Damasco to blow full time
The Italian referee, Carlo Damasco, becomes Italy’s first-ever full-time referee.
Up till now the 34-year-old salesman from Naples has had a part-time contract with the Italian Rugby Federation with the ambition to be employed full-time in rugby refereeing. This has now come to fruition.
On his appointment he said: “A full time contract is a huge opportunity for me and I feel it’s necessary to thank the President of the Italian Rugby Union, Mr Giancarlo Dondi.”
Giampaolo Celon, the Italian Director of referees, said: “With Carlo Damasco a very important door has been opened for Italian referees. In the near future we are looking forward to appointing more referees.”
Earlier this year Damasco received his first International Rugby Board appointment when he went off to Tblissi to referee a World Cup qualifier between Georgia and Portugal, which Georgia won.
Later he was appointed to the IRB’s Nations Cup tournament in Bucharest where he refereed the Final game between Argentina A and the Emerging Springboks. Of that experience he said “It was a wonderful experience for me. I had the chance to meet some very nice people and I would like to thank every person that helped me out there. A very special thanks, though. to Mr David McHugh, former Irish test referee and tournament referee manager, whose help in my refereeing has been invaluable.”
Damasco has been on the IRB’s panel of touch judges and television match officials and it is in that capacity that he will go to the World Cup this year, clocking in on 31 August in Paris. It means that he is one of the top 28 referees in the world.
He said of the World Cup: “I have worked as touch judge in the Six Nations and in several Test matches but, I am sure, the World Cup will have a different effect on me. The World Cup is the most important tournament and one month is a long time, but I hope to improve with every opportunity that presents itself.”
He has been appointed to five matches. “England vs South Africa is my top game and will be an honour to assist Joel Jutge from the line, as well as the other referees that I’ll be with.”
Damasco has been refereeing for 13 years. He had been playing scrumhalf for Partenope Napoli, a club in Serie A which is the second division of Italian club rugby. He also played for Italy Under-17 against France. But then the club imported a scrumhalf from Argentina. That ended young Carlo’s playing career and “at 21 I started a new adventure”. He started refereeing.
Things started going well for him in 2004 when he was a referee at the IRB’s Under-19 Championship in Durban. The next year he was in Mendoza for the IRB’s Under-21 World Championship. He also refereed the final of the European Challenge Cup between Worcester Warriors and Auch, and he had his first Heineken Cup match – Ospreys vs Clermont Auvergne. At the end of the 2006 season he refereed the final of Italy’s Super 10 between Benetton Treviso and Calvisano.
Carlo Damasco was born in Naples on 3 September 1972. He is married to Mara and they have a daughter Sara.
