Byron Moreno

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Byron Aldemar Moreno Ruales (born November 23, 1969 in Quito) is a former Ecuadorian football referee, best known for officiating the Italy–South Korea match in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, a match which South Korea won in extra time.

In the game, South Korea were awarded an early penalty kick (which was saved), and Italian striker Francesco Totti, who had already been given a yellow card earlier in the game, was given a second yellow card in extra time for simulation and therefore sent off. Italy also had an apparent goal scored in extra time invalidated due to a offside. It was Moreno's assistant who was responsible for nullifying the goal (assistant referees are responsible for calling offsides).^[1]

Following the match, Moreno was largely blamed by the Italian community for the team's elimination from the World Cup, and a number of Italians, most notably Totti and coach Giovanni Trapattoni, suggested a conspiracy to eliminate Italy from the competition.^[2] Conspiracy theories to explain South Korea's success increased after officiating in the subsequent South Korea–Spain quarterfinal, which South Korea won on penalties after two apparent Spanish goals were disallowed by Egyptian referee Gamal Al-Ghandour, was also called into question.^[3]

In September 2002, Moreno, while a candidate in October elections for places on the Quito city council, was suspended for twenty matches^[4] and investigated by Ecuadorian soccer authorities and FIFA^[5] after a match he officiated between Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito and Barcelona Sporting Club from Guayaquil. With Liga de Quito trailing 3–2 at the end of the match, Moreno signalled six minutes of injury time, then allowed play to continue for thirteen minutes, during which Liga de Quito scored to tie the game in the 99th minute, then won the game in the 101st minute. Moreno was also accused of falsifying the minutes in which Liga de Quito scored their tying and winning goals in his official match report.

In May 2003, in his third game back from his suspension, Moreno was again suspended, for one match, after he sent off three players from visiting Deportivo Quito in a 1–1 draw at Deportivo Cuenca.^[6] He retired the following month, blaming low performance marks for his retirement.^[7]