Francis Rion (10 June 1933 – 3 November 2022) was a Belgian football referee. He was an international referee until 1981 and notably officiated the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It wa ...

quarterfinal between Italy and Austria, a 1 to 0 victory for the Italians. In 1994, Rion founded a referee supporters' club in

Malmedy Malmedy (; , historically also ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On January 1, 2018, Malmedy had a total population of 12,654. The total area is 99.96 km2 which gives a population dens ...

named ''Lès Djoyeûs Dragons d'Mâm'dî'' with the support of

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

. He became honorary president of the club in 2013. In 2015, he was made an honorary member of the ''Famille des Rouches'', an associate of supporters of Standard Liège.

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* * * 1933 births 2022 deaths Belgian football referees 1978 FIFA World Cup referees People from Dalhem {{Belgium-footy-bio-stub