Alvarez, Fernando G.
GS, HS 1944
2006
DLSAA Sports Hall of Fame Awardee
Football
Fernando Alvarez was a football player, coach and international referee. He was captain of the Philippine Youth national Football Team and was named Athlete of the Year in 1949. He served as General secretary of the Philippine Football Federation from 1966-1984, was a member of the Football Confederation (AFC) referee committee from 1966-1988, VP of the AFC from 1978-1988, a member on the FIFA International Board, member of the Referee's Committee for 12 years and a member of the Technical Committee for 10 years. He was part of the FIFA International Board of Referees, is credited with creating the “substitution” signal in 1982 and was instrumental in the development of the U.S. Soccer Referee Program. He also served as Director of the San Francisco Cup and International Youth Festival from 1987 until his death in 2013, a member of the USSF National Referee Committee, the Director of the USSF International Referee Exchange Program and a member of the California Soccer Association North Hall of Fame. Among his many awards, he received the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit, the highest award given by FIFA, the FIFA International Referee Award (1973), the AFC Distinguished Service Award (1984), the Eddie Pearson Award (1999) and the FIFA Centennial Order of Merit in 2003. He was an inductee of the California North Soccer Association Hall of fame 2002-2003 and was inducted into the DLSAA Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.