{{short description|American soccer referee from California (born 1970)}} {{Infobox football official | name = Baldomero Toledo | fullname = | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|mf=yes|1970|2|6}} | birth_place = Mexico | death_date = | death_place = | otheroccupation = Baker | years2 = 2004–2021 | league2 = MLS | role2 = Referee | years3 = 2011–2017 | league3 = NASL | role3 = Referee | internationalyears1 = 2007–2017 | confederation1 = FIFA listed | internationalrole1 = Referee }}
'''Baldomero Toledo''' (born February 6, 1970) is a Mexican-born American soccer referee.<ref>[http://www.referee.com/resources/officiating-rosters/mls-roster/ "2014 MLS Roster"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502110511/http://www.referee.com/resources/officiating-rosters/mls-roster/ |date=May 2, 2014 }}. ''Referee Magazine''.</ref> He has been a Major League Soccer referee since 2004 and a FIFA referee from 2007 to 2017.<ref name=proref>[http://www.proreferees.com/roster-baldomero-toledo.php "Baldomero Toledo"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205035433/http://www.proreferees.com/roster-baldomero-toledo.php |date=February 5, 2015 }}. ''proreferees.com''.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070610000144/http://www.fifa.com/associations/association=usa/footballofficials/referees/peoplekind=ref.html "Football Officials – Referees"]. ''FIFA.com''.</ref>
==Career== Toledo was born in Mexico, where he started refereeing at the age of 15 in local school leagues. Later, he moved to Southern California and continued working as a referee in local leagues until he made it to the U.S. Soccer academies.<ref>{{cite web |title=Baldomero Toledo |url=https://www.usrefereeconnection.com/baldomero-toledo |website=US Referee Connection |access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref>
He was the referee for the 2008 MLS Cup,<ref name="proref" /> the 2010 MLS Cup,<ref name="proref" /> and the 2016 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2016/09/08/referee-assignment-announced-2016-us-open-cup-final |title=Referee Assignment Announced 2016 US Open Cup Final |publisher=MLS Soccer |access-date=September 14, 2016}}</ref>
US Soccer hired Toledo as a full-time referee in 2007.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=Soccer America |title=U.S. Soccer launches full-time pro ref program |url=https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/2566/5-referees-us-soccer-launches-full-time-pro-re.html |date=February 22, 2007 |access-date=May 14, 2018}}</ref> Toledo was selected to referee at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup.<ref>{{cite news |publisher=Soccer America |title=Marrufo and Toledo picked for Concacaf championship |url=https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/42283/marrufo-and-toledo-picked-for-concacaf-championshi.html |date=May 19, 2011 |access-date=May 14, 2018}}</ref>
In 2017, Toledo was involved in a controversial situation when he refereed a friendly match between Mexico and Ghana, that Mexico won 1–0. Ghana's manager at the time, James Kwesi Appiah, complained that Toledo was assigned to the game: "I was really, really shocked that in a game like this they would allow a Mexican to be the center referee when we were playing Mexico", despite the fact that Toledo had worked in the United States for decades.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ghana 'surprised' Mexican-American referee worked Mexico friendly |url=https://www.espn.com/soccer/ghana/story/3150210/ghana-coach-questions-use-of-mexican-american-referee-after-friendly-loss-to-mexico |website=ESPN |first=Arch |last=Bell |date=29 June 2017 |access-date=21 October 2021}}</ref>
Toledo retired following the 2021 MLS season after refereeing over 300 regular season games.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Five PRO officials retire – Professional Referee Organization ® |date=19 December 2021 |url=http://proreferees.com/2021/12/19/five-pro-officials-retire/ |access-date=December 31, 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{PRO referee|baldomero-toledo}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20130521041547/http://www.proreferees.com/roster-baldomero-toledo.php archive]) * {{WorldReferee.com}} * {{WorldFootball.net referee}} * {{Soccerway referee|baldomero-toledo/84496}} * {{Soccerbase referee|1036}}
{{Major League Soccer referees}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toledo, Baldomero}} Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:American soccer referees Category:Major League Soccer referees Category:CONCACAF Champions Cup referees Category:CONCACAF Gold Cup referees Category:Copa América referees Category:Naturalized citizens of the United States
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