About Wilmar Roldan, the Colombian referee
In the 2015 edition of the Copa America held in Chile, the Colombian referee Wilmar Roldán was recognized as one of the best referees, which led him to officiate the final between the host nation and Argentina.
Roldán himself described this episode as "the best of my career". As a result, he was awarded the title of Best Referee in America at the end-of-year awards by the Uruguayan newspaper El Pais.
With this recent recognition, Roldán proved that being named "Best Referee in America in 2013" was not a coincidence. He has also received other distinctions. What are they?
In 2013, Roldán was ranked 8th as best referee in the world by FIFA and was recognized as the best referee in South America by CONMEBOL with 263 points.
After officiating matches at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Wilmar Roldán will referee the Peru vs. Ecuador match in the Copa America Centenario. He will be assisted by Alexander Guzman and Wilmar Navarro, both from Colombia. The fourth official will be Cuban referee Yadel Martinez.
Mentioning Wilmar Roldán brings up an interesting statistic: every time he has refereed a match involving Peru, the Peruvian national team has never lost. Here is a list of these matches:
Peru vs. Ecuador will be played in a climate-controlled stadium with a retractable pitch.
Matches refereed by Wilmar Roldán for the Peruvian national team:
Match | Tournament |
Bolivia (1) vs. Peru (3) | Copa America 2015 |
Peru (2) vs. Paraguay (1) | Friendly 2014 |
Peru (1) vs. Argentina (1) | Eliminations (2012) |
Peru (4) vs. Venezuela (1) | Copa America 2011 |
Uruguay (1) vs. Peru (1) | Copa America 2011 |