Erik Fredriksson is a former Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 football referee. He officiated four World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

 games: Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia national football team

The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in association football. It enjoyed a modicum of success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international...

 v Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland national football team

The Northern Ireland national football team represents Northern Ireland in international association football. Before 1921 all of Ireland was represented by a single side, the Ireland national football team, organised by the Irish Football Association...

 in 1982

1982 FIFA World Cup

The 1982 FIFA World Cup, the 12th FIFA World Cup, was held in Spain from 13 June to 11 July. The tournament was won by Italy, after defeating West Germany 3–1 in the final.-Host selection:...

; Italy

Italy national football team

The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...

 v Bulgaria

Bulgaria national football team

The FIFA Bulgaria national football team is an association football team fielded by the Bulgarian Football Union, a member association of UEFA. The team's home ground is Vasil Levski in Sofia and Luboslav Penev is in charge manager after replacement of Lothar Matthäus...

 (the tournament opening match) and USSR

USSR national football team

The Soviet Union National Football Team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union...

 v Belgium in 1986

1986 FIFA World Cup

The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...

; and Argentina

Argentina national football team

The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...

 v USSR

USSR national football team

The Soviet Union National Football Team was the national football team of the Soviet Union. It ceased to exist after the break up of the Union...

 in 1990

1990 FIFA World Cup

The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...

.

Fredriksson's handling of the latter match caused controversy due to his failure to see Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona

Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...

 punching a goal-bound Soviet header off the line when the score was still goalless. The USSR eventually lost the game 2-0, and were so incensed at Fredriksson's refereeing that they made a formal protest to FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 the following day.

Fredriksson also refereed the Euro 84 first-round tie between Belgium and Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia national football team

The Yugoslavia national football team represented the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in association football. It enjoyed a modicum of success in international competition. In 1992, during the Yugoslav wars, the team was suspended from international...

 in Lens

Lens, Pas-de-Calais

Lens is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It is one of France's large Picarde cities along with Lille, Valenciennes, Amiens, Roubaix, Tourcoing, Arras, and Douai.-Metropolitan area:...

.