# François Letexier

François Letexier (born 23 April 1989) is a French football referee who officiates in the Ligue 1. He has been a FIFA referee since 2017 and is ranked as a UEFA elite category referee.

## Refereeing career

In 2016, Letexier began officiating in the Ligue 1. His first match as referee was on 23 January 2016 between Montpellier and Caen. In 2017, he was put on the FIFA referees list. He officiated his first senior international match on 23 March 2018 between Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In April 2019, he officiated 2019 UEFA Youth League final between Porto and Chelsea.
On 20 May 2021, he refereed 2021 Coupe de France final between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain.
On 26 May 2021, as VAR, he officiated the 2021 UEFA Europa League final between Villarreal and Manchester United. He refereed three matches of the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (including the quarter-final between Portugal and Italy).
On 20 August 2022, Letexier refereed the Ligue 2 match between Saint-Étienne and Le Havre where he issued four red cards to three of Saint-Etienne's players: Anthony Briançon, Mathieu Cafaro and Etienne Green, and a member of the Saint-Etienne staff.
On 24 October 2022, Letexier was the subject of controversy during Ligue 1 match between Nice and Nantes. At the 19th minute, he did not award a penalty to Nantes when the ball hit both of Mattia Viti's arms. Near the end of the match, he awarded a controversial penalty to Nice when the ball hit Jean-Charles Castelletto's arm. Letexier showed red cards to Nantes' Kader Bamba and their goalkeeper Alban Lafont (who received a second yellow card after the match ended). Days later, after receiving death threats on social media, Letexier defended his decisions in an interview with L'Équipe.
On 16 August 2023, he was the referee for the 2023 UEFA Super Cup between Manchester City and Sevilla.
On 9 April 2024, he refereed the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal knockout tie between Real Madrid and Manchester City at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, which finished 3-3.
In the same month, Letexier was selected to officiate at the Men's Olympic Games football tournament in Paris. Weeks later, he was also selected to officiate at UEFA Euro 2024 in Germany.
In May 2024, he officiated the Olympic intercontinental play-off between Indonesia and Guinea, qualifying the latter for the Olympics for the first time since 1968. Also, he sent off Indonesia's then-coach Shin Tae-yong, who argued with Letexier's decision to award Guinea a second penalty.
In same month, he was appointed by UEFA as the fourth official for UEFA Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid. He also refereed the 2024 Coupe de France final between Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain.
He was also later recruited for the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament and refereed two group matches between Croatia and Albania (Group B) and between Denmark and Serbia (Group C), and then refereed one match in the Round of 16 between Spain and Georgia. Letexier was then further selected on 11 July 2024 to officiate UEFA Euro 2024 final between Spain and England on 14 July 2024. As the age of 35, Letexier became the youngest referee to take charge of a UEFA Euro Final, beating previous record of Swedish official Anders Frisk, who was 37 years old when he refereed UEFA Euro 2000 final.
Just 10 days after Euro 2024 final, Letexier was assigned the opening round Group D pool match between Japan and Paraguay at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
On 27 October 2024, Letexer was at the centre of attention during Ligue 1 match between Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain when he sent off Marseille's Amine Harit for his foul on PSG's Marquinhos. As Letexier's decision to send Harit off caused backlash online with some saying it was deemed harsh, Letexer defends his action when he spoke out at DAZN after the match and explains that he felt that Harit's action put Marquinhos' physical integrity at risk.
Letexier has been awarded the title of best male referee in the world for 2024 by The International Federation of Football History & Statistics.

## Personal life

He is married and has a son (born around 2021). He also works as a court bailiff.