Riccardo Lattanzi

Riccardo Lattanzi came from a family of referees, with his father Vitale, and brothers Renato and Vittorio, all being match officials. Riccardo took control of 134 Serie A matches between 1968-81, with the Fiorentina - Ascoli match on 17 May 1981 being his last match. His total included one Milano derby, and some “classics” including Juventus against the two Milano clubs, Internazionale and A. C. An international referee, Lattanzi officiated in 85 International matches, including one game at the 1980 Moskva Olympics. He was also one of the linesmen for the final between Czechoslovakia and East Germany.

Top UEFA club matches Lattanzi took control of included the two semi-final matches in the 1976 UEFA Cup between Liverpool and Barcelona. He also officiated in the second leg of the 1979 semi-final between Hertha Berlin and Red Star Belgrade. He retired as a referee after taking charge of the 1981 European Cup Winners’ Cup final between Dinamo Tbilisi and Carl Zeiss Jena, which saw Tbilisi win their first European trophy.

Throughout his career, Lattanzi won many awards. He won the Florindo Longagnani Award in 1968 as the best novice Italian referee in Serie A; the Giovanni Mauro Award as Best Referee of the Year in 1975; the Giovanni Galeati Award as the best new Italian International referee (1978); the Generoso Dattilo Award as the best Italian international referee (1981) and, in 1992, he posthumously won the Saverio Giulini Award as the best official of the A. I. A. (Associazione Italiana Arbitri), the Association of Italian Football Referees.