Career
He is one of only two persons (the other being the Swiss Gottfried Dienst) to have refereed both the European Championship final and the World Cup Final. In 2013, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame. Gonella"s professional career began in 1965 when he debuted in the Italian Serie A. In 1972 he was promoted to the Union of European Football Associations. In 1975 he refereed the Super Cup final match.
At international level, he refereed in the 1976 European Championship.
He also later refereed in the 1978, after which he retired, having refereed 175 matches in Serie A. Gonella garnered media attention when he delayed the start of the 1978 World Cup final. This occurred when the Argentinians protested an arm bandage worn by Dutch defender René van de Kerkhof.
The Dutch team argued that the bandage was passed by Fédération internationale de football association and had already been worn by Van de Kerkhof during earlier matches in the tournament, and they threatened to walk off the field Finally an extra layer of padding was applied to the bandage as a solution, and the match was started.
