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Abraham Klein

Abraham Klein is an Israeli football referee who officiated international matches from 1965 to 1982, including games at three World Cups.

born 1934England v Brazil, 1970 World CupBrazil v Italy, 1982 World CupLinesman in the 1982 final

Born: 29 March 1934, Timișoara
Occupation: association football referee

Abraham Klein was born in 1934 in Timișoara

Klein was born on 29 March 1934 in Timișoara, Romania, to a Hungarian-speaking Jewish family. His father played football in the reserve team of MTK Budapest. He survived the Holocaust, spent about a year in the Netherlands as a teenager, and moved to Israel in October 1948.

He tried playing football without much success. During his military service he replaced an injured referee at a workplace league match, then studied the laws of the game and qualified as a referee. In August 1964 a FIFA referees official watched him at a cup final in Tzrifin and helped him get international matches.

His international career began in 1965 with an Italy v Poland match in Rome. He refereed at the 1968 Olympics and, at the 1970 World Cup, the England v Brazil match in Guadalajara. He did not attend the 1974 World Cup over fears of attacks on Israelis after the 1972 Munich massacre.

At the 1978 World Cup he refereed three matches, including Argentina v Italy and the third place match. Argentina opposed his appointment to the final. In 1982 he refereed Brazil v Italy and served as a linesman in the final in Madrid.