What happened with the referee Byron Moreno, who eliminated Italy against Korea in the 2002 World Cup?

The 2002 World Cup was one of the most controversial World Cups in history. Although it was a quite memorable final with Brazil and Germany, the reality is that the path to said match was affected by the referee's influence in favor of one of the hosts, such as South Korea. In fact, the Asian team reached the semifinals of the competition and ended up finishing fourth in the tournament.

At the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno whistled the Round of 16 game between the host team and Italy. During the match, the Ecuadorian sent off Totti for having faked a foul to get a penalty. When he was really knocked down, in addition to disallowing a goal for the 'azzuaras'.

Francesco Trapattoni (Italy coach) and the national media pointed out that Moreno was a conspiracy against it. In order to favor the Asians to reach the Quarterfinals. Even the Italian media, Corriere dello Sport, carried out an investigation on the matter and came to the conclusion that South Korea benefited from Italy and Spain to be able to transcend in the World Cup.

In September of that same year, Byron Moreno was suspended for 20 games and investigated by Ecuadorian Soccer authorities. Once he had the sanction lifted. In his third coached match between Deportivo Quito and Deportivo Cuenca, the whistler expelled three players from the rival team unfairly and received a suspension again. On the other hand, the referee was also arrested in 2010 for carrying a kilo of illegal substance in his body at New York.

Byron was attacked at a 9-a-side soccer tournament

In April 2023, Moreno was present directing at a 9-a-side soccer tournament in Guayaquil, where he was attacked by one of the players. The former professional referee whistled the end of the game and a member of the teams approached him from behind to push him and kick him, causing Byron to fall to the floor and immediately the other players restrained the judge from reacting.