Hans Wüthrich (1 November 1889 – 13 August 1982) was a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and later

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. As a footballer Wüthrich played for Concordia Basel and Yverdon-Sports. He also played for the Swiss national team. He played in the game on 18 May 1913 as the Swiss won by two goals to one in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

against the

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. After his active football career Wüthrich became a referee. During his time, he refereed the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

Finals in 1934, 1937 and 1940 and in 1944 for the fourth time. An episode that is noted in association with the

, was the second-round replay between

FC Lugano FC Lugano is a Swiss professional football club based in Lugano. The club was refounded as AC Lugano in 2004 as a result of relegation and the financial situation of FC Lugano, which was founded in 1908. In 2008, the club reverted to its origina ...

and

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

on 22 November 1931. The mood amongst the 3,000 spectators was heated even before the kick-off. This because after the 3–3 draw in the first game; the local press had circulated the most incredible rumours. Then, Basel's Alfred Schlecht scored the winning goal early, not even two minutes after the game had started. However, shortly before the end of the match referee Wüthrich did not blow his whistle and award a penalty after an alleged handball by a Basel player. He ended the game shortly afterwards with a Basel victory and the ill tempers were worsened. After the game there were tumults and riots among the spectators who were not satisfied with the referee's performance. Stones were thrown at referee and players and the windows of the changing rooms were smashed. It was some eight hours later before things were settled enough for the police to able to bring both the referee and the entire Basel team to safety, by ship over

Lake Lugano Lake Lugano ( or , from ; ) is a glacial lake which is situated on the border between southern Switzerland and northern Italy. The lake, named after the city of Lugano, is situated between Lake Como and Lago Maggiore. It was cited for the first t ...

. According to the reports in the FCB chronicles, quite a few players were injured.

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had a bleeding head,

Hermann Enderlin Hermann Enderlin (* 24 September 1906; † 18 May 1973) was a Swiss-German footballer who played for FC Basel. He played mainly in the position of defender, but also as midfielder. He was known as Enderlin (II) because his brother Alfred Ender ...

had a hole above his eye,

Leopold Kielholz Leopold "Poldi" Kielholz (9 June 1911 – 4 June 1980) was a Swiss football striker. He participated in the 1934 FIFA World Cup, scoring 3 goals, and also in the 1938 FIFA World Cup. Historically, he was the first Swiss international to score a ...

and goalkeeper

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were also hurt. Wüthrich escaped unhurt. Lugano was sanctioned and had to play their home games at least 100 kilometers from their home ground. Wüthrich was the first Swiss match official to be appointed to a

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

final match when he was selected to run the line in the 1938 final match between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

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Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Wüthrich had already officiated in three matches prior to the final, acting as match referee in the semi-final between Italy and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

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and also running the line in the notorious game between the hosts

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and Italy in Paris, the game in which the Italians wore the ''maglia nera'', a gesture of fascist defiance and provocatio

Wüthrich's performances, importantly, escaped criticism; a fillip to the reputation of his countries referees after the controversy which had surrounded Rene Mercet in the 1934 FIFA World Cup.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wuthrich, Hans 1889 births 1982 deaths Footballers from Bern Swiss footballers FIFA World Cup finals match officials 1938 FIFA World Cup referees