Far from neutral Swiss

He is Swiss, his name is Urs Meier, and today he must be the least popular man in Britain.

For anyone who somehow missed the news, Meier is the referee who saw an imaginary foul when Sol Campbell headed what every English person in the stadium - and millions more watching on TV - thought was a perfectly good last-minute winner against Portugal last night.

Today, those fans were being urged to make their views on his performance known on the referee ' s personal website (www.ursmeier.ch/referee).

One email was circulating saying: "The ref last night has his own website (arrogant git that he is). If you log on and join his fan club you get the opportunity to give him feedback. Pass this on to all the England fans you know so we can bombard him with our comments!!!"

Charitable viewers might have put last night's decision down to a one-off human error. In fact it was the latest in a catalogue of questionable rulings by the referee, who runs his own "fan club".

Not surprisingly Meier, 45, whose girlfriend is also a referee, is an outspoken opponent of using TV to settle disputed calls in games - and he is certainly no stranger to them.

Nine months ago he had a curse put on him by Romanian witches after his decision to play an extra minute of added time in Copenhagen cost Romania their place in Euro 2004 when Denmark scored.

Three months later he sealed Celtic's exit from the Champions League by awarding a controversial penalty to Lyon.

Typically, Meier stuck to his guns after watching the video, describing his decision as "100 per cent correct".

He was rewarded by being put in charge of the Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Monaco in April, and was perhaps the only person in the stadium to miss Chelsea's Marcel Desailly elbowing Monaco's Fernando Morientes, and Claude Makelele's preposterous dive that brought a red card for his opponent.

Meier actually runs a store selling household goods in his home town of W¸renlos, employing 15 people.

He admits he started refereeing in 1977 because he wasn't good enough to become a top player. He was elevated to national level in 1991 and to international level in 1994.

Meier is separated from his wife, with whom he has two children - Marcia, 16, and 14-yearold-Cyrill - and now lives with 37-year-old Swiss female referee Nicole Petignat in Zurich. She was the first woman referee to officiate in a men's Uefa Cup game last year.

He describes himself as a motorcycle enthusiast and keen skiier who enjoys running and gymnastics, loves seafood and considers himself a wine connoisseur. He uses his website to express his view that using TV replays to decide disputed calls would be " dangerous" - although last night most English fans would have been willing to take a risk.