Esfandiar Baharmast is a retired Iran

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

ian-American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 football (soccer)

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 referee best known for supervising two matches during the 1998 FIFA World Cup

1998 FIFA World Cup

The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

 held in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

At that tournament, he was briefly vilified for giving a controversial late penalty to Norway

Norway national football team

The Norway national football team represents Norway in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of Norway, the governing body for football in Norway. Norway's home ground is Ullevaal Stadion in Oslo and their head coach is Egil Olsen...

 in the dying minutes of their first-round game with Brazil

Brazil national football team

The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...

, only to be vindicated the following day when previously unseen TV footage from a new camera angle showed that he had made the correct decision, and that Norway's striker Tore Andre Flo

Tore André Flo

Tore André Flo is a Norwegian football striker, who plays for the Norwegian club Sogndal. He initially retired after being released by the Milton Keynes Dons in 2009, but announced his comeback in March 2011. His brothers Jostein Flo and Jarle Flo, and cousin Håvard Flo are also professional...

 had indeed had his jersey pulled by Brazil's defender Júnior Baiano

Júnior Baiano

Raimundo Ferreira Ramos Jr. is a retired Brazilian footballer.-Club:...

.

He continued his involvement in refereeing by becoming the Director of Officials for US Soccer in August of 1998. He has been a member of CONCACAF Referees' Committee since 2003 and a FIFA Instructor.

As a FIFA instructor, he has been involved in numerous tournaments, such as FIFA U-17 World Cup in Finland (2003), FIFA U-20 World Cups in Netherlands (2005) and Canada (2007), FIFA World Cup in Germany (2006) and Beijing Olympic Games in China (2008).

He is currently working for FIFA as a technical instructor in the Referee Assistance Program (FIFA RAP) and deals with the instruction and preparation of the referees for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.