Domingo Massaro

Domingo Massaro was born and raised in Iquique into a large family, with 12 siblings. He excelled in football as a young child, and began his career with Sportiva Italiana in Iquique in the 1940s. In 1951, he was chosen for the Chilean national team to play at the Pan American Games in Buenos Aires where he would win a bronze medal. He was chosen for the national team once again in the next year, this time to play the Olympic Games in Helsinki where the Chilean team would ultimately lose its only match to Egypt by a score of 5-4.

He later played a few years with Audax Italiano before becoming a professional FIFA referee in 1960 with the Primera División de Chile. His 30-year refereeing career also included high-profile tournaments including the Copa de Libertadores, World Cup qualifiers, and Intercontinental Cup. One of the most famous matches in which Massaro served as a referee was the second leg of the 1969 Intercontinental Cup match between Estudiantes of Argentina and AC Milan. It became known as “La Bombonera Massacre” after Argentine players used extreme violence throughout the match, and Massaro sent off three players. Many Milan players were attacked during and after the game and three Estudiantes players were arrested and remanded in custody for on-field violence. One of them, Alberto Poletti was banned for life, while Ramon Aquirre and Eduardo Manero received 30 and 20-game bans, as well as five and three year international bans respectively. A fourth player, the Argentine-born Milan player, Nestor Combin, was arrested for desertion to avoid National Service in his home country.

Following his retirement from officiating, he began a career at Falabella, a chain of retail stores in Chile.