Marco Antonio Rodríguez
Marco Antonio Rodríguez Moreno (born November 10, 1973 in Mexico City) is a former[1] Mexican football referee.
Career
In Mexico, Rodríguez developed a reputation of not being afraid to show many yellow and red cards.[2] He was suspended for 5 games by the Mexican Federation after an incident during the Apertura 2011 final between Tigres and Santos Laguna when he showed 2 yellow cards at the same time to Héctor Mancilla and Carlos Adrián Morales respectively which is against the laws of the game since referees are only allowed to bring only one yellow and red card to the game.[3] During the 2014 Copa Libertadores game between Atlético Nacional and Nacional, he gave the quickest red card in the history of the competition when he sent off Alejandro Bernal from Atlético Nacional after 27 seconds into the game for a harsh tackle. [4]
An international referee since 2000, Rodríguez has been selected for three FIFA World Cups. In the 2006 tournament in Germany, he refereed the England vs Paraguay match and the Côte d'Ivoire vs Serbia and Montenegro match, where he sent off Cyril Domoraud and Albert Nađ. In the 2010 tournament in South Africa, Rodríguez was match referee for the first group match between Australia and Germany, where he contentiously gave a straight red card to Australian striker Tim Cahill. He also sent off Chile's Marco Estrada in a controversial decision during the group stage encounter between Chile and Spain.[5] Finally, he has been selected for the
2014 tournament in Brazil,[6] in which he took charge of 3 games including the semifinal between Germany and Brazil, after which he announced his retirement. [7]
He was also the referee for Uruguay's final group game against Italy on 24 June, Uruguay needed a win to advance to the knockout stage while Italy only needed a draw.[8] Around the 79th minute with the score at 0–0, Suárez clashed with Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini while waiting for a cross. Replays showed that Suárez lunged at Chiellini and bit his shoulder (Chiellini showed bite marks), followed by Suárez falling and clutching his face.[9][10] The controversial incident made headline news around the world.[11] As the Italian players protested to Mexican referee Rodríguez for not penalising Suárez for the bite, Uruguay won a corner and scored. The game would finish 1–0 to Uruguay as they qualified for the knockout stage and eliminated Italy.[9][10][12]
Personal life
He had the nickname "Chiquidrácula" in reference to his resemblance to a Mexican TV character of child Count Dracula, portrayed by Carlos Espejel.[13] More recently he asked to not be called "Chiquidrácula", but rather "Chiquimarco" instead in reference to his Christian faith.[14]
A former sports professor, he now serves as a Protestant priest outside of his activity as a referee.[15]
World Cup matches officiated
References
External links
2006
England
Paraguay
Ivory Coast
Serbia and Montenegro
2010
Australia
Spain
Chile
2014.svg.png){kind=small}
Belgium
Algeria
Italy
Uruguay
Carlos Batres
Marco Rodríguez 
Ravshan Irmatov