Fernando "Nando" Giménez Alvarez (October 15, 1925 – February 16, 2013) was a Filipino

association footballer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

, sports executive and referee. He is known for introducing the substitution signal, a gesture used by FIFA referees whenever a player enters and leaves a pitch during international football matches.

Early life

Fernando Giménez Alvarez was born on October 15, 1925 to Fernando García Alvarez Sr. and Adelina Acosta Giménez who were both Spanish immigrants in the Philippines. He had seven siblings although he and a brother were the only ones to live up to adulthood. Alvarez attended De La Salle College where he spent most of his studies and transferred to

San Beda College San Beda University () is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Order of Saint Benedict in San Miguel, Manila, Philippines. It was founded by the Benedictines in 1901. The main campus is situated ...

shortly prior to the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, he finished his studies at the

University of the East The University of the East (), also known as UE, is a private university located in Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1946, business tycoon Lucio Tan acquired the university in 1990. UE was once labeled as the "largest university in Asia" when i ...

Military service

During

he joined the

Hukbalahap The Hukbong Bayan Laban sa Hapon (), better known by the acronym Hukbalahap, was a Filipino communist guerrilla movement formed by the farmers of Central Luzon. They were originally formed to fight the Japanese, but extended their fight int ...

, a resistance group which fought against the Imperial Japanese occupiers. He also later served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

which later lead to him being given United States citizenship. He was part of the

United States Merchant Marine The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian sailor, mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of ...

until 1947 when he was honorably discharged from the organization.

Football career

As a player

As a student, Alvarez played for

. He was also the captain of the

Philippines national football team The Philippines national football team () represents the Philippines in men's international association football, football, governed by the Philippine Football Federation (PFF) and has been playing internationally since 1913. Prior to World W ...

. At the club level, he was a mainstay of the Turbo Salvajes of the Manila Football League in the late 1940s which won four of the first five league titles since the league's resumption in 1947.

As coach

Alvarez was the head coach of the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

which finished last in the

1962 Asian Games The 1962 Asian Games () also known as the 4th Asian Games, IV Asiad, and Jakarta 1962, were the fourth edition of pan-Asian multi-sport event sanctioned by the Asian Games Federation (AGF). The games were held from 24 August to 4 September 1962, ...

As a referee

Alvarez was given FIFA referee status in 1958 and officiated 32 international matches held from 1959 to 1973. From 1966 to 1988, Alvarez was a member of the Asian Football Confederation Referees Committee. As part of the FIFA International Board of Referees, he was the one who came up with substitution signal which is used by referees whenever a player leaves or enters the field in international matches. Alvarez is credited for increasing the profile of American soccer referees. In the 1990s, the inclusion of

Esse Baharmast Esfandiar "Esse" Baharmast (born March 11, 1954) is a retired Iranian- American football referee best known for supervising two matches during the 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France. Career At that tournament, he was briefly vilified for giving a ...

as one of the referees of the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

in France was a result of Alvarez's intervention. He wrote to FIFA President Joao Havelange where he vouched for Baharmast's capability to officiate in a world cup. From 1990 to 2009, Alvarez worked as a referee for Cal North, a youth soccer organization in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

. Under Cal North, he served as the mentor of various American referees including

Kari Seitz Kari Seitz is an American professional soccer referee and the most experienced female referee in the World (out of the male and female referees) She participated in four FIFA Women's World Cup tournaments in (1999, 2003, 2007 and 2011), as well ...

who has officiated matches in the

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

and

the Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competiti ...

. He was also involved in the referee program of the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

(USSF) helping the association set up a referee exchange program with other national-level federations. For twelve years under the United States association, he served as a member of the FIFA Referees Committee

As a sports executive

Alvarez also held executive positions not specific to refereeing. From 1978 to 1988, he was a Vice President of the

Asian Football Federation The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation (A ...

. At the national-level, he held the post of General Secretary of the

Philippine Football Federation The Philippine Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body of association football in the Philippines. Established as the Philippine Amateur Football Association (PAFA) in 1907, the PFF is one of the oldest national football associations in ...

in the 1960s and 1970s.

Honors

He received recognition for his contributions to association football. He was conferred with the

FIFA Order of Merit The FIFA Order of Merit is the highest honour awarded by FIFA. The award is presented at the annual FIFA congress. It is normally awarded to people who are considered to have made a significant contribution to :association football. At FIFA's ce ...

in 2005 by then USSF President S. Robert Contiguglia with the Philippine Football Federation nominating him for the distinction. In 1973, FIFA conferred him a Special Referee Award in 1973, and was the only Asian referee to be given the distinction. The Asian Football Confederation has also given him the AFC Distinguished Service Award and the Philippine Football Federation awarded him a special award under the "International Achievements" category in 2004.

Personal life

Alvarez was married to María Lourdes Rotaeche. They got married on June 30, 1951 and had four children. In 1990, after most of their children have moved to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, the couple migrated to the United States to join their children in California. Alvarez died on February 16, 2013 shortly after the death of his wife in late 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Álvarez, Fernando Filipino people of Spanish descent Philippines men's international footballers Filipino football referees American people of Spanish descent Filipino emigrants to the United States 1925 births 2013 deaths Footballers from Manila Soccer players from San Francisco San Beda University alumni United States Soccer Federation officials FIFA officials Asian Football Confederation executives Filipino men's footballers University of the East alumni University Athletic Association of the Philippines players National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) players United States Army personnel of World War II United States Merchant Mariners of World War II Men's association football players not categorized by position 20th-century Filipino sportsmen