 | |||
| Full name | Yuichi Nishimura | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | (1972-04-17)17 April 1972 (age 53) 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 Japanesefootballreferee. He has refereed in the JapaneseJ. League Division 1 since 1999 and has been a full international referee forFIFA since 2004.
He refereed at the2010 FIFA World Cup, where he was appointed to several prestigious matches, including asfourth official on thefinal.[1] He also refereed the opening match of the2014 FIFA World Cup between hostsBrazil andCroatia,[2] and the second leg of the2014 AFC Champions Leaguefinal betweenAl Hilal andWestern Sydney Wanderers.[1]
Nishimura was the onlyAsian referee selected to officiate at the2008 Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana along withassistant referees Toru Sagara from Japan and Jeong Hae-sang from South Korea.
Nishimura was appointed as the referee for four matches of the2010 FIFA World Cup, including the quarter-final between the Netherlands and Brazil. He was also appointed to three matches as fourth official, including thefinal.[1]
Nishimura refereed the2010 FIFA Club World Cup final betweenInter Milan andTP Mazembe.[3]
On 13 November 2010, Nishimura was the referee for the2010 AFC Champions League final betweenSeongnam Ilhwa Chunma andZob Ahan, at theNational Stadium inTokyo.[1]
Nishimura officiated at the2007 and2011 Asian Cups.[4]
At the2012 men's Olympic football tournament, Nishimura officiated the group stage matches betweenBrazil andBelarus[5] and hostGreat Britain andUruguay.[6]
Nishimura was selected for his second World Cup in2014. He refereed one match at the tournament.[1]
The final match of his international career was the second leg of the2014 AFC Champions League final betweenAl Hilal andWestern Sydney Wanderers.[1]
Nishimura was preselected as a referee for the2010 FIFA World Cup.[7] He was the referee for theUruguay againstFrance game at the2010 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 midfielderNicolás 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 refereedthe first quarter-final game between the Netherlands and Brazil atNelson Mandela Bay Stadium inPort Elizabeth. During that match, Nishimura sent offFelipe Melo ofBrazil 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]
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Nishimura was chosen by FIFA to referee the opening game of the2014 FIFA World Cup betweenBrazil and Croatia. With this, he became only the third Japanese referee to officiate at twoFIFA World Cups, afterShizuo Takada andToru Kamikawa.[9] In the match, Nishimura became the first referee to usevanishing spray at a World Cup finals, as well as to have access togoal-line technology.[10] The game ended with a 3–1 victory for hostsBrazil. Nishimura was heavily criticized for his performance by many sources for multiple decisions that favored the home nation.
Nishimura then officiated two other games as the fourth official: theGroup E match betweenHonduras andEcuador (2–1 win for Ecuador), and thethird place play-off match between Brazil and theNetherlands (3–0 win for the Netherlands).[11][12]
Nishimura was chosen as the J. League Referee of the Year in 2009 and 2010.[13] In 2012, he was named Best Men's Referee of the Year by theAsian Football Confederation.[14]
| Preceded by | FIFA Club World Cup final match referee 2010 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | AFC Champions League final match referee 2014 | Succeeded by |
