Jean Langenus
John ("Jean") Langenus (b. December 8, 1891 in Bercham, Belgium – d. October 1, 1952 in Antwerpen, Belgium) was an international football referee best known for being the referee in the first 1930 FIFA World Cup Final in Montevideo, in July, 1930.
Early Career
Langenus first undertook his refereeing exam only to fail it when he wrongly answered a question posed by examiners. The question asked of him was what is the correct procedure if the ball strikes a low-flying plane. Langenus did not answer and failed the exam [1].
Uruguay
Langenus, a diplomatic clerk in his home city, was one of only three European referees who travelled to Uruguay on board the Conte Verde, which set sail from Villefranche-Sur-Mer, just south of Nice, on June 21, 1930. This was the same ship that carried Jules Rimet, the trophy, the footballers representing France, Romania and Belgium and the other European referees Henri Christophe, (Belgium) and Thomas Balway, (France). Also on board was Costel Radulescu, the Romanian coach who worked for the Romanian Soccer Federation and operated as a linesman on two match days when Romania were not playing. [2]
1928 Olympic Games
Langenus had established his status as a referee who could be trusted on the big stage at the 1928 Olympic Games when he refereed the first round match in which Uruguay beat the Netherlands. In the previous Olympic Games football tournament there had been considerable argument aroused by the decision of Georges Vallat, the French referee, to award a penalty to Uruguay in the final ten minutes of their semi-final with Holland. Such was the anger of the Dutch players that day that Uruguay disputed the decision of FIFA to appoint Johannes Mutters to the final. With memories still strong and the irony of an early re-match between the two there was a lot resting on Langenus' performance in front of 40,000 [3]. He performed well and went on to referee the Bronze Medal match in Amsterdam.
His participation in Uruguay in 1930 was assured by the fact that Belgium were one of only 4 participant nations from Europe; neither of the Dutchmen Willem Eymers nor Johannes Mutters (who refereed the Gold Medal match in 1928) attended the event.
1930 World Cup
Langenus' fellow Belgian, (the more experienced) Henri Christophe, who had refereed at the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Games, ran the line to him in the final along with the Bolivian Ulysses Saucedo (who had awarded three first half penalties during the Argentina v Mexico Group A match). Langenus would referee four matches in Uruguay in all: two group matches, the semi-final involving the hosts, and the final (all of which were played at the Estadio Centenario).
For the final Langenus wore a suit jacket, golfing plus fours and a red striped tie [4].
The 1930 final was made particularly difficult on account of the competing interests of the Argentinian and Uruguayan teams each asking Langenus to allow them to use their own footballs. Langenus decided on using one each half and, so the story goes, secured an armed escort from the stadium to a waiting ship at the port (for him and his two cohorts) in the event of post-match trouble, only agreeing to take charge of the match hours beforehand after this assurance was granted: The 'Daily Telegraph' Football Chronicle, 2004 (ed. Barrett) p. 51. Of his reception in South America, Langenus stated: “Never before have I experienced such a public warmth that the public of Montevideo afforded me at the Final, I have not even experienced that kind of reception back on games in Europe.”
Later Career
He would go on to referee in both the 1934 and 1938 World Cup tournaments but was especially critical of the former, calling the tournament 'the greatest sporting fiasco ever'. Brian Glanville wrote in his 'Football Memories: 50 years of the Beautiful Game' Langenus later noted that the 1934 World Cup was not a popular competition outside of Italy. Langenus would later write 3 books on refereeing one of which was called "Whistling through the World" [5] and retired in 1945. [6]
-- appreciation to Guido de Windt; Belgian Football Association, and Andrea Rose of Ghent for his assistance in this entry --