The six-foot-six referee with distinctive looks is mostly remembered by football fans worldwide as the most respected and authoritative football referee of all time. His authority as the man in the middle of the pitch of play placed him as the most consistent referee of all times. The former financial consultant took charge of the pulsating 1999 UEFA Champions League Final between Bayern Munich and Manchester United at the Camp Nou in Barcelona. Three years later in 2002 he was appointed to direct the world's football showdown, the World Cup Final between Brazil and Germany in Yokohoma, Japan.
Born in Bologna, Italy, few know that during his teenage years Collina played as a central defender for a local team but eventually took up refereeing in 1977. Since then the Italian never looked back and was voted as FIFA's referee of the year for six consecutive times from 1998 to 2003.
Looking at his physique now makes you think that probably he is still fit to direct football matches at top level. And this is what he stresses about over and over again "It is all about being fit and in particular being lucid. Without these two ingredients mixed together you cannot succeed to be a top level football referee at the highest level" he told The Malta Independent ahead of his presentation as a guest speaker to "The Economist - The World in 2017" event here in Malta.
Can a referee be perfect in this modern demanding era of professional football?
It is not easy - certainly he has to be a mixture of different things. He has to be an athlete, because as you know, today football is played at a very fast and high tempo, and this means that you have to be an athlete. A top level match official cannot get tired whatsoever because he will lose lucidity. It is all about being lucid! Obviously apart from being an athlete you have to know the real interpretations of the laws of the game, or interpretations of different incidents, and of course being consistent.
You need to know the game of football because if you do not know the game you will be always late in your decisions, so this means that if you know football you are a step ahead of knowing what is going to happen before it happens. These are the main characteristics that a top level referee should have.
Personality is another characteristic. Surely it makes part of someone who wants to make his decision accepted by others. Teamwork with his match officials is very essential, especially as the number of match officials on the field of play is becoming bigger. This obviously has become an added value for the referee. Taking a decision is always a matter of courage; you need courage to take important decisions. As I said it is a combination of different things and characteristics.
I always say it is easy to say "I like pizza". But there is a good difference between a pizza and a good pizza. A good pizza is made by quality ingredients.
Another ingredient to become a top level referee is having talent. If you have no talent you cannot become a top referee but it does not mean that if you have talent you can get to the top; so you have to acquire talent with good results so you have to work very hard. So as you can see good overall ingredients or shall we say characteristics make a top level football referee
Do you work closely with your referees in order to study the tactics of football sides and the characteristics of individual top level footballers?
Today reading the game or knowing beforehand what is going to happen means that a top referee has studied in detail about the tactics of the teams and what the players do, the characteristics of these players and teams. It is crucial. If a team plays man-to-man or zone in a defensive corner kick, here the referee has the duty to take a decision because he has to focus on something - in this case man-to-man or zone. If the team/s concerned play offside within the 16 metres or 35 metres zone, well for an assistant referee it is a completely different match.
If a team/s play with inverted wings, in this case if a left-footed player is playing on the right makes it a completely different development of the play, because a left-footed player on the right probably goes inside to cross the ball. So knowing these factors beforehand makes it easier for a referee. Another example is about out swinging or in swinging corners. In this case a referee can focus differently if he already knows the trajectory of the ball.
So there are so many details that are considered for a referee to be one step forward and this is crucial in top level football today. Match analysts assisted the UEFA EURO 2016 referees with key information on the 24 teams taking part, their players and tactics to help them get ready for matches at the final tournament in France.
What where the most memorable moments of your career?
"Certainly these were two memorable matches particularly the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final because as you know the outcome of the match was completely changed in the 90 plus minutes (Manchester United beat Bayern Munich with two injury time goals to beat the Germans 2-1). A World Cup Final is something memorable. Certainly after both these matches no one spoke of the referee, if they did they did in a positive manner so this was good!"
Have you ever taken a decision which maybe you were in doubt of or unsure of?
When you take a decision you have to be sure of what you are going to decide and you decide over the elements you have so you cannot be doubtful - you decide but you decide when you have all the elements. Sometimes you have to decide and follow your qualities that lead you to a good decision.
You are Chief Refereeing Officer at UEFA and Chairman of the Referees Committee at FIFA. How will you live up to these two roles?
They are two different roles. I will see in the future.
Are you in favour of the video technology in modern football?
I am in favour of the experiment. I think it is important to work with this experiment and to try to support the referee but again we are still in the middle of this experiment, we need to be patient, to see how the experiment will go through and the outcome of it and if it is there to assist the referee, well why not implement it?"
How do you look at the game of football and everything that is happening around it?
Well it is something very enjoyable. We are watching matches played with high tempo, top class world class players with top level skills. The product offered to TV is very professional so let us continue to enjoy the game as it is - very enjoyable!"
Who do you think is the world's number one referee at the moment?
It is not a matter of ranking or who is the number one. When you manage a team you need many numbers one, you cannot rely on single figures. You need to have a team and that is what we are always looking for.
Photos by Domenic Aquilina