Ivan Henning Hjalmar Eklind (October 15, 1905 - July 23, 1981) was a football referee from Sweden

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....

 famous for refereeing the controversial 1934 FIFA World Cup Final

1934 FIFA World Cup

The 1934 FIFA World Cup was the second FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Italy from 27 May to 10 June 1934....

 between Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

 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...

.

Rene Mercet

Regarding the 1934 tournament Jean Langenus, the famous Belgian referee recorded his concerns regarding the way the tournament was organised and run; a Swiss referee Rene Mercet

Rene Mercet

Rene Mercet was a Swiss international referee in the 1920s and 1930s who became infamous for his performance in the Italy v Spain replayed quarter-final in the 1934 FIFA World Cup....

 (who was appointed to officiate at the opening game) was suspended later by the Swiss Football Association

Swiss Football Association

The Swiss Football Association is the governing body of football in Switzerland. It organizes the football league, the Swiss Football League, and the Switzerland national football team. It is based in Bern....

 for his performance in the replayed quarter-final match involving Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

.

The Final

In the final, Eklind penalised a two-footed lunge by Luis Monti

Luis Monti

Luis Felipe Monti was an Italian Argentine footballer who played as a midfielder. Monti has the distinction of having played in two FIFA World Cup final matches with two different national teams. He played the first of these finals with his native Argentina in 1930, which he lost to Uruguay; and...

 on František Svoboda

František Svoboda

František Svoboda was a Czech football player.He played club football mostly for SK Slavia Praha and in 1935 became the top goalscorer of the Czechoslovak First League....

 with the award of simply a free-kick. Eraldo Monzeglio

Eraldo Monzeglio

Eraldo Monzeglio was an Italian football defender.Monzeglio was born in Vignale Monferrato, in the province of Alessandria ....

 fouled Antonin Puc

Antonín Puc

Antonín Puč was a former Czech football player, the all-time leading scorer for the Czechoslovak national team....

 inside the Italian penalty area, no penalty was awarded. Giuseppe Meazza

Giuseppe Meazza

Giuseppe "Peppino" Meazza , also known as il Balilla, was an Italian footballer playing mainly for Internazionale in the 1930s, scoring 242 goals in 365 games for the club. He led Italy to win two World Cups: in 1934 and in 1938, winning the Golden Ball Award in 1934. He is widely considered the...

 punched Rudolf Krcil

Rudolf Krcil

Rudolf Krčil was a former Czech football player and later manager.He played for several clubs, including Teplitzer FK and SK Slavia Praha....

 in the back. However, in both matches that Eklind officiated in, Italy won beating Austria 1-0, and Czechoslovakia (after extra time in the final) 2-1.

Later career

Eklind officiated in 6 World Cup finals matches over a 16 year period (1934–1950) (one as Assistant Referee to Baert in June 1938, ironically, for the game in which Italy donned their fascist all-black strip when playing France), including the Brazil triumph against Poland in Strasbourg in which 11 goals were scored and a Group A match at the 1950 World Cup. Baert was also to go on to enjoy an incredibly lengthy international career.