The son of two Olympic champions of 1956, Valentin Ivanov and Lidiya Ivanova, he lives in Moscow where he works as a physical education teacher.

He was also selected to referee the UEFA Champions League semifinal match between Villarreal and Arsenal in 2005–06 season.

The 16 cautions had matched the World Cup record set in 2002 by Spanish referee Antonio López Nieto until the 2022 quarterfinal match between The Netherlands and Argentina, when Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz surpassed the record with 18 yellow cards.

He noted that the match did not lack a sense of discretion on the part of the referee, but rather the teams did not follow the rules of the game.

He also pointed out that FIFA gave the order to the referees to adhere to the rules firmly as far as tackling, holding jerseys and time wasting are concerned, and that this was made perfectly clear to all the teams.