Career
Rainea is chiefly remembered for his officiating of the Italy v Argentina game at the 1982 World Cup, when he allowed Italy"s Claudio Gentile to commit numerous bad fouls on Argentina"s Diego Maradona, yet showed Gentile only one yellow card. In a later match between France and Northern Ireland at the same tournament, serving as a linesman, he disallowed a legitimate goal by Northern Ireland"s Martin O"Neill when the score was 0-0. Rainea was decorated by two presidents of Romania, Ion Iliescu and Traian Băsescu.
He was made honorary citizen of Galați where he resided and served four local council terms.
Nicolae Rainea Stadium in Galați is named after him. In 2011, he celebrated 50 years of marriage.
After an untreated mild cold turned into a pulmonary edema, Rainea suffered a cardiac arrest while in hospital and died on 1 April 2015 in Galați. He was 81 years old.