Wilmar Roldan, the 35-year old referee from Colombia, was one of the favorites to see justice being done in the final game of the tournament from the very beginning.

In a tournament that was harshly criticized by the performance of some of its referees, Colombian Wilmar Roldan will be the man in charge of guarding the player's safety on the pitch. Roldán, 35, quickly became one of the favorites to be in the final match of the tournament, since other top performers such as Sandro Ricci from Brazil were left out due to their controversial calls. Another candidate, Mexican Roberto García Orozco, had to leave the competition after the Quarter-final stage, since he will also be working in CONCACAF's Gold Cup, starting next week.

Once CONMEBOL let the teams know who the referee for the final game would be, sources indicated the Chilean delegates were not happy with the South American body's decision, since they believe Roldán will end up shifting the game to favor Argentina. The Colombian worked in two games prior to his Copa América final appearance: the Argentina - Paraguay match from the group stage, and the Quarter-Final game between Perú and Bolivia. 

Roldán and Ángel Di Maria, during the Group B match between Argentina and Paraguay.

Roldán has been no stranger to controversy in this tournament, since he was criticized after both matches for being too permissive to the players. During the course of the first game, he gave Argentina a doubtful penalty against La Albirroja, which turned out to become Messi's only goal in the tournament. In the Quarter-final match between Perú and Bolivia, players from both teams entered a heated discussion between each other after Paulo Guerrero started showing off. Players shove each other around the pitch, with Roldán being a spectator. He failed to show any yellow cards during the scuffle.

Roldán, getting Guerrero away from Bolivian players angry at him.

The Colombian has been an International FIFA referee since 2008. He has performed in a number of tournaments, including the 2011 Copa América, the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he refereed the Final match. He was included in the ref list for the 2014 World Cup, where he was again involved in controversy after denying Mexico of two legitimate goals against Cameroon in their first Group Stage match. After that performance,his linesman was ejected from the tournament, and Roldán ended up refereeing one more match. Back in 2013, he was named the Best American referee by FIFA.

 

 

Match details, result and original broadcast info

Chile P0 - 0 Argentina

July 4, 2015 4:00pmEstadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos (Santiago de Chile)

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