<p>A dancing chemist, a British bobby and doppelganger for a Hollywood star, a Swedish millionaire, and a hair salon owner are all playing a central role at this year’s World Cup.<br /><br />These are just some of the varied off-pitch personas of the 25 referees attempting to keep things rolling smoothly as players from all corners of the globe collide in Brazil.<br /><br />Chip away at the granite-like veneer of the man in the middle and there’s a treasure trove of weird and wonderful aspects of humanity waiting to be unearthed. <br /><br />Take Noumandiez Doue for example. He created history when he became the first referee from the Ivory Coast to take charge of a World Cup game, Chile’s 3-1 win over Australia.<br />As well as being one of Africa’s top officials the 43-year-old is a qualified chemist, “and I like to dance”.<br /><br />Any hard-up players taking part in the United States’ victory over Ghana on Monday should have tapped up their ref, Jonas Eriksson.<br /><br />The Swede is known as “the laid-back millionaire” after making a seven-figure fortune selling shares in a media rights business.<br /><br /> A Yorkshire policeman will be keeping law and order in Colombia’s second Group C run out against Ivory Coast on Thursday.<br /><br />Howard Webb, handed the honour of refereeing the 2010 World Cup final, says his colleagues compare him to a Hollywood star. “But unfortunately not a good looking one,” he admitted to fifa.com.<br /><br /> “They say I look like Shrek, which explains why I have a picture of him as a screensaver on my mobile.”<br /><br />House burgled? Car pranged? Then Cuneyt Cakir’s your man -- the Turkish referee practices as an insurance broker back in Istanbul, that is when he’s not turning the pages of a Stephen King chiller.<br /><br />Any Belgians or Algerians of a religious nature in Tuesday’s clash in Belo Horizonte will have found a kindred spirit in their referee -- Marco Rodriguez. Away from football, the former PE teacher is at home behind the pulpit delivering sermons in his capacity as a Protestant preacher in a church outside Mexico City.<br /><br />Players needing a short back and sides -- Marouane Fellaini? -- need look no further than Bjorn Kuipers.<br /><br />The Dutchman who refereed Real Madrid’s Champions League final win over Atletico last month owns a hair salon as well as a couple of grocery stores back in Holland.<br /><br />Meanwhile it might be best not to mess with Bakary Papa Gassama. The first Gambian to referee at the World Cup is a devotee in his spare time of buri, a Gambian take on wrestling. “I’m not really very good at it but like to do it as a hobby.”<br /><br />As a former High School maths teacher, American Mark Geiger shouldn’t have any problems adding up the yellow cards -- unlike Brazil’s Sandro Ricci. <br /><br />He made the fatal error of dishing out a second booking but failing to send the recipient off in a domestic league game.<br /><br />Ricci made history at the on Sunday by awarding the first score by goal-line technology to France against Honduras. He’s also an old sentimentalist.</p>.<p>“Before each game,” he explains, “I take off my ring and kiss it four times in honour of the four women in my life -- my mother, my wife and my two daughters.”</p>
<p>A dancing chemist, a British bobby and doppelganger for a Hollywood star, a Swedish millionaire, and a hair salon owner are all playing a central role at this year’s World Cup.<br /><br />These are just some of the varied off-pitch personas of the 25 referees attempting to keep things rolling smoothly as players from all corners of the globe collide in Brazil.<br /><br />Chip away at the granite-like veneer of the man in the middle and there’s a treasure trove of weird and wonderful aspects of humanity waiting to be unearthed. <br /><br />Take Noumandiez Doue for example. He created history when he became the first referee from the Ivory Coast to take charge of a World Cup game, Chile’s 3-1 win over Australia.<br />As well as being one of Africa’s top officials the 43-year-old is a qualified chemist, “and I like to dance”.<br /><br />Any hard-up players taking part in the United States’ victory over Ghana on Monday should have tapped up their ref, Jonas Eriksson.<br /><br />The Swede is known as “the laid-back millionaire” after making a seven-figure fortune selling shares in a media rights business.<br /><br /> A Yorkshire policeman will be keeping law and order in Colombia’s second Group C run out against Ivory Coast on Thursday.<br /><br />Howard Webb, handed the honour of refereeing the 2010 World Cup final, says his colleagues compare him to a Hollywood star. “But unfortunately not a good looking one,” he admitted to fifa.com.<br /><br /> “They say I look like Shrek, which explains why I have a picture of him as a screensaver on my mobile.”<br /><br />House burgled? Car pranged? Then Cuneyt Cakir’s your man -- the Turkish referee practices as an insurance broker back in Istanbul, that is when he’s not turning the pages of a Stephen King chiller.<br /><br />Any Belgians or Algerians of a religious nature in Tuesday’s clash in Belo Horizonte will have found a kindred spirit in their referee -- Marco Rodriguez. Away from football, the former PE teacher is at home behind the pulpit delivering sermons in his capacity as a Protestant preacher in a church outside Mexico City.<br /><br />Players needing a short back and sides -- Marouane Fellaini? -- need look no further than Bjorn Kuipers.<br /><br />The Dutchman who refereed Real Madrid’s Champions League final win over Atletico last month owns a hair salon as well as a couple of grocery stores back in Holland.<br /><br />Meanwhile it might be best not to mess with Bakary Papa Gassama. The first Gambian to referee at the World Cup is a devotee in his spare time of buri, a Gambian take on wrestling. “I’m not really very good at it but like to do it as a hobby.”<br /><br />As a former High School maths teacher, American Mark Geiger shouldn’t have any problems adding up the yellow cards -- unlike Brazil’s Sandro Ricci. <br /><br />He made the fatal error of dishing out a second booking but failing to send the recipient off in a domestic league game.<br /><br />Ricci made history at the on Sunday by awarding the first score by goal-line technology to France against Honduras. He’s also an old sentimentalist.</p>.<p>“Before each game,” he explains, “I take off my ring and kiss it four times in honour of the four women in my life -- my mother, my wife and my two daughters.”</p>