Esfandiar "Esse" Baharmast (born March 11, 1954) is a retired Iranian-American football referee best known for supervising two matches during the 1998 FIFA World Cup held in France.
At that tournament, he was briefly vilified for giving a late penalty to Norway in the dying minutes of their first-round game with Brazil, only to be vindicated the following day when a Swedish TV station released previously unseen TV footage from a new camera angle indisputably showing that he made the right call; Norway striker Tore André Flo did indeed have his jersey pulled by Brazil defender Júnior Baiano.
He also officiated the first MLS match on April 6, 1996, between San Jose Clash & D.C. United.
He is currently working for FIFA as a technical instructor in the Referee Assistance Program (FIFA RAP) and dealt with the instruction and preparation of the referees for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
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