Full name Martin Hansson Years League Other occupation Firefighter 1999– Allsvenskan Role Football Referee | 1996– Superettan Name Martin Hansson Years League 2001–2014 FIFA listed | |
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Born 6 April 1971 (age 53)
Holmsjo, Sweden ( 1971-04-06 ) | ||
What does it take to be a... World Class Football Referee?
Martin Hansson (born April 6, 1971) is a former Swedish football referee. Hansson currently resides in Holmsjö. He has been a full international referee for FIFA since 2001.
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Hansson works as a firefighter outside refereeing and is fluent in Swedish, English and German. His hobbies include hunting and angling.
Life and career
Martin Hansson started refereeing at the age of 15 at his own club. He subsequently obtained his FIFA badge before the age of 30. He was selected as a referee for the 2007 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada, where he refereed the match between Argentina and the Czech Republic on June 30, 2007. He then took charge of the game between the USA and Poland on July 3, 2007. Hansson also officiated the 2006 Euro U-21 final between the Netherlands and Ukraine in Portugal.
Hansson currently referees matches on a frequent basis in the highest Swedish league, the Allsvenskan, as well as the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League.
Hansson was the referee for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Final.
Hansson was preselected as a referee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
He refereed the second leg of the France vs Republic of Ireland 2010 FIFA World Cup play-off. French captain Thierry Henry admitted to illegally handling the ball in the build-up to the match-winning goal, an incident that was compared to Diego Maradona's "Hand of God" goal. Henry and Hansson both considered retiring from international football due to the reactions to the game. The result fueled the ongoing debate on introducing video referees and Additional Assistant Referees into the sport.
Ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Sveriges Television showed Swedish director Mattias Löw's award-winning documentary Rättskiparen (English Title: The Referee) about Martin Hansson's dramatic road to South Africa.
On 8 October 2013, Hansson announced that he was retiring from refereeing.