10 Worst Referees in Football History (Ranked)

Referees are supposed to be impartial and unbiased. The best players in the world should do the talking by scoring stunning strikes and making wonderful last-ditch tackles, but – sometimes – the people in the middle accidentally get involved in the chaos.

Across the world, referees have started to be disliked by fans for their constant impact on the match. This has only increased since Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was introduced in the biggest competitions around the globe, with officials ‘re-referring’ matches as they look to be perfect.

David Coote was also suspended by the PGMOL following a video of the official appearing to criticise Liverpool and their former manager Jurgen Klopp — and, due to this, we have decided to outline the 10 worst referees in football history, some of whom have had a bigger impact than others. It’s important to remember that only well-known referees have been considered for this list. There are always going to be poor referees, especially further down the pyramids around the world, but they were rarely in the headlines. There’s always subjection with this as well, just like any controversial referee decision.

Ranking Factors

• Time spent being a referee – Whether they had a long spell taking charge of major matches or not.
• Controversial moments – The worst referees are always the one in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
• Level of competition – Some referees are still trusted to take control of significant competitions despite mistakes.

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10 Bartosz Frankowski

To begin, while Bartosz Frankowski might not be a well-known name, he has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2014. However, he is on this list because he is currently banned until June 2025. Frankowski and Tomasz Musial were replaced as VAR officials before the Champions League qualifier between Rangers and Dynamo Kyiv on the 6th August 2024 after reports of “improper behaviour”.

They were allegedly drinking and were stopped by police with another man in the early hours having moved a road sign, with Frankowski later confirming details of the incident in an interview. Due to this, UEFA said they were banned for violating “basic rules of decent conduct” and for bringing the sport into disrepute. Never a normal day for UEFA.

9 Wolf-Dieter Ahlenfelder

Taking a trip down Memory Lane, Wolf-Dieter Ahlenfelder was a referee in the top two tiers of Germany, however, despite clearly thinking he had ‘made it’ to the top of the sport, he is remembered for one of the most chaotic – and embarrassing – moments for an official.

During a meeting between Werder Bremen and Hannover in 1975, he blew the whistle for halftime after just 32 minutes of action. The linesman intervened, but he still made it only as far as 43 minutes 30 seconds before deciding to head in for a breather. He later admitted to getting drunk on beer and schnapps before the game, saying: “We are men, we don’t drink Fanta.” Fair enough.

8 Christina Pedersen

Christina Pedersen is the only female referee on this list and is still involved in taking charge of matches at a lower level, but – sadly – she blew her major opportunity at international tournaments. During the 2012 Olympic semi-final between USA and Canada, The Canucks were leading 3-2, but with a little over 10 minutes on the clock, a series of unusual decisions seemed to go against them.

A controversial indirect free-kick and then a controversial penalty helped USA score a late equaliser and eventually win the game in extra time. Unsurprisingly, criticism of Pedersen quickly picked up, including from Canadian player Christine Sinclair. Pedersen never took charge of a major tournament again.

7 Tom Henning Ovrebo

Taking charge of perhaps one of the most controversial moments in Champions League history, Tom Henning Ovrebo was always going to be included on this list. In the second leg of the 2009 semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona, he ignored four separate penalty appeals against the Spanish side.

While the Norwegian was a well-respected referee beforehand, he ruined it with his performance in West London. Chelsea fans were utterly furious as Andres Iniesta’s late strike knocked them out, but he did later admit he made a mistake a decade later. “It was not my best day really,” he told Marca. “Some days you are not at the level you should be. I can’t be proud of that performance.”

6 Ali Ben Nasser

Diego Maradona‘s infamous ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at the 1986 World Cup is one of the most controversial moments in the competition’s history. While the legendary Argentine magician ran away celebrating, England were left furious with him and the referee — Ali Bin Nasser.

The Tunisian had a quiet career compared to most on this list and he has never been treated fondly by fans in England since. He blamed his assistant referee for missing the blatantly obvious handball, claiming they shared authority on decisions and therefore assumed his eyes had deceived him.

5 Janny Sikazwe

The African Cup of Nations always seems to produce controversial – and perhaps sometimes entertaining – moments. That was exactly the case in the 2021 edition of the tournament, with Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe featuring in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.

He decided to twice blow his whistle for the final time before the clock had even reached 90 minutes. Calling for full-time in the 85th and 89th minute, players returned to the dressing room on the second occasion, despite there still being stoppage time to play. Players were ordered to return to complete the game, with Tunisia refusing to leave the dressing room. The result stood, though. He was reportedly suffering from heatstroke and dehydration, but it was still an embarrassing moment.

4 Trevor Kettle

Ask any fan of a football club in the EFL during the 2010s and they will all say the same thing — they despised Trevor Kettle. Perhaps it’s sad that one individual is so universally criticised by fans, but – looking back at his career following his retirement in 2022 – it’s easy to see why.

In his debut year in the Conference League, he brandished seven red cards in ten matches, and following his promotion to the EFL, he continued his reputation for being card-heavy and having too much control over matches. His most infamous decision came in March 2016, when he controversially denied Accrington Stanley victory against Wimbledon with a mistimed blow of the whistle.

With the game tied at 0-0 after 45 minutes played, Accrington were about to take the lead through Billy Kee, but the goal was chalked off when Kettle blew for half-time. “I’ve never seen anything like it happen in all my 46 years playing and managing,” Accrington manager John Coleman said after the full-time whistle.

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3 David Coote

David Coote’s leaked video in which he criticised Klopp and his former club, Liverpool, has put his career on the line. Most agree that he has no way back to the Premier League, which places him on this list purely due to his stupidity to film something like that.

Coote has been a Premier League referee since 2018 and, since then, he has consistently clashed with one of the greatest managers of all time. His decision to say that the Reds had been “s***” before going on to refer to then-manager Klopp as a “c***” doesn’t look due to their history with one another. Most notably, the 42-year-old opted not to send off Jordan Pickford for his horror tackle on Virgil van Dijk in 2020.

2 Urs Meier

Meanwhile, Urs Meier, although never involved in any leaked videos, went through his fair share of controversy. Most commonly a referee in Switzerland, he came to the forefront at Euro 2004. Following a qualification match between Romania and Denmark, there was a petition to FIFA for his dismissal after a poor performance. Romania, who were knocked out, argued he should have ended the game more than a minute before.

Meanwhile, in the actual tournament, Meier put in a horror show when taking charge of England’s quarter-final against Portugal, seemingly giving many decisions in the hosts’ favour. They went on to beat The Three Lions on penalties and, after the match, Meier’s personal details were published by British tabloid newspapers and he received more than 16,000 abusive e-mails.

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1 Byron Moreno

Finally, Byron Moreno has been ranked as the worst high-profile referee in football history. Ecuadorian official Moreno became public enemy No. one in Italy after a series of controversial decisions saw them knocked out of the 2002 World Cup by joint-hosts South Korea.

He awarded South Korea a soft penalty, showed Hwang Sun-hong yellow for a challenge that he later admitted deserved a red, overlooked an elbow in the face of Alessandro Del Piero inside the box and a boot on Paolo Maldini’s head, sent off Francesco Totti for diving when he should’ve had a penalty, and ruled out Damiano Tommasi’s would-be golden goal in extra time for offside. Moreno was also suspended for 20 matches back in Ecuador due to timekeeping errors; it’s fair to say he didn’t have the finest career.