Pierluigi Collina

Pierluigi Collina who has a degree in economics, was widely regarded as one of the world's best soccer referees. As a teenager he played as a central defender for a local team, but was persuaded in 1977 to take a referee's course. Within three years he was officiating at the highest level of regional matches.  In 1988, he progressed more rapidly than normal to the national third division, Serie C1 and Serie C2. After three seasons, he was promoted to officiating Serie B and Serie A matches.

About this time he contracted a severe form of alopecia, resulting in the permanent loss of all his facial hair. In 1995, after he had officiated at 43 Serie A matches, he was placed on FIFA's Referees List. Euro 2004 was his last major international tournament, as he reached the mandatory retirement age of 45 for FIFA referees early in 2005. In 2006 Collina was appointed technical consultant of the Italian Referee Committee.