Héctor Walter Baldassi (born 5 January 1966) is an Argentine retired footballreferee and politician. His first Argentine first division was in 1998 and only two years later he debuted internationally. Nicknamed La Coneja (Spanish for "the she-rabbit"), Baldassi officiated several CONMEBOL club competitions including the final match of the 2008Copa Libertadores (with a critical performance that had a direct impact on the final result of the match), and participated in several international competitions including the 2004Copa América and the 2008Olympic Games in Beijing. He was called for the 2007FIFA U-20 World Cup but was later dismissed because one of his assistants didn't pass the medical tests.[citation needed]
Despite his errors against Brazilian soccer teams in 2008 Libertadores da América, he was preselected as a referee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,[1] officiating his first World Cup match in Ghana's 1–0 win over Serbia on 13 June 2010. Then, he officiated Netherlands 1-0 win over Japan.[citation needed]
