Robert Charles Paul Wurtz (born 16 December 1941) is a French former football referee who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. He was elected by journalists "French referee of the year" in 1971, 1974, 1975, 1977 and 1978. He supervised the

1977 European Cup Final The 1977 European Cup Final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Borussia Mönchengladbach of West Germany on 25 May 1977 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy (the venue was decided in Bern by the UEFA Executive C ...

and 2 matches in the

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

. Wurtz was born in Strasbourg and as a youth hoped to play for

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace (commonly known as RC Strasbourg, Racing Straßburg, RCSA, RCS, or simply Strasbourg; Alsatian language, Alsatian: ''Füeßbàllmànnschàft Vu Stroßburri'') is a football in France, French association football ...

. He refereed his first Division 1 match in 1969, and his career ended with a Division 2 match in 1990. He supervised a total of 450 Division 1 matches. Remembered for his theatrical and flamboyant style, he was called "the

Nijinsky Vaslav (or Vatslav) Nijinsky (; rus, Вацлав Фомич Нижинский, Vatslav Fomich Nizhinsky, p=ˈvatsləf fɐˈmʲitɕ nʲɪˈʐɨnskʲɪj; pl, Wacław Niżyński, ; 12 March 1889/18908 April 1950) was a ballet dancer and choreog ...

of the whistle" by Brazilian newspaper ''

O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Irineu Marinho, owner of ''A Noite'', it was orig ...

''. Between 1998 and 2007, Wurtz appeared as a referee in ''Intervilles'', the French TV show that was adapted as ''

It's a Knockout ''It's a Knockout!'' is a British game show first broadcast in 1966. It was adapted from the French show '' Intervilles'', and was part of the international ''Jeux sans frontières'' franchise. History The series was broadcast on BBC1 from 7 A ...

'' in Britain.

Honours

Orders * Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur: 2001

References

1941 births Living people Sportspeople from Strasbourg French football referees FIFA World Cup referees 1978 FIFA World Cup referees UEFA Euro 1980 referees Knights of the Legion of Honour {{France-footy-bio-stub