Who is Daniele Orsato? The man who refereed England’s opening Euro 2024 fixture

Daniele Orsato once busted into tears after the full-time whistle

Daniele Orsato started his officiating journey in the third tier of Italian football in the year 2002, namely the Serie C. Backed by his performances he was able to make an entry into the Seria A in five years since starting his refereeing journey. Till now Orsato has been able to establish himself as one of the top referees in European football, having officiated a decent sum of matches at the highest level.

However, Orsato got his tag for becoming a FIFA referee in the year 2010. Some of the important matches that he has officiated in his career till now include, two Coppa Italia finals in 2013 and 2015 respectively and one UEFA Champions League final in the year 2020. Orsato recently refereed the much-anticipated UCL semifinal between PSG and Borussia Dortmund. It was the second leg of the all-important clash.

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As per ‘Wales Online’, after the full-time whistle of that particular second leg, Orsato burst into tears confronting an emotional moment for him. The referee reportedly confirmed that he will bid goodbye to the football after the conclusion of the UEFA Euro 2024. One of the most prestigious recognition that Daniele Orsato has had is, that he was awarded the World’s Best Referee 2020 by the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics).

Other major tournaments the Italian referee has officiated in include the FIFA World Cups of the year 2018, and 2022. He also was a part of the team of referees selected for the Euro 2020. Orsato refereed England’s opening fixture of the 2024 UEFA Euro against Serbia. The match that took place in the Veltins-Arena, Germany ended in a 0-1 win for the Three Lions. Daniele Orsato looked in total command of the fixture for most of the stages of the match.

However, a couple of years back during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the Italian referee was on the board for the all-important semifinal between Argentina and Croatia. The match didn’t turn out to be a memorable one for Orsato on the whole. After a defeat to Argentina, Croatia’s skipper Luka Modric was very critical of Orsato’s overall officiating in the match and reportedly labelled him as a “disaster”. Modric’s comment garnered attention in the football world.

After his first appearance in the Euro 2024, Daniele Orsato has refereed 29 matches since the beginning of the 2023-2024 season. His style of refereeing can be inferred from his stats. In his 29 appearances, he has shown 134 yellow cards, six-second yellow cards, two red cards, and given five penalties.

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