Top referee — and former movie star — Howard Webb admits he will be happy to let the world’s top players steal the limelight when he officiates the Spain versus Switzerland at World Cup.
The 38-year-old from Rotherham, south Yorkshire, has been a Fifa-listed referee since 2005 and the former policeman regularly keeps law and order amongst the top stars of England’s Premier League.
Webb will referee Euro 2008 winners Spain in the Group H match against the Swiss in Durban on June 16 and he admits there is some relief that there will be no cameras watching his every move, as there were two years ago. For Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, Belgian documentary makers recorded the referees’ every move in the film The Referees, which highlighted the often thankless task of the men in black both on and off the pitch.
Webb says the focus on this World Cup by the sport’s top officials will be making sure both the image of the game and the players’ safety are protected. “Serious tackles and those which can endanger the safety of players are the sort of thing we have been asked to be strong over by Fifa. Hopefully, the players will get the message,” he said.