After 40 years, Stefano Cesare wears the Italian referee uniform for the last time

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There could hardly be a more symbolic way for Stefano Cesare to close a chapter that has lasted four decades.

Tonight in Messina, the Italian referee will take the first-referee position for Italy–Brazil in the FIPAV Cup Men Elite.
The match, scheduled for 9:00 PM local time, is a special occasion in its own right, bringing together two of the great powers of world volleyball in what also marks the 100th anniversary of their first encounter.

For the referee, however, the significance goes far beyond the match itself, as It will be the last time he wears the Italian referee uniform.
There is also a particular irony to the occasion.
In international volleyball, an Italian referee officiating the Italian national team is something that simply does not happen.
Tonight, for once, Stefano Cesare will be on the court as an Italian referee while Italy plays.

“The special thing, of course, will be that I will officiate the Italian national team, and as an Italian referee, this never happens to me. And to officiate such a great classic as Italy–Brazil makes it even more beautiful,” he told the Italian Volleyball Federation.

It is a fitting moment for a career that began remarkably early.

Born in Turin on February 16, 1970, he started refereeing in 1986, when he was just 16 years old.
From those first matches to his final appearances in the Italian uniform in 2026, exactly 40 years have passed.
Four decades in volleyball have also meant witnessing the sport transform almost beyond recognition.
He remembers a time when even a two-handed reception from below could be called for a double touch if the ball did not come out cleanly.
The rules have evolved, the speed of the game has changed and technology has progressively become an essential part of refereeing.

But for Stefano Cesare, technology should remain a tool rather than becoming a substitute for the referee’s judgment.

“As for technology, we were among the pioneering sports with the introduction of some aids. This makes refereeing even more interesting, but you have to use technology, not be its hostage. It may sound a bit philosophical, but the difference is actually significant. The difficulty lies in managing the moments and situations during a match,” he explained.

He points to tennis as an example. Despite the enormous amount of technology available, disputes between players and officials still occur. For Cesare, that underlines a fundamental truth: refereeing is not simply about determining whether a ball was in or out.
It is also about understanding the atmosphere of a match, managing difficult moments and knowing how to react when emotions rise.

His rise to the highest level of the sport was a long one.
Since 1999, he has been part of Italy’s Serie A refereeing structure, giving him 27 years at the country’s highest club level.
His international career, however, became particularly distinctive because it developed across both beach and indoor volleyball.
He considers the 2003 Beach Volleyball World Championship in Rio de Janeiro one of the defining moments of his international journey.
He was appointed first referee for the men’s final, an experience he later described as his “first international showcase.”

Only a year later came an even bigger appointment.
At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, he was selected as first referee for the women’s beach volleyball final.
Four years later, in Beijing, he officiated the men’s Olympic beach volleyball final.
Those two appointments established him among the elite of international beach volleyball. His career in the discipline came to an end after the 2008 Olympics, closing a period in which beach and indoor volleyball had overlapped for more than a decade.
Since 2010, he has also been an international referee in indoor volleyball.
And eventually, that path led him to another Olympic final.
On August 10, 2024, in Paris, he stood on the court for the men’s Olympic volleyball final between France and Poland. France won 3–0 (25:19, 25:20, 25:23), while he became the first referee for what was his third Olympic final.

The significance of that achievement is extraordinary.
After officiating the women’s beach volleyball final in Athens in 2004 and the men’s beach volleyball final in Beijing in 2008, he reached the Olympic gold-medal match in indoor volleyball in Paris.
He is the only international referee to have officiated Olympic finals in both disciplines.
Twenty years separate his first Olympic final from his third.
Perhaps fittingly, when asked to identify the most special moments of his career, he does not choose a long list.
Instead, he points to two matches that effectively bookend his international journey: the 2003 Beach Volleyball World Championship final in Rio de Janeiro and the 2024 Olympic final between France and Poland in Paris.
The latter also produced a memorable exchange with Italy head coach Ferdinando De Giorgi.
Stefano Cesare recalls that De Giorgi jokingly told him he had reached the Olympic final in Paris “thanks to Italy.”
The explanation was simple: because Italy had not reached the final, there was no obstacle to appointing an Italian referee for the decisive match between France and Poland.

Now, after all those years, he has decided that the time has come to change his role.
His retirement from the Italian referee uniform is not the result of being forced out or of no longer being able to continue. In fact, he revealed on social media that he had the possibility of continuing to referee at the highest level for another four seasons.

Instead, FIPAV offered him the opportunity to become involved in a project dedicated to the development of the refereeing sector.

He accepted.

“How could I say ‘no’ to such a request?” he wrote.

The decision therefore represents not an ending, but a transition.
After four decades spent making the biggest calls on the court, Cesare is preparing to devote his experience to helping shape the referees who will follow him.

And Italy–Brazil will not actually be his final match.
After tonight’s appointment in Messina, he still has two international commitments.
In September, he will travel to Rio de Janeiro for his final competition under the FIVB umbrella.
Then, in December, his refereeing career will reach its true conclusion in Civitanova, where he is scheduled to officiate an Italian derby in the men’s CEV Champions League.
On that occasion, he will wear the CEV referee uniform rather than the Italian one.
Only after that final whistle will Stefano Cesare step away from active refereeing.
He will not, however, leave the world of refereeing behind. He will join the refereeing committee and work alongside younger officials, passing on the knowledge accumulated through 40 years at the highest level.

And perhaps that is the most appropriate legacy for a career like his.

“Believe in yourselves, dream big, be persistent and never give up, but always remain humble and maintain your desire to grow and improve,” he tells the next generation of referees.

So tonight in Messina is not the end of Stefano Cesare’s career.

It is the end of a chapter.

After 40 years, the Italian referee uniform will make its final appearance on his shoulders.
And there is something beautifully circular about the way the story continues: tonight, for the first and only time, he will officiate Italy in an international match. A few months later, he will close his career on Italian soil once again, this time with an Italian derby in the CEV Champions League.
Forty years after a 16-year-old boy first stepped onto a volleyball court with a referee’s whistle, Stefano Cesare is preparing to leave the court in the same country where it all began — not by walking away from volleyball, but by helping ensure that his experience remains part of its future.