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Gianluca Rocchi
Gianluca Rocchi (Italian: [dʒanˈluːka ˈrɔkki]; born 25 August 1973) is an Italian former football referee. CareerRocchi became a referee in 1990 and officiated in 38 matches in three Serie C seasons starting from 2000. He was later promoted to the higher series, making his debut in U.S. Lecce-Reggina Calcio (16 May 2004). In 2010, when the National Referee Committee for Serie A and Serie B split, he was assigned to Serie A's Committee. He made his international debut on 26 May 2008, in a friendly match between Netherlands and Greece national under-19 football team. He was later called-up for European club cup matches (first for the UEFA Cup during the 2008–09 season, then for the Champions League during the 2010–11 season).[1] He refereed three international matches during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, and later was called-up as referee for the Men's football tournament at 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[2] On 18 August 2013, Rocchi refereed the Supercoppa Italiana Final between Juventus and Lazio.[3] On 6 October 2014, he was suspended for one month after a Serie A encounter between Juventus and Roma for poor officiating.[4] The match would later become known as the "Rocchi Horror Picture Show".[5] On 21 May 2016, Rocchi refereed the 2016 Coppa Italia Final between Milan and Juventus.[6] In April 2017, FIFA announced that Rocchi had been chosen as one of the referees for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia.[7] In July 2017, UEFA announced that Rocchi had been chosen to referee the UEFA Super Cup Final between Real Madrid and Manchester United.[8] On 29 March 2018, FIFA announced that Rocchi would officiate some matches at the 2018 FIFA World Cup along with Elenito Di Liberatore and Mauro Tonolini as assistant referees.[9] On 13 May 2019, UEFA announced that Rocchi had been chosen to referee the 2019 UEFA Europa League Final between Chelsea and Arsenal.[10] On 5 November 2019, Rocchi refereed the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage match between Ajax and Chelsea.[11] Ending in a 4–4 draw at Stamford Bridge, the match was controversial, due to the fact that Rocchi issued two red cards and a direct penalty, sending off both Ajax centre-backs Daley Blind and Joël Veltman, while issuing a penalty for Chelsea all in the same call.[12] His officiating later came under criticism in the press[13][14] and at UEFA. 442oons, a successful YouTube channel that makes animated parodies of football matches, scored a hit with their viral video 'Sent Off Two Men', a play on The Weather Girls successful single 'It's Raining Men'.[15] Rocchi later reacted seemingly upset over the reactions to his officiating.[16] Rocchi retired from refereeing at the age of 46, with his last match officiated being between Juventus and Roma on 1 August 2020.[17] In 2021, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.[18] Honours
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