Massimo Busacca to retire

A few minutes ago, the message arrived us that Busacca will retire from refereeing. He is now becoming the new head of FIFA Referee Department. That is the official FIFA Announcement:

"FIFA is pleased to announce the appointment of Massimo Busacca as the Head of the FIFA Refereeing Department. Having recently called time on his refereeing career, the former Swiss international referee will join the ranks of world football’s governing body on 1 August 2011.

“As I have said on many occasions, I have made refereeing one of my main priorities. Massimo Busacca’s experience will prove to be particularly useful to our mission and to our efforts to continue the groundwork we have put in place with the confederations and member associations in this particularly important area. I am very happy that he has joined us,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter.

During a refereeing career spanning more than 20 years, including 12 as an international referee, Massimo Busacca officiated at two FIFA World Cups™ (2006 and 2010) as well as at EURO 2008. He also took charge of the UEFA Champions League final in 2009, the UEFA Cup final in 2007 and the UEFA Super Cup in 2010. In addition, he also refereed more than 250 matches in the Swiss top flight, the AXPO Super League.

Busacca, who is 42, married and multilingual (Italian, English, French, German and Spanish), is also a member of the new FIFA Task Force Football 2014 chaired by Franz Beckenbauer.

“I have learned an enormous amount during the years I have dedicated to refereeing. I now intend to pass that knowledge on to my refereeing colleagues to ensure that refereeing continues to improve and to help it to prepare better for the future. This is something that I am very passionate about, and it is a role that I have accepted with great pride and pleasure. I would like to thank FIFA for the faith they have placed in me,” said the new Head of FIFA’s Refereeing Department." FIFA.com (13 July 2011)