Yuichi Nishimura

Who is Yuichi Nishimura?

Yuichi Nishimura is a Japanese football referee who has been a full international referee for FIFA.

He was the only Asian referee and one of three judges selected to judge in 2008 African Cup of Nations in Ghana along with assistant referees Toru Sagara from Japan and Jeong Hae-Sang from South Korea. He was also a referee at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He was not appointed to any more matches in the tournament by CAF after the quarterfinal after he failed to dismiss Angola players for pushing him during the quarterfinal match between Egypt and Angola. Two Angola players and the Angolan team as a whole were banned for 5 years from certain jurisdictions for their part in the incident.

He was preselected as a referee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

On 11 June 2010 he was the referee for the Uruguay against France game at the 2010 FIFA World Cup 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 off Uruguay midfielder Nicolás Lodeiro for two yellow cards. On 2 July 2010, during the first quarterfinal game between Brazil and Netherlands at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, he sent off Felipe Melo of Brazil in the 73rd minute of the game. On 11 July 2010, Nishimura was the 4th official for the final match of the World Cup, Netherlands vs. Spain. He refereed the final of the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup between Inter Milan and TP Mazembe. After cautioning a Mazembe player for a reckless tackle, TP Marzembe players confronted him. His use of strong body language prevented any physical contact towards him, suggesting he had learnt from the Angola incident.