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 vs South Korea match in the 2002 FIFA World Cup, a match which South Korea won in extra time.

Contents 1 Controversy 1.1 Italy vs South Korea 1.2 Conspiracy theories 1.3 After the 2002 World Cup 2 References

[edit] Controversy

Moreno was largely blamed by the Italian community for the Italian team's elimination from the 2002 World Cup after being defeated by South Korea in the Round of 16. Many members of the Italian team, most notably Italian striker Francesco Totti and coach Giovanni Trapattoni, suggested a conspiracy to eliminate Italy from the competition. ^[1] Trapattoni even suggested obliquely that the official was ordered by FIFA to ensure a Korean victory so that one of the two host nations would remain in the tournament. ^[2]

[edit] Italy vs South Korea

During the game in question, South Korea was 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 diving in the penalty box and therefore sent off.^[3] Conspiracy theorist also pointed to the "disallowed" or "invalidated" goal resulting from a dubious offside call on Italian midfielder Damiano Tommasi during extra time. However, opponents to the conspiracy theorist have stated that Moreno did not technically disallow the goal as the play had stopped and the South Korean players had stopped playing when Tommasi shot the ball into the net. ^[4]

[edit] Conspiracy theories

FIFA President Sepp Blatter acknowledged errors in the officiating, but denied the conspiracy allegations and stated that Moreno's dubious calls during the game was not the reason why Italy had lost.^[5] Blatter stated: ""Italy's elimination is not only down to referees and linesmen who made human not premeditated errors... Italy made mistakes both in defense and in attack... I call on Italian soccer to display some dignity and fair play because you can tell a great side more by the way it accepts defeat than by the way it handles victory." " ^[6]

However, 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.^[7]

[edit] After the 2002 World Cup

In September 2002, Moreno, while a candidate in October elections for places on the Quito city council, was suspended for twenty matches^[8] and investigated by Ecuadorian soccer authorities and FIFA^[9] 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.^[10] He retired the following month, blaming low performance marks for his retirement.^[11]

[edit] References