Menachem Ashkenazi

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Menachem Ashkenazi (Hebrew: מנחם אשכנזי; born in Bulgaria on 6 August 1934, died 13 November 2000) was an Israeli international football referee. He became a prominent FIFA official and was the first Asian referee to officiate at a FIFA World Cup.

Biography
- Born in 1934 in Bulgaria to a Jewish Sephardic family, he moved with his parents to Mandatory Palestine in 1936.
- As a youth, he played soccer for Hapoel Petah Tikva, but a serious leg fracture ended his playing career.

Refereeing career
- Ashkenazi had a long tenure as a FIFA referee from 1961 to 1986.
- He officiated the final of the 1964 Olympic football tournament, the only Israeli referee to do so.
- He refereed at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, including the famous Portugal 5–3 North Korea quarterfinal match.
- He also worked on World Cup qualifying matches in 1966 and 1978.

Legacy
- He is remembered as a pioneer for Israeli football refereeing and as the first Asian referee to participate in a World Cup.

Menachem Ashkenazi's career highlights reflect a significant period in international football officiating for Israel.