Kurt Waldemar Tschenscher (5 October 1928 – 13 August 2014) was a German

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 ...

Career

Born in Schimischow,

Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

(today Szymiszów, Poland), Tschenscher took up refereeing in 1948 and by 1953 he was part of the

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

's group of top referees. Within another five years, he was promoted to the FIFA list of international referees. In October 1959, he refereed the second leg of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

1960 European Nations' Cup The 1960 European Nations' Cup was the inaugural tournament of the UEFA European Championship, held every four years and organised by UEFA. The first tournament was held in France. It was won by the Soviet Union, who beat Yugoslavia 2–1 in Par ...

first round win over

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

. In September 1962, he took charge of the replay of the

1962 European Cup Winners' Cup final The 1962 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match contested between Atlético Madrid of Spain and the defending champions ACF Fiorentina of Italy. The final at Hampden Park, Glasgow finished 1–1 after extra time. Madrid won 3–0 in ...

, in which

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

beat

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

3–0. By 1966, Tschenscher was one of the top referees in Europe, a fact reflected in his appointment to the first leg of the

1965–66 European Cup The 1965–66 European Cup was the 11th season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Real Madrid, winners of the first five European Cups from 1956 to 1960, who beat Partizan 2–1 in a close fi ...

semi-final between Partizan and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, and then a group stage match between

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and Bulgaria at the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

. The following season, he was named as the referee for the 1967 European Cup final between

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

and Internazionale. He was appointed to quarter-finals at both Euro 1968 and Euro 1972, and a semi-final at Euro 1968, as well as the opening group stage game between

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

at the 1970 World Cup, which saw him become the first referee to show a yellow card in a match. He also refereed a second-round game at the

1974 World Cup The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...

. Thus he is the only referee that was nominated by the FIFA for three World Cups. In total he was a FIFA referee for 17 years, which is the record in FIFA history. In 1971, Tschenscher officiated

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

's final game for Brazil, at the end of which he received the jersey worn by the Brazilian.

References

External links

Profile
at worldfootball.net
Profile
at WorldReferee.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Tschenscher, Kurt 1928 births 2014 deaths German football referees 1966 FIFA World Cup referees 1970 FIFA World Cup referees 1974 FIFA World Cup referees People from the Province of Silesia People from Strzelce County Olympic football referees Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany UEFA Euro 1968 referees Silesian-German people West German sportsmen Sportspeople from Mannheim