Concetto Lo Bello

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Concetto Lo Bello (13 May 1924 – 9 September 1991) was an Italian football referee, born in Syracuse, Sicily. He holds the record for refereeing the most games in Serie A (328).

His career spanned the years 1944 to 1974, refereeing his first international match in 1958. Throughout the 1960s he was regarded as one of the world's finest referees, a compelling mixture of authority and flamboyance.

He officiated at 34 international matches, though surprisingly never a World Cup Final, the closest to that being the West Germany - USSR semi-final in 1966. He refereed the European Cup finals of 1968 (Manchester United v Benfica) and 1970 (Feyenoord v Celtic) as well as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final of |1966 and the UEFA Cup final of 1974. The latter final occurred shortly after his fiftieth birthday, making him the oldest official at a European final. He retired after this match.

After retirement, he entered politics, as a deputy for the Christian Democrat party. In 1986 he was elected mayor of Syracuse, but was only in the job for five months.

His son, Rosario Lo Bello, was also a Serie A and international referee.