REFEREES from Portugal

Top 3

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Portuguese Referees of all time. This list of famous Portuguese Referees is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Pedro Proença (b. 1970)

With an HPI of 47.70, Pedro Proença is the most famous Portuguese Referee.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages on wikipedia.

Pedro Proença Oliveira Alves García (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾu pɾuˈẽsɐ]; born 3 November 1970) is a retired Portuguese football referee. Proença has refereed a number of notable matches including the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira, Taça de Portugal finals, Taça da Liga finals, as well as the final of both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA European Championship becoming the first referee to overview both finals of the main European competitions for clubs and national teams in the same year. In 2006–07, he was named as the Portuguese Referee of the Year. He was promoted to UEFA's Elite category at the start of the 2009–10 season. On 22 June 2011, he was named as "Best Referee" for the 2010–11 season by the Portuguese Football Federation. In January 2013, he was voted by the IFFHS as the Best Referee of 2012. Proença retired from refereeing in January 2015. In July 2015, six months after retiring from refereeing, he announced his candidature and was subsequently elected president of the Portuguese Professional Football League.

2. Olegário Benquerença (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 45.35, Olegário Benquerença is the 2nd most famous Portuguese Referee.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Olegário Manuel Bartolo Faustino Benquerença (born 18 October 1969 in Batalha) is a retired Portuguese football referee. As of 11 March 2009, he has refereed 11 matches in the Champions League and 11 matches in the UEFA Cup (not counting qualification rounds). He also refereed in qualifiers for 2006 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2008, and 2010 FIFA World Cup. He was preselected as a referee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and was the head referee in the quarterfinal between Uruguay and Ghana. In this game he gave Luis Suárez a red card for blatantly blocking a shot with his hands to save what would have been the extra-time winner. Benquerença gave a touchline dismissal to Auxerre defender Jean-Pascal Mignot, during an AFC Ajax v AJ Auxerre UEFA Champions League group stage match in October 2010. Mignot was warming up during the final moments of the game, having not yet taken to the field, and was sent-off for continually remonstrating against a decision that went against his team. He lives in the Portuguese city of Leiria.

3. Artur Soares Dias (b. 1979)

With an HPI of 36.06, Artur Soares Dias is the 3rd most famous Portuguese Referee.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Artur Manuel Ribeiro Soares Dias (born 14 July 1979) is a former Portuguese football referee who was a listed international referee for FIFA and UEFA from 2010 to 2024. After having accompanied his countryman Olegário Benquerença in several UEFA Champions League as additional assistant referee, Soares Dias refereed matches at 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. Furthermore, he was appointed by the European football governing body to take charge of the Under-21 Championship play-off match between Italy and Sweden. He was in the U20 World Cup in New Zealand in 2015 and refereed the quarter-final USA vs Serbia. He was also in Serbia in U17 Euro and refereeing the semi-final in 2011. On 5 January 2017, while Soares Dias was getting ready to do his training in Maia, two days before officiating the Primeira Liga match between Paços de Ferreira and FC Porto, he and his family received death threats by individuals whom he identified as being part of Super Dragões, an official supporters group of FC Porto. He reported the incident to the police against "unknown individuals". On 13 May 2024, he was selected by UEFA to referee the Europa Conference League final between Olympiacos and Fiorentina.