High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Valentin Valentinovich Ivanov is a Russian international football referee and a former player. The son of two Olympic champions of 1956, Valentin Ivanov and Lidiya Ivanova, he lives in Moscow where he works as a teacher. As a player, he reached the final of the Soviet Cup in 1983. He speaks Russian and English and has been an international referee since January 1, 1997. The first international game he refereed was Luxembourg-Poland in 1999. Before his qualification he served as an assistant referee and officiated 3 games in the 1994 World Cup.