Concetto Lo Bello

Who was Concetto Lo Bello?

Concetto Lo Bello was an Italian football referee, born & died in Syracuse, Sicily. He holds the record for refereeing the most games in Serie A.

His career spanned the years 1944 to 1974, refereeing his first international match in 1958. Throughout the 1960s he was regarded as one of the world's finest referees, a compelling mixture of authority and flamboyance.

He officiated at 34 international matches, though never a World Cup Final, the closest to that being the West Germany - USSR semi-final in 1966. He had been provisionally chosen to referee the 1970 FIFA World Cup Final, but the Italian team reached the final, so he could not officiate. He refereed the European Cup finals of 1968 and 1970 as well as the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup 2nd leg final in 1966 and the UEFA Cup 2nd leg final in 1974. The latter final occurred shortly after his fiftieth birthday, making him the oldest official at a European final. He retired after this match.

After retirement, he entered politics, as a deputy for the Christian Democrat party. He was Minister of Sport for a spell, and, briefly, was Minister for Drought. In 1986 he was elected mayor of Syracuse, but was only in the job for five months.