Abraham Klein

Abraham Klein became a football referee at an early age and shortly became a senior, local, and international referee for many years. Internationally, he officiated from 1964-83 in 22 matches between National “A” teams. He officiated at three FIFA World Cups (1970, 1978, 1982), skipping the 1974 edition in Germany for security reasons after the events of the 1972 München Olympics. He directed four matches at the Olympics, including two bronze medal finals in 1968 and 1976.

Klein also worked to improve the occupation of refereeing and use his vast experience to change refereeing in Israel to a professional status, contributing to the education and training of the younger generations of referees. With his enormous experience and reputation, he made connections all over the world, which contributed to the advancement of Israeli sport.

His son, Amit Klein, an urban geographer, was also a referee for almost half of his young life, becoming the youngest referee in the Israel First Division League and receiving the FIFA badge in January 1995. In the same year Abraham Klein, in cooperation with Rubi Shalev, wrote a book about his physical training as a referee called The Referee’s Referee – Becoming the Best.