Marco Antonio Rodríguez Moreno (born 10 November 1973 in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

) is a Mexican former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 ...

and current analyst.

Career

After completing a training as a football referee in

Tepic Tepic () is the capital and largest city of the western Mexico, Mexican Political divisions of Mexico, state of Nayarit, as well as the seat of the Tepic Municipality. Located in the central part of the state, it stands at an altitude of above ...

and studying

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

, Rodríguez began a career as a professional match official in 1995. He would soon become one of the top referees in the Mexican First Division, where he earned a reputation for commanding respect on the pitch, although he was also known for his temperament and for being quick to show yellow and red cards. After an incident during the Apertura 2011 final between Tigres and Santos Laguna, he was suspended for 5 games by the Mexican Federation when he showed two yellow cards at the same time to Héctor Mancilla and Carlos Adrián Morales. During the

2014 Copa Libertadores The 2014 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2014 Copa Bridgestone Libertadores for sponsorship reasons) was the 55th edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournament organized ...

game between

Atlético Nacional Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other ...

and

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

, he gave the quickest red card in the history of the competition when he sent off Alejandro Bernal from Atlético Nacional after 27 seconds into the game for a harsh tackle. An international referee since 2000, Rodríguez was selected for three

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

World Cups A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

. In the

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

tournament in

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 ...

, he refereed the England vs Paraguay match and the Côte d'Ivoire vs Serbia and Montenegro match, where he sent off Cyril Domoraud and

Albert Nađ Albert Nađ (, , ; born 29 October 1974) is a Serbian professional football manager and a former player who played as a defensive midfielder. At international level, Nađ represented Serbia and Montenegro at UEFA Euro 2000 (as FR Yugoslavia) and ...

. In the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

tournament in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, Rodríguez was match referee for the first group match between Australia and Germany, where he gave a straight red card to Australian striker

Tim Cahill Timothy Filiga Cahill (; born 6 December 1979) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as an attacking midfielder but also played as a striker on many occasions. A box-to-box midfielder, Cahill became recognised for "hi ...

. He also sent off Chile's Marco Estrada during the group stage encounter between Chile and Spain. His final international tournament was the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

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 ...

, in which he took charge of 3 games. During the first round, he refereed the final group D match between

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

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 ...

, where he sent off Italian midfielder

Claudio Marchisio Claudio Marchisio (; born 19 January 1986) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. A product of the Juventus F.C. Youth Sector, Juventus youth system, he spent a large portion of his career ...

after an alleged studs-up challenge on Egidio Arévalo. Later in the match, Rodríguez failed to see Uruguayan striker

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

bite Italian defender

Giorgio Chiellini Giorgio Chiellini (; born 14 August 1984) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back or Defender (association football)#Full-back, left-back. Consi ...

. After the match, which Italy lost 1–0, eliminating them from the tournament, with Uruguay advancing in their place, this assault launched a FIFA Disciplinary Committee investigation that ultimately ruled that Suárez would receive a 9-match suspension and a fine, and would be banned from any football activity for four months. Two weeks later, Rodríguez officiated the semifinal between hosts

and eventual champions

, which ended in a historic 1-7 loss for Brazil. After the end of the tournament, Rodríguez announced his retirement as referee. In August 2019, Rodríguez signed as head coach of Spanish third-tier team Salamanca CF. However, few days later and just one day before starting the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

, he was sacked. In 2020, he joined

TUDN TUDN (pronounced tu-de-ene; formerly called Univision Deportes Network) is a Mexican Spanish language sports channel. Owned by TelevisaUnivision, it is an extension of the company's sports division of the same name, with TUDN the acronym of Tel ...

as a football analyst. He was partially removed from the channel in early 2024, although as of June 2024 he continues making appearances on Foro TV.

Personal life

Early in his refereeing career, Rodríguez was nicknamed "Chiquidrácula" due to his resemblance with a Mexican TV character of child

Count Dracula Count Dracula () is the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. He is considered the prototypical and archetypal vampire in subsequent works of fiction. Aspects of the character are believed by some to have been i ...

, portrayed by Carlos Espejel. Later, Rodríguez stated that he preferred to be called "Chiquimarco", as he deemed the Dracula reference to be incompatible with his

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. A sports professor during his early days as a referee, Rodríguez also formerly served as a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

. In July 2023, Rodríguez was indicted on charges of

domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...

against his wife and one of his daughters.

World Cup matches officiated

References

External links

FIFA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Marco Antonio 1973 births Living people 2006 FIFA World Cup referees Mexican football referees Copa América referees People from Mexico City 2010 FIFA World Cup referees Mexican Protestants CONCACAF Gold Cup referees CONCACAF Champions Cup referees 2014 FIFA World Cup referees Sportspeople from Mexico City