Yuichi Nishimura
 | |||
| Full name | Yuichi Nishimura | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
17 April 1972 Tokyo, Japan | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1999– | J. League Division 1 | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2004–2014 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Yuichi Nishimura (西村 雄一, Nishimura Yūichi, born 17 April 1972) is a Japanese football referee. He has refereed in the Japanese J. League Division 1 since 1999 and has been a full international referee for FIFA since 2004. He refereed at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where he was appointed to several prestigious matches, including as fourth official on the final.[1] He also refereed the opening game in the 2014 FIFA World Cup between hosts Brazil and Croatia, his poor performance in which was criticized.[2] He refereed the second leg of the 2014 AFC Champions League final between Al Hilal and Western Sydney Wanderers in which his performance was heavily criticized also.[1]
Career[edit]
Nishimura was the only Asian referee selected to officiate at the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana along with assistant referees Toru Sagara from Japan and Jeong Hae-sang from South Korea.
Nishimura was appointed as the referee for four matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, including the quarter-final between the Netherlands and Brazil. He was also appointed to three matches as fourth official, including the final.[1]
Nishimura refereed the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup final between Inter Milan and TP Mazembe.[3]
On 13 November 2010, Nishimura was the referee for the 2010 AFC Champions League final between Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and Zob Ahan, at the National Stadium in Tokyo.[1]
Nishimura officiated at the 2007 and 2011 Asian Cups.[4]
At the 2012 men's Olympic football tournament, Nishimura officiated the group stage matches between Brazil and Belarus[5] and host Great Britain and Uruguay.[6]
Nishimura was selected for his second World Cup in 2014. He refereed one match at the tournament.[1]
The final match of his international career was the second leg of the 2014 AFC Champions League final between Al Hilal and Western Sydney Wanderers.[1]
2010 FIFA World Cup[edit]
Nishimura was preselected as a referee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[7] He was the referee for the Uruguay against France game at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, along with fourth official Joel Aguilar and assistant referees Jeong Hae-Sang, and Toru Sagara.[8] Nishimura produced the first red card of the tournament, when he sent Uruguay midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro off the field for two yellow cards. He was fourth official for the Honduras vs Chile match 5 days later. He refereed two further matches in the group stage (Spain vs Honduras and Paraguay vs New Zealand) and also refereed the first quarter-final game between the Netherlands and Brazil at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. During that match, Nishimura sent off Felipe Melo of Brazil in the 73rd minute of the game. He was selected as the fourth official for the semifinal between Uruguay and the Netherlands and also for the final match of the World Cup, Netherlands vs. Spain.[1]
2014 FIFA World Cup[edit]
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Nishimura was chosen by FIFA to referee the opening game of the 2014 FIFA World Cup between Brazil and Croatia. With this, he became only the third Japanese referee to officiate at two FIFA World Cups, after Shizuo Takada and Toru Kamikawa.[9] In the match, Nishimura became the first referee to use vanishing spray at a World Cup finals, as well as to have access to goal-line technology.[10] The game ended with a 3–1 victory for hosts Brazil. Nishimura was significantly criticized for his performance, most notably his decision to award a penalty kick to Brazil after Fred fell in the penalty area under minimal contact from Dejan Lovren. Nishimura was not appointed to any further matches at the tournament as referee, only officiating two other games as the fourth official: the Group E match between Honduras and Ecuador (2–1 win for Ecuador), and the third place play-off match between Brazil and the Netherlands (3–0 win for the Netherlands).[11][12][13]
Awards[edit]
Nishimura was chosen as the J. League Referee of the Year in 2009 and 2010.[14] In 2012, he was named Best Men's Referee of the Year by the Asian Football Confederation.[15]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g "Japan - Y. Nishimura - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ^ "Yuichi Nishimura: Who Is Ref Who Gave Brazil Controversial World Cup Penalty?". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 5 March 2023.
- ^ "TP Mazembe Englebert - F.C. Internazionale Milano". FIFA. 18 December 2010. Archived from the original on 20 December 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
- ^ "Yuichi Nishimura - Matches as referee". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
- ^ "Men's Olympic Football Tournament: Brazil 3:1 (1:1) Belarus - Summary". FIFA.com. FIFA. 29 July 2012. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ "Men's Olympic Football Tournament: Great Britain 1:0 (1:0) Uruguay". FIFA.com. FIFA. 1 August 2012. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ List of prospective 2010 FIFA World Cup referees
- ^ "Uruguay v France | Result | World Cup 2010 - Yahoo! Sports". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
- ^ "Nishimura to referee the opening match of Brazil 2014". FIFA. 10 June 2014. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ Ben Smith (12 June 2014). "Brazil 3 Croatia 1". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
- ^ "Nishimura named third-place match fourth official". Asian Football Confederation. 12 July 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ^ "Nishimura named 4th official for Honduras-Ecuador". USA Today. Associated Press. 18 June 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ^ Oryada, Andrew (11 July 2014). "Algerian referee to handle Brazil-Netherlands tie". USA Today. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
- ^ "2010 J.LEAGUE AWARDS(6 Dec. 2010)". 6 December 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
- ^ "AFC Referee of the Year (Men): Yuichi Nishimura". Asian Football Confederation. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
External links[edit]
