 | |||
| Full name | Marco Antonio Rodríguez Moreno | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1973-11-10)10 November 1973 (age 52) Mexico City,Mexico | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1997–2014 | Primera División | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 2000–2014 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
Marco Antonio Rodríguez Moreno (born 10 November 1973) is a Mexican formerfootballreferee and currentanalyst.
On 18 November 2025, a judge in Mexico City, ordered his arrest following a failure to appear ondomestic violence charges.[1]
After completing a training as a football referee inTepic and studyingPhysical Education, Rodríguez began a career as a professional match official in 1995. He would soon become one of the top referees in theMexican First Division, where he earned a reputation for commanding respect on the pitch,[2] although he was also known for his temperament and for being quick to show yellow and red cards.[3]
After an incident during theApertura 2011 final between Tigres and Santos Laguna, he was suspended for 5 games by theMexican Federation when he showed two yellow cards at the same time toHéctor Mancilla andCarlos Adrián Morales.[4] During the2014 Copa Libertadores game betweenAtlético Nacional andNacional, he gave the quickest red card in the history of the competition when he sent offAlejandro Bernal from Atlético Nacional after 27 seconds into the game for a harsh tackle.[5]
An international referee since 2000, Rodríguez was selected for threeFIFAWorld Cups. In the2006 tournament inGermany, he refereed theEngland vs Paraguay match and theCôte d'Ivoire vs Serbia and Montenegro match, where he sent offCyril Domoraud andAlbert Nađ. In the2010 tournament inSouth Africa, Rodríguez was match referee for the first group match betweenAustralia and Germany, where he gave a straight red card to Australian strikerTim Cahill. He also sent off Chile'sMarco Estrada during the group stage encounter betweenChile and Spain.[6]
His final international tournament was the2014 FIFA World Cup inBrazil,[7] in which he took charge of 3 games. During the first round, he refereed thefinal group D match betweenUruguay andItaly,[8] where he sent off Italian midfielderClaudio Marchisio after an alleged studs-up challenge onEgidio Arévalo.[9] Later in the match, Rodríguez failed to see Uruguayan strikerLuis Suárez bite Italian defenderGiorgio Chiellini. After the match, which Italy lost 1–0, eliminating them from the tournament, with Uruguay advancing in their place, this assault launched aFIFA Disciplinary Committee investigation that ultimately ruled that Suárez would receive a 9-match suspension and a fine, and would be banned from any football activity for four months.[10][11]
Two weeks later, Rodríguez officiated the semifinal between hostsBrazil and eventual championsGermany, which ended in ahistoric 1-7 loss for Brazil.[12] After the end of the tournament, Rodríguez announced his retirement as referee.[13]
In August 2019, Rodríguez signed as head coach of Spanish third-tier teamSalamanca CF.[14] However, few days later and just one day before starting theleague, he was sacked.[15]
In 2020, he joinedTUDN as a football analyst.[16] He was partially removed from the channel in early 2024, although as of June 2024 he continues making appearances onForo TV.[17]
Early in his refereeing career, Rodríguez was nicknamed "Chiquidrácula" due to his resemblance with a Mexican TV character of childCount Dracula, portrayed byCarlos Espejel.[18] Later, Rodríguez stated that he preferred to be called "Chiquimarco", as he deemed the Dracula reference to be incompatible with hisChristian faith.[19]
A sports professor during his early days as a referee, Rodríguez also formerly served as aProtestantPastor.[20]
In July 2023, Rodríguez was indicted on charges ofdomestic violence against his wife and one of his daughters.[21] Rodríguez was reportedly arrested on these charges on 16 November 2025 and had been ordered to remain in prison, with a court appearance scheduled for 18 November. He was accused of "physical and psycho-emotional violence", as well as intimidation, with his eldest daughter saying that he threatened her with commitment to amental hospital if she disobeyed him.[22]
On 18 November, Rodríguez, who had not been arrested but had rather a suspendedarrest warrant served against him,[23] did not present himself at the midday audience in the Tribunal Nº3 of Mexico City, for which the presiding judge ordered the arrest warrant against him to be reactivated.[1] A group of feminist activists went to the court to publicly accuse Rodríguez of violence, male chauvinism, and depredatory behaviour.[23]Francisco Chacón, another Mexican FIFA referee who often clashed with Rodríguez over refereeing issues, was asked whether he was happy about the situation Rodríguez is going through, to which Chacón commented that while he was not happy about it, Rodríguez was "reaping what [he] sowed."[24]
| Tournament | Date | Venue | Round | Team 1 | Result | Team 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 2006 | 10 June | Commerzbank-Arena,Frankfurt | First round |  England | 1–0 |  Paraguay |
| 2006 | 21 June | Allianz Arena,Munich | First round |  Ivory Coast | 3–2 |  Serbia and Montenegro |
 2010 | 13 June | Moses Mabhida Stadium,Durban | First round | Germany | 4–0 |  Australia |
| 2010 | 25 June | Loftus Versfeld Stadium,Pretoria | First round |  Spain | 2–1 |  Chile |
 2014 | 17 June | Estádio Mineirão,Belo Horizonte | First round |  Belgium | 2–1 |  Algeria |
| 2014 | 24 June | Arena das Dunas,Natal | First round |  Italy | 0–1 |  Uruguay |
| 2014 | 8 July | Estádio Mineirão,Belo Horizonte | Semi-finals | Brazil | 1–7 | Germany |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| Preceded by | FIFA Club World Cup final match referees 2007  Marco Rodríguez | Succeeded by |
