Zoran Petrovic, the best Yugoslav referee ever, former FIFA and UEFA observer, longtime president of the Judicial Commission of the Football Association of Yugoslavia, then the Football Association of Serbia, passed away at 73.
Petrovic was among the four youngest referees at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, where FIFA appointed him for one of the most challenging matches of the group stage. He also shared justice four years later at the World Cup in Italy where he received one of the highest ratings ever awarded at the World Cup for his performance in the England–Netherlands match. He disallowed two England goals and both times he was right, and there was no VAR system back then. With the advancement of Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, after the victory against Spain in Verona, he returned home, because that was the fate of all referees whose teams secured a place in the next round.
In the same year, he refereed the European Super Cup match in Bologna, between Milan and Sampdoria. For the first time in the history of this competition, two teams from the same country met and the privilege of being at the center went to Zoran Petrovic. UEFA has also shown huge confidence in his knowledge and authority by appointing him to the second leg of the UEFA Cup final in which Ajax met Turin in May 1992.
Zoran Petrovic refereed, of course, several times the biggest derby of Serbian football, and we single out the match from April 1982. An eternal derby that went to the Red Star convincingly, although he never hid that he played in the younger categories of Partizan and never hid who he was rooting for. Only referees who believe in themselves can do that. “You have to love a club to love football” is his famous statement that represents the essence of common-sense thinking. Someone once said, just peek inside the archives and try to find the victory of Partizan in a Derby in which he shared justice. That was Zoran Petrović, a great man and a great referee, honest with himself and football.
Source: FSS
