Javier Alberto Castrilli (born May 22, 1957) is a 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 ...

from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Refereeing career

Castrilli worked as a referee from 1980 to 1998, earning the nickname ''El

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

'' due to his character and decisions on the field by strictly imposing the rules of the game. Castrilli was notorious for officiating a league match between River Plate and

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

in May 1992. He issued four red cards to River Plate players, and also issued a red card to the club's manager

Daniel Passarella Daniel Alberto Passarella (born 25 May 1953) is an Argentine former Association football, footballer and Manager (association football), manager, who is considered one of the greatest Defender (association football), defenders of all time. As a ...

. He was a referee in the 1998 World Cup held in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and retired in the same year. After his retirement, Castrilli served as head of the Referees Committee of the National Professional Football Association of Chile (ANFP) from September 2021 until April 2022. On 13 June 2025, he assumed the same charge in the National Amateur Football Association of Chile (ANFA).

Political career

Castrilli entered politics and is director the Argentine Ministry of Internal Affairs' program of security at football events (ProSEF). He ran for mayor of Buenos Aires in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, landing in ninth place with under 1% of the vote.

References

External links

Biography at La voz del Interior newspaper
(in Spanish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Castrilli, Javier 1957 births Living people Sportspeople from Buenos Aires Argentine football referees Copa América referees 1998 FIFA World Cup referees Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Argentine sportsperson-politicians 21st-century Argentine politicians Buenos Aires Province politicians Republican Proposal politicians