German referee Markus Merk has been ranked as the best referee of the last ten years by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS).
An explanation how the referees got ranked is written on the IFFHS website. Most referees (44) on the list with 63 come frome Europe, with most representatives from Italy (7). The only Dutch referee is Dick Jol with 14 points, the same as Michael Riley and Carlos Simon. The only woman in the list is Nicole Petignat on place 54.
One day earlier IFFHS named Howard Webb as best referee of 2010, followed by Asian surprise Ravshan Irmatov.
UPDATE: IFFHS has also added the list with the best referee since 1986. Collina is topping the list, Merk is second and Milton Nielsen on three. Number 5 Oscar Ruiz is still refereeing, but is not very close to first spot.
The IFFHS list with the best referees of the last decade.
1. Dr. Markus Merk Deutschland 135
2. Óscar Julián Ruiz Colombia 104
3. Ľuboš Micheľ Slovensko 96
Jorge Luis Larrionda Uruguay 96
5. Dr. Pierluigi Collina Italia 94
6. Roberto Rosetti Italia 91
7. Kim Milton Nielsen Danmark 84
8. Frank De Bleeckere Belgique 82
9. Massimo Busacca Schweiz 81
10. Manuel Enrique Mejuto González España 73
11. Anders Frisk Sverige 70
Graham Poll England 70
13. Urs Meier Schweiz 65
14. Horacio Marcelo Elizondo Argentina 62
15. Howard Melton Webb England 61
16. Héctor Walter Baldassi Argentina 60
17. Valentin Ivanov Russia 51
18. Luis Medina Cantalejo España 49
19. Herbert Fandel Deutschland 47
20. Benito Armando Archundia México 44
21. Gilles Veissière France 37
22. Terje Hauge Norge 36
Claus Bo Larsen Danmark 36
24. Carlos Arecio Amarilla Paraguay 35
25. Hugh Dallas Scotland 31
26. Ravshan Irmatov Usbekistan 30
27. Vítor Manuel Melo Pereira Portugal 28
28. Wolfgang Stark Deutschland 27
29. Viktor Kassai Magyarország 25
30. Carlos Luis Chandia Chile 24
31. Carlos Alberto Batres Guatemala 18
32. Marcio Rezende de Freitas Brasil 17
33. Alberto Udiano Mallenco España 16
34. Peter Fröjdfeldt Sverige 15
35. Carlos Eugenio Simon Brasil 14
Dirk Zier Gerardus Jol Nederland 14
Michael Riley England 14
38. Ali Mohamed Bujsaim UAE 13
39. Saad Kameel Manei Kuwait 12
40. Stefano Braschi Italia 11
Martin Atkinson England 11
42. Toru Kamikawa Japan 10
43. Arturo Dauden Ibañez España 9
Nicola Rizzoli Italia 9
45. Antonio Jesús López Neto España 8
Gamal Mahmoud Ahmed Ghandour Egypt 8
Hellmut Krug Deutschland 8
48. Eduardo Iturralde González España 7
Gianluca Paparesta Italia 7
Marco Antonio Rodríguez México 7
Massimo De Santis Italia 7
Stefano Farina Italia 7
Yuichi Nishimura Japan 7
54. Alain Sars France 5
Mark Alexander Shield Australia 5
Graham Barber England 5
Kyros Vassaras Greece 5
Nicole Petignat Schweiz 5
Martin Hansson Sverige 5
Olegário Manuel Bártolo Fautino Benquerença Portugal 5
61. Tom Henning Övrebö Norge 4
62. Eric Poulat France 3
Ubaldo Aquino Valenzano Paraguay 3