Legendary match official Pierluigi Collina has stepped down from his role as UEFA’s chief refereeing officer.
A statement released by UEFA confirms Collina has vacated the position for ‘personal reasons’ after eight years in the role.
Paying tribute to the Italian, the governing body wrote in its Press release: “In that time, he has achieved major advances in the professional handling of referees and overseen, among other important features, the establishment of the Centre of Refereeing Excellence (CORE).
Legendary match official Pierluigi Collina has stepped down from his role as UEFA’s chief refereeing officer.
A statement released by UEFA confirms Collina has vacated the position for ‘personal reasons’ after eight years in the role.
Paying tribute to the Italian, the governing body wrote in its Press release: “In that time, he has achieved major advances in the professional handling of referees and overseen, among other important features, the establishment of the Centre of Refereeing Excellence (CORE).
“During his tenure, UEFA has created 360 degree monitoring and development programmes for officials to improve their technical, fitness and nutrition standards and ensure that tactical elements and knowledge of teams became part of the referees’ preparation for every match.”
The 58-year-old is widely considered to be the greatest referee of all time, taking charge of the 1999 Champions League Final and 2002 World Cup Final.
Collina is succeeded as UEFA’s head of referees by another ex-Serie A official in Roberto Rosetti, who was responsible for VAR at this summer’s World Cup and also becomes chairman of the Referee’s Committee.