Urs Meier resigns as Swiss referee boss

Urs Meier has resigned as boss of the Swiss referees. That’s what s the Swiss FA confirmed earlier this week.

“That’s my decision after careful consideration”, said the former international top referee in a statement on the website of the Swiss FA.

“At the end of 2007 I took over the post from my predecessor, Markus Nobs, in the belief that I could give professionalization in Swiss refereeing the crucial progress. Unfortunately, the task was incredibly difficult as I did not feel the strong support in this aspect and have to admit that it makes no sense to continue my work.”

Meier wishes his pupils and the organisation all the best for the future. But change is needed in his opinion: “It is my hope that my successor has more luck. I wish my colleagues in particular that they’ll not only get the respect they deserve, but also that they have a more professional environment to do their jobs.”

The 52-year-old referee from Swiss town Würenloss was international referee from 1994 until 2004. He got appointed for the 2002 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Leverkusen (1:0).

Meier is also ‘famous’ in the UK for disallowing Sol Campbell’s goal in the Euro 2004 quarter final between Portugal and England (see video here).

Meier had to hide after he got thousands of hatemails. “I had a wonderful tournament with three fantastic games, and I’m feeling good about that”, says Urs Meier afterwards in British newspaper the Guardian. “But the English newspapers, especially the Sun, have caused a big problem. It is really a big shock for me here in Switzerland. I have security problems and this is not the right way to handle referees’ decisions, whether they are right or wrong.”