Vautrot: from heart problems to the Legion of Honour

Michel Vautrot was born on 23 October 1945 in Saint-Vit, France. The son of a family of farmers, as a child he was weak and sickly, to the point that heart problems kept him away from school for a year. Overcoming these health problems, Vautrot decided to become referee at the age of 14. The following year, he already refereed matches in local tournaments. In 1963 he was already a federal referee, at the same time when he was working as a sports journalist for a local newspaper in Besançon. Ten years later he debuted in the first division and in 1975 he became a FIFA referee. In 1979 he whistled his first French Cup final. Then four more finals would follow.

Vautrot was well-known internationally. In 1982 he made his debut at the World Cup refereeing Italy - Poland (0-0) in Vigo (first phase) and Belgium - USSR (0-1) in Barcelona (second phase). The following year, he was assigned the Intercontinental Cup final between Hamburg and Gremio Porto Alegre (1-2). In 1984 he refereed a match in the Euro hosted by his country, precisely Spain - Portugal (1-1) in the group stage. That year, in the European Champions Cup, he lived one of the anecdotes for which he is most remembered. Although it only became known later, in the semi-finals of that year there was a scandal. It was involved AS Rome, who faced Dundee United. The Scots had won the first leg 2-0 and the Italians had to come back at home. Apparently, the president of Rome, Dino Viola, offered 10 million pesetas of the time to the French referee. The money never got to Vautrot, who cancelled two goals for Roma on that day. Despite everything, the Italians won 3-0 and advanced to the final, which they would lose to Liverpool on kicks from the penalty mark. Viola was severely punished.

Despite this brilliant start, Vautrot was not selected for the World Cup in Mexico ‘86. Before that, he had refereed the first leg of the 1985 UEFA Cup final, Videoton - Real Madrid (0-3) and the final of the 1986 European Champions Cup, Steaua - Barcelona (0-0, with the Romanians winning on kicks from the penalty mark). In 1988 he was also graced with the Euro final between the Netherlands and the Soviet Union (2-0). Earlier, in the same tournament, he referee Germany - Spain (2-0). That year, he ended up being chosen the best referee in the world. 

Another well-known anecdote about Vautrot, especially in Spain, came in 1989. Vautrot refereed the return of the first round match between Fiorentina and Atletico de Madrid. The mattress makers, who had won the first leg 1-0, fell on the return leg with the same result and were eliminated on penalties. At the end of the match, Jesus Gil, president of Atletico Madrid, declared on Radio Nacional that Vautrot was "a fagot" and the Italians offered him "a blond boy with blue eyes". Evidently, such an outrage was sanctioned with two years of disqualification. In 1990 Vautrot was selected to be one of the referees of the Italian World Cup. He refereed the surprising opening match in Milan, Argentina - Cameroon (0-1), then Ireland - Netherlands (1-1) in Palermo and the semi-final between Argentina and Italy in Naples. It is in this last match that we find another of the great anecdotes of his career. With 1-1 on the scoreboard, the game went into extra time. In the first half of the extra period, spectators and players were surprised to see how its duration was 23 minutes. Vautrot's explanation was no less surprising: he had forgotten to consult his chronometer. The following year, he hung up the whistle. After his retirement, Vautrot was the chairman of the Referees Committee in France until 2004. Since then and until recently, he has been UEFA referee observer. Nicolas Sarkozy, former President of the French Republic, decorated him in 2006 as a Knight of the Legion of Honour. 

Source: 20 minutos