UEFA and German football mourn former referee Roth
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
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Former referee Volker Roth has passed away at the age of 83.
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Roth was one of Germany’s most renowned match officials in the 1970s and 1980s and later dedicated himself to the development of refereeing as a football administrator, both with the German Football Association (DFB) and UEFA, where he served as our Referees Committee chairman for six years.
"All of us in Europe's community of match officials are deeply saddened to learn that Volker Roth has passed away.
"Volker was an outstanding and widely respected referee, who went on to have a huge impact on the training and development of officials in his native Germany and across Europe in his roles with UEFA. He will be sorely missed, and our thoughts are with his friends and family at this time."
Born in 1942 in Chemnitz, Roth began officiating Bundesliga matches in 1972. He took charge of over 200 matches in German professional football and also officiated at UEFA EURO 1984 and the 1986 FIFA World Cup. He regularly oversaw matches in the European Cup and the UEFA Cup, earning a reputation as a reliable and respected referee.
After retiring from active refereeing, Roth remained dedicated to football and became chairman of the DFB Referees Committee, a position he held from 1995 to 2010. In this role, he worked tirelessly to promote and develop young referees, playing a key part in the professionalisation of German officiating.
Additionally, he was a UEFA Referees Committee member from 2000 to 2011, serving as its chairman for six years. He also worked as a UEFA referee observer, contributing to the development of elite match officials across Europe.
