Babak Rafati (; born 28 May 1970) is an Iranian-German former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. As of February 2010, he has officiated more than 150 matches in the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

and the 2. Bundesliga. As of November 2011, he has officiated 84 top-flight German league games.

Suicide attempt

Rafati was scheduled to referee a Bundesliga match on 19 November 2011 between

1. FC Köln 1. Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., better known as simply 1. FC Köln () or FC Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based in Cologne in North Rhine-Westphalia. It was formed in 1948 ...

and

1. FSV Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

, but never arrived, leading to the match's abandonment after a replacement could not be found. He was later found in his hotel room, having attempted suicide, and was rushed into

intensive care Intensive care medicine, usually called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes p ...

. He confirmed that he was suffering from depression, and that would like to return to refereeing after he finished undergoing therapy. Incidentally, his debut officiating a Bundesliga game was a match between Köln and Mainz 05 on 6 August 2005.

References

External links

* * * * 1970 births Living people German people of Iranian descent German football referees Iranian football referees UEFA Europa League referees {{Iran-footy-bio-stub