As others have said, this is sad news - particularly at such an early age. Having seen him acting as Observer at Pittodrie in 2015, however, I did write that time had not treated him kindly, so it is perhaps not entirely surprising.
I agree that he was an excellent referee, in my opinion one of the best of his generation, though he was undone by one mistake, as subsequently was Rosetti, both through errors more attributable to their assistants.(Graham Poll was also undone by a Danish assistant, but was allowed a second chance, where the failure was ultimately his.) Sandor Puhl, too, fell rapidly from grace after missing a dreadful foul.
The referee for the England Germany match mentioned was the Uruguayan Jorge Larrionda, though in that case it is hard to see how any official could have been in a position to judge with certainty. He was in any case approaching the end of his career.
One other excellent referee whose career ended prematurely was Zoran Petrovic, though I have always assumed that this was a consequence of the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia.
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