Martin Hansson (referee)

Hansson during the Champions League game Spartak Moscow against MŠK Žilina on September 28, 2010

Martin Hansson (born April 6, 1971 ) is a Swedish football referee .

Career

Hansson began his refereeing career at the age of 15. He has been a referee for Svenska Fotbollförbundet since 1992 and was used for the first time in the second division four years later . At the same time he whistled his first international games, especially in the youth field. In 1999 he moved up to the pool of referees for the Allsvenskan , and two years later he was appointed FIFA referee. In 2001 Hansson played for the first time in a national UEFA tournament at the U-16 European Championship in England and led his first game in the qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League with the game between Sheriff Tiraspol and RSC Anderlecht . Two years later, he directed his first game in the finals of a FIFA competition at the U-17 World Cup in Finland .

Hansson made his next career move in the same year when he made his A international debut in the Estonia and Canada game in March 2003 . After playing a few games in the UEFA Cup , Hansson moved up in 2005 as the second Swedish referee alongside Peter Fröjdfeldt as referee for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. A year later he was considered for the final tournament of the U-21 European Championship 2006 in Portugal. During the tournament, the Swede whistled three games, including the final between the Dutch and Ukrainian youth teams .

At the Junior Soccer World Cup in Canada in 2007 , Hansson set a record for referee missions during such a tournament with six games he directed. Not least because of his international appearances, the Swedish Football Association named him Sweden's Referee of the Year in 2007. In the following years he regularly whistled games on a national and international level. A participation in the European championship in 2008 was denied him, because with Fröjdfeldt a compatriot was considered.

In 2009, Hansson took part in the Confederations Cup and directed the final of the competition between winners Brazil and the US selection . As a result, in October 2009 he was one of 38 referees in FIFA's provisional list for the 2010 World Cup . When the two direct competitors AIK and IFK Göteborg met on the last day of the Allsvenskan season in 2009 , Hansson was entrusted with the management of the game.

Hansson headed several important international games between autumn 2008 and autumn 2009, where he was accused of having influenced the outcome of the game through wrong decisions. For example, the team of referees overlooked a handball by Thierry Henry in the decisive qualifying match for the 2010 World Cup between France and Ireland on November 18, 2009 , and Hansson allowed the French equalizer to make it 1-1.

Hansson lives in Holmsjö, southeast Sweden, and is a firefighter . In addition to his native Swedish , Hansson also speaks English and German .