Former FIFA match official Jonas Eriksson has slammed legendary referee Pierluigi Collina in a scathing rant.
The Swede served under Collina during his officiating career, which saw him spend 16 years as a FIFA referee.
Eriksson has slammed his old boss CollinaGetty The Swede claims he will never speak to the legendary referee againGettyDuring that time, Eriksson oversaw matches in the Champions League, at the 2014 World Cup and took charge of the 2016 Europa League final.
However, Collina’s actions prior to his retirement in 2018 left a sour taste in the 51-year-old’s mouth.
Reflecting on their relationship, Eriksson told White and Jordan: “I think we all remember him as a great referee.
“But as a leader for referees, as a boss and as a manager I met a lot of people in my life within the world of football and he’s the worst possible person you could have as your boss.
“In so many ways he’s a person who when the camera is there he’s smiling and everything is happy. When the camera is not there he turns his back on you.
“The way he’s communicating or does not communicate with you, the way he asks people to speak up, say your opinion and when someone has an opinion which he doesn’t like they are being thrown under the bus.
“When it’s not allowed for referees to travel abroad to referee, he travels to Ukraine for £500,000-per-year as a consultant because laws of the game are different for other people than for him.
“Also, my career ended and you may think that I’m bitter or angry. I mean this was six, seven years ago. What happened was when I was not appointed for the World Cup 2018 on November 17, 2017.
“I thought at least I would receive a phone call from my boss but I didn’t. I had to read in the Guardian. I think it was a list of referees. I wasn’t appointed.
“So I called him and he pressed that he was busy. I sent a message: ‘Please call me. I need to talk to you.’
Eriksson was not told he had been snubbed for the 2018 World Cup before retiringGetty Collina now serves as the chairman of FIFA’s referees committeeGetty“He was my boss for five, six years. He didn’t call me back. He never talked to me after that, he avoided me because he couldn’t handle telling me the truth.”
Collina himself retired in 2005 and has since worked as the chairman of FIFA’s referees committee.
His actions prior to Eriksson’s retirement have all but ended the pair’s relationship.
Asked if he would ever speak to Collina again, he added: “I’ve told myself that if I ever run into him I will just walk straight on.
“I was at the World Cup 2023 in Australia, New Zealand following the Swedish national team, the ladies team, and I was invited by the Swedish FA.
“I have a great relationship with them so I was in the VIP lounge and I thought, ‘let’s see if I meet him’.
“Because then I will just walk straight and I met up the general secretary Mattias Grafström who’s from Sweden and said, ‘should we take a picture and send to Colina?’ I said, ‘no, we should not.’”
Collina is widely regarded as one of the most respected referees of all-time having had an illustrious officiating career.
The stern Italian notably took charge of the 1999 Champions League final as well as the World Cup’s showpiece clash three years later.
As for Eriksson, he ended his career with a total of 426 matches as a referee across domestic, continental and international competitions.
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