Byron Moreno was high at the World Cup: Gianluigi Buffon
Byron Aldemar Moreno Ruales, the former Ecuadorian football, referee was caught with 6kgs of heroin at an airport in the United States of America two days back. The infamous referee became famous for all the wrong reasons for his ridiculous refereeing decisions
at the 2002 football World Cup.
Moreno officiated in the Italy vs. South Korea first knockout stage fixture at Korea-Japan 2002. Italy was denied Damiano Tommasi’s clear golden goal before Francesco Totti was sent off for diving in the box when replays clearly showed he had lost his footing.
Adding further to the Azzurri’s misery, Korea was awarded a penalty that Buffon saved. Italy eventually lost out to Korea but Moreno made sure he was public enemy number one for the fans in the peninsula.
Moreno continued his antics even after the World Cup as he later officiated a game between Liga Deportiva Universitaria de Quito and Barcelona Sporting Club from Guayaquil. De Quito was trailing by 3 goals to 2 at full time but Moreno decided to add six
minutes of injury time. Play was allowed to continue even after that where De Quito equalised in the 99th minute and scored the winner in the 101st minute to win the match.
In the wake of recent developments, Italy goalkeeper Buffon has launched a scathing attack on the referee. “Moreno was on drugs at the World Cup,” the legend declared. Buffon was in disbelief regarding the amount of drugs the former referee had in his underwear.
“Buffon already the drugs at the World Cup but it was in his body, not the underwear,” Buffon joked.
Buffon further spoke on the need to eradicate drugs from the sport as with drugs, the sport of football was losing its values.
Christian Panucci, who was also on the end of Moreno Treatment eight years ago, has decided to attack the referee. Panucci said, “He was a complete disaster and this incident has just proved that”. Panucci thinks Moreno’s appointment was a conspiracy to
eliminate Italy from the competition. “The tie ended for us just after an hour, we should have just gone home instead of playing as he would have never let us win”.
FIFA's refereeing department will now come under immense criticism for awarding a druggie a refereeing licence. However, FIFA has failed to issue an official stance on the issue, as negative sentiments from players are sure to mount.
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