is a Japanese football

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 tit ...

. He has refereed in the Japanese

J. League Division 1 The , known as the for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the system. Founded in 1992, it is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football. Contested by 18 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the J2 ...

since 1999 and has been a full international referee for FIFA since 2004. He refereed the opening game in the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting rig ...

between hosts

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, and also the second leg of the

2014 AFC Champions League The 2014 AFC Champions League was the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 12th under the current AFC Champions League title. Guangzhou Evergrande were the def ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

Career

Nishimura was the only

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an ...

n referee selected to officiate at the

2008 African Cup of Nations The 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the MTN Africa Cup of Nations due to the competition's sponsorship by MTN, was the 26th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial football tournament for nations affiliated to the Confedera ...

in Ghana along with assistant referees Toru Sagara from Japan and Jeong Hae-Sang from South Korea. Nishimura refereed the final of the

2010 FIFA Club World Cup The 2010 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup UAE 2010 presented by Toyota for sponsorship reasons) was a football tournament that was played from 8 to 18 December 2010. It was the seventh FIFA Club World Cup and was ...

between

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter i ...

and

TP Mazembe Tout Puissant Mazembe, commonly referred to as TP Mazembe, is a Congolese professional football club based in Lubumbashi. History Tout Puissant Mazembe, the first sports club from the Democratic Republic of the Congo with a value of at least $10 ...

. On 13 November 2010, Nishimura was the referee for the final match of the

2010 AFC Champions League Final The 2010 AFC Champions League Final was a Association football, football match which was played on Saturday, 13 November 2010. It was the 29th final of the AFC Champions League. The match was played at the National Stadium (Tokyo, 1958), National ...

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...

vs. Zob Ahan, at the

National Stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football stadiu ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

. Nishimura officiated at the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

and 2011 Asian Cups. At the 2012 Men's Olympic Football Tournament, Nishimura officiated the group stage matches between

and

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

and host

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. Nishimura was appointed to the second leg of the

Final in which

Al-Hilal FC Al Hilal Saudi Football Club ( ar, نادي الهلال السعودي), simply known as Al Hilal, is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their football team competes in the Saudi Professional League. They are the ...

faced

Western Sydney Wanderers FC Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premie ...

. The match ended in a 0–0 upset, which saw the Western Sydney Wanderers crowned AFC champions courtesy of their 1–0 victory in the first leg. However, he gained heavy criticism over his mistakes. Which, some say, stripped Al Hilal from the cup.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Nishimura was preselected as a referee for the

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

.List of prospective 2010 FIFA World Cup referees
/ref> He was the referee for the

against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

game at the

, along with fourth official Joel Aguilar and assistant referees Jeong Hae-Sang, and Toru Sagara. Nishimura produced the first red card of the tournament, when he sent Uruguay midfielder

Nicolás Lodeiro Marcelo Nicolás Lodeiro Benítez (; born 21 March 1989), commonly known as Nicolás Lodeiro, is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for MLS club Seattle Sounders FC and the Uruguay national team. Lodeiro ...

off the field for two yellow cards. During the first quarter-final game between Brazil and the Netherlands at

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a soccer and rugby union stadium in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa, It hosted 2010 FIFA World Cup matches and the third place play off. It is the home of Chippa United Football Club and formerly of ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

, Nishimura sent off

Felipe Melo Felipe Melo de Carvalho (born 26 June 1983), known as Felipe Melo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Fluminense. He began his career with Campeonato Brasileiro Série A teams Flamengo, Cruzeir ...

in the 73rd minute of the game. He was the 4th official for the final match of the World Cup, Netherlands vs. Spain.

2014 FIFA World Cup

Brazil and Croatia match at the FIFA World Cup 2014-06-12 (30)

Nishimura was chosen by FIFA to referee the opening game of the

between Brazil and Croatia. With this, he became only the third Japanese referee to officiate at two FIFA World Cups, after

Shizuo Takada is a former Japanese football referee. He refereed a first round match between Spain and Algeria in the 1986 FIFA World Cup. He also officiated a first round match between Yugoslavia and UAE in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. ReferencesProfile Extern ...

and

Toru Kamikawa is a former Japanese football (soccer) referee, debuting in Japan's professional J. League in 1996. Kamikawa was born in Kagoshima, Kagoshima Prefecture. An international referee since 1998, he refereed one match at the 2002 FIFA World Cup and ...

. In the match, Nishimura became the first referee to use

vanishing spray Vanishing spray, also known as vanishing foam, is a substance applied to an association football pitch in order to provide a temporary visual marker. It is most often used by the referee to indicate the minimum distance that the defending team ...

at a World Cup finals, as well as to have access to

goal-line technology In many outdoor ball sports, a goal line is a line in front of goal post and which a team attempts to advance the ball or puck towards to score a goal or points. In particular, see: * Football pitch for usage of the term in soccer * Goal line (g ...

. The game ended with a 3–1 victory for hosts

. Despite significant criticism, Nishimura was appointed to two other games in the tournament as the

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (previously known as a linesman or lineswoman) is an official empowered with assisting the referee in enforcing the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the La ...

: the Group E match between Honduras and

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechuan languages, Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar language, Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechuan ...

(2–1 win for Ecuador), and the third place play-off match between Brazil and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(3–0 win for the Netherlands).

2014 AFC Champions League

He officiated the second leg of the

2014 AFC Champions League Final The 2014 AFC Champions League Final was the final of the 2014 AFC Champions League, the 33rd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 12th under the current AFC Champion ...

between

Al Hilal FC Al Hilal Saudi Football Club ( ar, نادي الهلال السعودي), simply known as Al Hilal, is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their football team competes in the Saudi Professional League. They are the ...

and

, the match ended 0–0 but the Wanderers won the championship as they had scored a goal in the first leg in Parramatta.

Awards

Nishimura was chosen as the J. League Referee of the Year in 2009 and 2010. In 2012, he was named Best Men's Referee of the Year by the

Asian Football Confederation The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...

References

External links

FIFA profile (2007 U-17 World Cup)

Professional Referees

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the governing body responsible for the administration of football, futsal, beach soccer and efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the national team, as well as club competitions. History The organ ...

Video interview at the AFC Annual AwardsYuichi Nishimura
at worldreferee.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Nishimura, Yuichi 1972 births Living people Japanese football referees Association football people from Tokyo 2010 FIFA World Cup referees Olympic football referees Football referees at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2014 FIFA World Cup referees FIFA World Cup referees AFC Asian Cup referees