that could make a football museum jealous,” the 65-year-old Bologna native told La Repubblica (translated quotes via Football Italia).

“I have the ball from the 2002 World Cup final: that day, I blew the final whistle, I think, 13 or 14 seconds late, insignificant for the result, just to make sure the ball was in my hands, so I could take it home with me.

“During the award ceremony, before receiving my medal, someone from the organization told me, ‘Pierluigi, if you give me the ball, I’ll hold on to it for you.' I replied: ‘Not a chance, the ball stays with me.’ In the photos of the ceremony, I’m always holding that ball.”

“They tried to stop me refereeing”

During his nearly two-decade officiating career, Collina became one of the most instantly recognizable referees in world soccer, thanks chiefly to a severe form of alopecia that left him completely bald in his mid-20s.

And in his interview with La Repubblica, Collina said Italian refereeing chiefs attempted to end his career over his alopecia.

“They tried to make me stop refereeing because I had lost all my hair‚” he said. “When I suffered from alopecia totalis at 24, I lost all my body hair within two weeks. I was only able to continue because I was ‘pretty good’.

“The refereeing authorities suspended me for three months. Then they tested me: they sent me to officiate a match in Latina, a heated stadium, to see how people would react to me. I will always be grateful to that crowd: that day, they couldn’t have cared less about having a bald referee.”

Change to how penalties are taken in soccer?

Collina, who retired as a referee in 2005, also told La Repubblica that he advocates a radical change to the rules governing penalties awarded during soccer games, to give goalkeepers a greater chance of saving spot-kicks.

“On average, 75% of penalties are already scored, and often, the penalty kick is a bigger chance than the one taken away by the foul,” he said.

“On top of that, the attacker is also given a chance to play the rebound off the goalkeeper. In my opinion, goalkeepers should be complaining.

“I’ve already mentioned this in discussions we’ve had at IFAB [soccer’s rule-making body]. One solution is the ‘one shot’ rule. Just like in penalty shootouts after extra time.

“No rebound. Either you score or play resumes with a goal kick, period. This would also eliminate the spectacle we see before a penalty is taken, with everyone crowding around the area. It looks like horses at the starting gates before the Palio di Siena.”

Collina’s career highlights

An official who oversaw 240 games in Italy’s top flight between 1991 to 2005, Collina refereed at two men’s World Cups - in 1998 and 2002 - and was the man in the middle for Manchester United’s dramatic Champions League final win over Bayern Munich in 1999.

Named the world’s best referee by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics on six occasions, Collina also took charge of the 1996 men’s Olympic soccer final and the 2004 UEFA Cup final.

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