is a Japanese

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 ...

. He has refereed in the Japanese J. League Division 1 since 1999 and has been a full international referee for

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 ...

since 2004. He refereed at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

, where he was appointed to several prestigious matches, including as

fourth official In association football, an assistant referee (also known as a linesman) is an official who assists the referee in administering the Laws of the Game during a match. Although assistants are not required under the Laws, at most organised levels ...

on the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

. He also refereed the opening match of the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

between hosts

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

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, and 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 d ...

between Al Hilal and Western Sydney Wanderers.

Career

Nishimura was the only Asian referee selected to officiate at the

2008 Africa 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 with the Confede ...

in Ghana along with assistant referees Toru Sagara from Japan and Jeong Hae-sang from South Korea. Nishimura was appointed as the referee for four matches of the

, including the quarter-final between the Netherlands and Brazil. He was also appointed to three matches as fourth official, including the

. Nishimura refereed the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup final 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 Association football, football List of football ...

and

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

. On 13 November 2010, Nishimura was the referee for the 2010 AFC Champions League final between Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and 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 ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. Nishimura officiated at the

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

and 2011 Asian Cups. At the 2012 men's Olympic football tournament, Nishimura officiated the group stage matches between

and

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and host

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. Nishimura was selected for his second World Cup in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. He refereed one match at the tournament. The final match of his international career was the second leg of the 2014 AFC Champions League final between Al Hilal and Western Sydney Wanderers.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Nishimura was preselected as a referee for the

.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 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 ...

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 off the field for two yellow cards. He was fourth official for the Honduras vs Chile match 5 days later. He refereed two further matches in the group stage (Spain vs Honduras and Paraguay vs New Zealand) and also refereed the first quarter-final game between the Netherlands and Brazil at

Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is a association football, soccer and rugby union stadium in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It hosted 2010 FIFA World Cup matches, including the third-place play off. It is the home of Chip ...

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially 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 Municipal ...

. During that match, Nishimura sent off

Felipe Melo Felipe Melo de Carvalho (born 26 June 1983), known as Felipe Melo, is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder or centre-back. He began his career with Brazilian teams Clube de Rega ...

in the 73rd minute of the game. He was selected as the fourth official for the semifinal between Uruguay and the Netherlands and also for the final match of the World Cup, Netherlands vs. Spain.

2014 FIFA World Cup

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 and Toru Kamikawa. In the match, Nishimura became the first referee to use vanishing spray at a World Cup finals, as well as to have access to

goal-line technology In association football, goal-line technology (sometimes referred to as a Goal Decision System) is the use of electronic aid to determine if a goal has been scored or not. In detail, it is a method used to determine when the ball has completely ...

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

. Nishimura was heavily criticized for his performance by many sources for multiple decisions that favored the home nation. Nishimura then officiated two other games as the fourth official: the Group E match between

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

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

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

(3–0 win for the Netherlands).

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 (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...

References

External links

FIFA profile (2007 U-17 World Cup)

Professional Referees

Japan Football Association The Japan Football Association (JFA, ) is the Sport governing body, governing body responsible for the administration of Association football, football, futsal, beach soccer and Esports, efootball in Japan. It is responsible for the Japan national ...

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 AFC Asian Cup referees