Wolfgang Stark

Wolfgang Stark (born 20 November 1969 in Landshut), is a German football referee. He has refereed matches in the Champions League and qualifications to the European Football Championship and the World Cup. In 2007, he refereed five matches at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup including the controversial semi-final between Chile and Argentina.

He was questioned for his performance overseeing the Chile–Argentina match in the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, having "lost control of the match early" and for issuing seven yellow cards (out of nine) and two red cards against the Chilean team during the match. In total he issued 53 fouls, 30 of which he charged to Chile.

Following the match Stark and his colleagues were surrounded by livid Chilean players who were restrained by members of the Toronto Police. Stark then had to be escorted off of the pitch and into the dressing room tunnel by police officers for fear that he would be attacked by the crowd and/or Chilean players at the National Soccer Stadium. Chilean players, still angry after losing the match, fought with and were pepper-sprayed by police officers outside of the stadium. The players were temporarily held inside the stadium by the police for several hours and were released without being arrested.

Stark was criticized for his performance in the Champions League match between Chelsea and Internazionale in 2010 by the Daily Telegraph. A report claimed that he had missed two clear penalties for Chelsea.

Stark's performance has also been questioned in some Madrid-based newspapers after Real Madrid's 2-0 loss to Barcelona in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League. The Diario Marca also took issue with a penalty Stark awarded to FC Barcelona in their 3-2 defeat of AC Milan in the next Champions League season's group stage, saying "Aquilani grabbed Xavi inside the box but the contact was not enough to topple Barca brain." The Italian press was less conclusive, with the Gazetta dello Sport calling the decision “generous”. After the incident he then booked the wrong player, when in fact he should have cautioned Alberto Aquilani who would have been sent off for the offence as it would have been his second booking.

Stark was selected as a referee for the 2008 Summer Olympics football tournament and for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the 2010-11 season of the German Bundesliga he was elected worst referee of the first half of the season by the players.

During 2012 UEFA European Championship, in Poland, Wolfgang Stark was again at the center of controversy, as he failed to signal what were considered to be one or two clear penalties for Croatia in the match against Spain, both by Croatian players, international media and experts, including prominent Spanish media, one of which was in the dying minutes of the match, just before Spain scored their sole, winning goal. This result eliminated Croatia, while a Croatia victory would result in Spain being eliminated.

In the 2012–13 UEFA Champions League, he refereed the Manchester United - Galatasaray, after which he was highly criticized by the Turkish press for failing to detect two clear penalties for the Galatasaray side.

In the 2012–13 Fußball-Bundesliga,he refereed a match between Borussia Dortmund - VFL Wolfsburg where he awarded a penalty against Borussia Dortmund and gave a Red card to Marcel Schmelzer for a hand ball which was not supposed to be given. He later admitted fault and apologized to the Borussia Dortmund players and fans.