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In 1988, Merk was appointed the youngest Bundesliga referee ever, aged 25. He became a FIFA referee four years later, and officiated at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona .

Merk was conferred the title of 'World's Best Referee' in 2004 and in 2005. He refereed the UEFA Champions League 2003 final and the Euro 2004 final. Merk is only the second German referee to be honoured with a European Championship final; the other is Rudi Glöckner .

In 2005 , Merk was awarded the German "Bundesverdienstkreuz" (Federal Cross of Merit) in recognition of his service to football and his charity work in India.


NOTES

  • Merk is notorious in Schalke because of an incident in the last game of the 2001 season. In the 93rd minute, Hamburger SV was leading against their rivals Bayern Munich with 1-0 (which would have won Schalke the title), when Merk awarded an controversial (but correct) indirect free kick. Patrik Andersson of FCB converted the kick, Schalke lost the title, and Merk suffered intense verbal and physical abuse after that. Merk has never refereed a game in the Schalke Arena AufSchalke stadium until today.

  • Merk was a professional dentist until 2005 , but then stopped because he was against the so-called ''Praxisgebühr'', a measure by the German government to tax patients visiting doctors.

  • Merk is one of the fittest referees in the game. He regularly laps his colleagues in the annual fitness tests, and in the ''Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung'' of April 15, 2006 (p. 55), it is said that he has run a Marathon in incredible 2:42h. In comparison, the Olympic championship winning time is only about half an hour faster. {Link without Title}

  • During his youth and twens, Merk suffered ridicule because of his high-pitched, squeaky voice. But after undergoing extensive speech therapy, talks in a normal, manly baritone. (Reference: his book ''BeWEGend'').



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