Doğan Babacan

Doğan Babacan — Biography

Doğan Babacan was the first Turkish referee to take charge of a World Cup match. His card to Chile's Carlos Caszely in the 1974 West Germany-Chile game was the first red card in the tournament's history; red cards had been introduced in 1970, but none was shown at that tournament.

Before refereeing he was a player: he started in the Beşiktaş youth team in 1946 and wore the shirts of Beyoğluspor, Karşıyaka, Kasımpaşa, Emniyet and Hacettepe. He turned to refereeing in 1955, joined FIFA's list in 1968 and kept the badge for ten years. He worked at the 1972 Munich Olympics. At the 1974 World Cup he took part in three matches: he refereed West Germany-Chile, and was an assistant referee in Bulgaria-Uruguay, taken by England's Jack Taylor, and in a game taken by Wales's Clive Thomas. That year, on 10 April in Glasgow, he sent off three Atlético Madrid players in the goalless first leg of the European Cup semi-final against Celtic. He also refereed the 1975 UEFA Super Cup (Bayern Munich-Dynamo Kyiv), a European Cup semi-final in 1977 and a UEFA Cup semi-final in 1978.

He retired from refereeing in 1978 and worked for a time as a football pundit. He died on 18 May 2018, aged 88, and was laid to rest the next day.