Esteban Ostojich, the referee who directed the final of the Copa America 2021 between Argentina and Brazil at the Maracana. Became referee in 2004. Since then, it took him nine years to make his debut in professional soccer, which happened in September 2013. His growth from there was continuous and he managed to establish himself as one of the best South American referees, considered by Conmebol and FIFA, which gave him the international badge in 2016. His first international match was when Argentina beat Mexico 2-0, in Cordoba, in November 2018.
Today, Ostojich dedicates himself completely to his refereeing commitments, including training, which forced him to leave the job he carried out for 13 years as a chess teacher at the University of Uruguay, a non-formal institution for adults located in Montevideo, where he also had administrative functions. Several years ago, when he was still more of a chess teacher than an outstanding referee, he recounted his work: “I receive a lot of people at the venue, I tell them where their classes are and their schedules. They are aware of my career and they were very happy with the classic”, he mentioned within hours of his first Nacional-Penarol. “At work they support me a lot. They give me a good hand when I have to travel, both my superiors and my co-workers put up with it because any trip requires three days", he added at the time.
At 39, his most important achievement is, however, off the pitch. Father of four children, and a recognized inhabitant in San Jose, where they value him as a figure but do not besiege him. "He walks around here like anyone else," a referee's neighbour tells TN Deportivo. But the tranquility of San Jose is transformed into pride and emotion when Esteban appears on the big screen as the protagonist of great football events, some of global significance, for which some of the town's citizens have requested to the authorities that Ostojich be recognized as illustrious citizen and be given the Keys of the City.
Esteban Ostojich can boast in his CV of having delivered justice in Uruguayan classics, in matches of Sudamericana and Libertadores, including the last final in which Palmeiras beat Santos, but many will remember momentous events, such as being VAR in the 2018 Libertadores final that River and Boca played in Madrid or when he was the main referee in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup final when Bayern Munich beat Tigres from Mexico. The Ostojich thing with the refereeing is not new. His father, nicknamed Cono, was a prominent member of the Uruguayan Interior Soccer Organization (OFI), and his grandfather also led football tournaments in San Jose. When he is not refereeing, Esteban spends time with his long-time friends in the central plaza of San Jose.
Source: TN
