View source for Urs Meier

{{short description|Swiss football referee}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{{for|the Swiss footballer and manager|Urs Meier (footballer)}}
{{Infobox football official
| name = Urs Meier
| image = 2018-04-23 ZDF Urs Meier-6846.jpg
| caption = 
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|01|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Zürich]], [[Switzerland]]
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| otheroccupation = 
| role1 = Referee
| years1 = 1989–2004
| league1 = [[Swiss Super League|Swiss Nationalliga A]]
| internationalyears1 = 1994–2004
| confederation1 = [[FIFA International Referees List|FIFA]]-listed
| internationalrole1 = Referee
}}
'''Urs Meier''' (born 22 January 1959) is a retired [[Swiss people|Swiss]] [[Referee (association football)|football referee]]. He officiated at the [[Football World Cup 1998|1998]] and [[Football World Cup 2002|2002 World Cups]], taking charge of the semi-final between [[South Korea national football team|South Korea]] and [[Germany national football team|Germany]] in 2002. He also refereed the [[2002 UEFA Champions League Final]] that year. He appeared at Euro 2000 and Euro 2004, refereeing the quarter-final between [[England national football team|England]] and [[Portugal national football team|Portugal]] in 2004. He retired 6 months later.

Meier received FIFA appointments and refereed in the Swiss top division until he reached the mandatory retirement age for each. He now appears as a pundit on the German television channel [[ZDF]] during World Cups and European Championships. He also owns a brand of household appliances in [[Würenlos]], Switzerland.{{citation needed|date=August 2014}}

==Life==
Meier was born on 22 January 1959 in [[Zürich]].<ref>[https://www.ursmeier.ch/person/ ''Unternehmer – Referent – Fussballexperte.''] In: Ursmeier.ch, date 10 May 2021.</ref>

==Career==
At the [[1998 FIFA World Cup|1998 World Cup]], Meier refereed [[United States v Iran (1998 FIFA World Cup)|the famous USA-Iran match]]. Later in an interview, he claimed that he had predicted himself as the referee of that match due to Switzerland's role as [[protecting power]] of United States in Iran.

He refereed a qualification match for [[2004 European Football Championship|Euro 2004]] between [[Romania national football team|Romania]] and [[Denmark national football team|Denmark]]. Denmark equalised in extra time to eliminate Romania. Romanian side argued he should have ended the game more than a minute before. Also, the penalty allowing Denmark to score the first goal was highly disputed, even the Danish TV commentator saying "only certain host teams are awarded such penalties". After several Romanian newspapers published his email address after the game, Meier received 14,000 e-mails, including death threats.

He refereed the [[2004 UEFA European Football Championship|Euro 2004]] quarter-final between [[England national football team|England]] and [[Portugal national football team|Portugal]] at Lisbon, which ended in a 2–2 draw with Portugal proceeding to win on a [[penalty shoot-out (association football)|penalty shootout]]. In the 90th minute, [[Sol Campbell]] found the net, but Meier disallowed the goal citing a push on the Portuguese keeper.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2004/3830451.stm | title=Portugal break England hearts | publisher=[[BBC]] | date=2004-06-24 | access-date=2007-11-16}}</ref> After the match Meier's personal details were published by British tabloid newspapers and Meier received more than 16,000 abusive e-mails, including death threats. Reporters from ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' travelled to Switzerland and placed a giant English flag on a field near his home. As a result, he was placed under [[police]] protection.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2004/jun/30/pressandpublishing.football | title=Tabloid campaign forces referee into hiding | work=[[The Guardian]] | date= 2004-06-30 | access-date=2010-06-27 | location=London | first=Edward | last=Holt}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official|https://www.ursmeier.ch/referee}} {{in lang|de}}

{{1998 FIFA World Cup referees}}
{{UEFA Euro 2000 referees}}
{{Referees 2002 World Cup}}
{{UEFA Euro 2004 referees}}
{{UEFA Champions League Final referees}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meier, Urs}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Zurich]]
[[Category:Swiss football referees]]
[[Category:UEFA Champions League referees]]
[[Category:1998 FIFA World Cup referees]]
[[Category:2002 FIFA World Cup referees]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 2000 referees]]
[[Category:UEFA Euro 2004 referees]]