Here is all you need to know about Peruvian football referee Kevin Ortega along with his age, bio, career and stats
Referee Kevin Ortega and his team were the unlucky stars of the show as Uruguay overcame the United States 1-0.
The 32-year-old Peruvian referee is the talk of the town—and not in a good way—after handling the crucial Copa America group stage match between Uruguay and the United States Men’s National Team.
Just 17 minutes in, he sent American midfielder Tyler Adams off with a yellow card for a simple 50-50 coming together, leaving Adams baffled.
It was followed by one of the most outrageous moments which came in the thirty-second minute when the referee gave a whistle blow to freeze the game and gave Chris Richards a yellow card.
Who is Kevin Ortega football referee of USMNT vs Uruguay Copa America 2024 match, bio, age, nationality and stats
Additionally, Christian Pulisic, the forward for AC Milan, lost his cool when he saw the USMNT exit the Copa America, stating that he couldn’t accept some options.
For the USMNT, Monday night’s Copa America match was bad enough, but under his leadership, it quickly got out of hand. Because of Ortega’s questionable decisions and total lack of control, both players and the fans began to question the fairness of the game.
Who is Kevin Ortega?
Referee Ortega is an international Peruvian football referee who was born on 26 March 1992 in Callao, Peru. The 32-year-old has been qualified by FIFA since 2015. His entire career stats can be found here.
He made his top-level domestic tournament debut in 2015 at the age of 23, and since then, Kevin has established himself as a mainstay in both South America’s second-tier club competition, the Copa Sudamericana, and the elite Copa Libertadores.
Ortega’s past is full of scandals and corruption and the 2024 controversy is not something new. In 2022, during a Copa Libertadores match between Bolivians Always Ready and Argentinians Boca Juniors, Ortega actively courted controversy.
Ortega refereed men’s soccer matches in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 as part of the international competition. In his career, he has only managed seven senior international matches, this one on Monday.
He officiated multiple matches in the 2022 men’s World Cup, notably the USMNT’s 1-0 group-stage victory over Iran.
This year, in the ongoing Copa America, he was the fourth official for Venezuela’s 2-1 Group B victory over Ecuador on June 22nd as well as the USMNT’s 2-1 loss to Panama recently.
What an absolute disgrace Kevin Ortega is! Refuses to shake Pulisic’s hand after the match! Good on Christian for giving him a piece of his mind.
— Star Spangled Ballers (@SpangledBallers) July 2, 2024