Webb is a former policeman who was made a FIFA-listed referee in 2005 and keeps things in control during the season in the English Premier League. Webb has been a well-respected referee over the years and has earned a reputation of being one of the best in the game. He was focused on by Belgian film-makers at the European Championship in 2008 for a film named “The Referees.” Webb was also assigned the UEFA Champions League final in May in Madrid between Bayern Munich and Inter Milan.

So far at this year’s World Cup in South Africa, the Englishman’s games have included Switzerland’s 1-0 win over Spain in the group stage as well as Slovakia’s 3-2 win over Italy which knocked the defending World Cup champions out of the tournament. He also worked Brazil’s 3-0 win over Chile in the playoff round.

Webb’s father was also a referee and the youngster began officiating games when he was 18 years old. In 2003 he took control of his first match in the English Premier League when Wolverhampton Wanderers kicked off against Fulham.

He officiated the FA Community Shield game in 2005 between Chelsea and Arsenal and in November of the same year, refereed his first national team game, which was a friendly between Portugal and Northern Ireland in Belfast.

Webb was in charge of the English League Cup final in 2007 between Chelsea and Arsenal. The same year he worked his first Champions League match and was sent to the Canada for the U-20 World Cup, where he presided over five games, including a semi-final between the Czech Republic and Austria. He also refereed in last year’s Confederations Cup in South Africa.

Webb becomes the fourth Englishman to referee a World Cup final game. The others were George Reader (1950), William Ling (1954) and John Taylor (1974). Benito Archundia of Mexico will referee the third-place game between Uruguay and Germany in Port Elizabeth on July 10th.

A prime example of this happened in 2004 when referee Urs Meier of Switzerland was forced into hiding after he called back Sol Campbell’s goal against Portugal at Euro 2004 that would have propelled England into the semi finals.

Meier recently stated that all world-class referees agree that modern technology should be used to protect both the sport as well as the officials. Meier said that he needed police protection because he received hate email and death threats after disallowing Campbell’s goal in the last minutes of the game. Meier, who is currently a German television refereeing analyst, said that a ball with a microchip in it would be an ideal method to help officials and prevent the abuse they have to take over bad calls.

Meier said every good referee wants to be helped and he believes it’s the easiest solution when it comes to making the right decisions. He said he could imagine the uproar if England and Germany were playing in the cup final and Frank Lampard’s goal was disallowed as it was by the referee on June 27, especially as the same thing happened in the World Cup final between the two nations 44 years ago.

He doesn’t blame Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda for the mistake as he said it’s nearly impossible to tell from the referee’s angle if the ball crossed the goal line. Larrionda has now been sent home from the World Cup by FIFA. Meier said after his call in 2004, the newspapers gave out his address and phone number.

He added that if two more officials were used in the game, the right call might have been made, but only if they were placed on the goal lines. He still thinks the micro chipped ball would work the best as players could block the view of a camera or extra official.