Manuel Gräfe (born 21 September 1973) is a former 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. He refereed for
Hertha 03 Zehlendorf of the
Berlin Football Association. He was a
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
referee between 2007 and 2018.
Refereeing career
Gräfe officiated in the
2. Bundesliga from 2001 to 2004 and 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 ...
from 2004 until his retirement in 2021. He received his
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
license in 2007.
He refereed his final match on 22 May 2021, which was between
Borussia Dortmund
Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...
and
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. ...
.
Age discrimination claim
The refereeing age limit of 47 is set by the Bundesliga. In July 2021 Gräfe stated he was taking legal action against the German football federation (DFB) over alleged age discrimination,
and separately petitions were launched. Fellow former-FIFA referee Markus Merk however stated 'It is a problem in our society that the old cannot let go and that the chances of advancement are more difficult for the descendants. We need change and permeability.'
Gräfe indicated he was not seeking to return to refereeing even if the case was successful.
Personal life
Gräfe, a professional sports scientist, lives in Berlin.
See also
*
List of football referees
This is a list of notable FIFA international Referee (association football), referees. Years in brackets indicate when the referee was added to the FIFA International Referees List.
Current referees are at the top of the section for each coun ...
References
External links
Profileat dfb.de
Profileat worldfootball.net
1973 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Berlin
German football referees
UEFA Europa League referees
21st-century German people
{{Germany-footy-bio-stub