Nicolás Gallo (referee)
Colombian soccer referee
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicolás Gallo Barragán (August 9, 1986) is a Colombian soccer referee who has been a FIFA international referee since 2018.[2][3][4][5][6][7]
Biography
Born in Ibagué, he made his debut in Colombia during the 2011 Liga DIMAYOR Clausura Tournament.[8][9]
In 2021, he was part of the officiating team at the 2020 Summer Olympic, held in Tokyo, Japan, and postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11]
As the video assistant referee (VAR) official in 2021, during a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying match between Paraguay and Uruguay, which was tied 0–0, the video referee upheld the incorrect disallowance of a goal by Uruguay’s Jonathan Rodríguez in the first half.[12][13]
Roldán was the assistant referee who flagged the offside on Jonathan Rodríguez’s goal attempt, and Gallo reviewed the video and confirmed the on-field decision.[14][15][16] Due to the error, CONMEBOL suspended the Colombian referees.[14][17]
He was the only Colombian referee at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, having been selected to join the VAR team.[18] For the 2026 FIFA World Cup, to be held in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, he was once again selected to be part of the VAR team as a representative of CONMEBOL.[19][20] In addition to Nicolás, two other Colombian referees were selected: Andrés Rojas as the head referee and Alexander Guzmán as an assistant referee.[3][21][22]