Olivier Marteel Career Life Explored, World Snoooker Tour Referee

Olivier Marteel is a well-known Belgian professional snooker referee, he officiates on the World Snooker Tour.

Marteel’s first senior match was in the qualifying rounds for the 2006 Masters.

He refereed the final of the World Championship between Shaun Murphy and Stuart Bingham and became the first Belgian to do so in 2015.

Marteel Olivier is also a full-time radiology nurse. He is married and has a child. Furthermore, he is often heard saying that he is not interested in the superstar status of some snooker referee.

He has revealed that he is happy to devote 50 percent of his time doing an excellent job on the snooker circuit.

According to WST, Marteel’s one of the most memorable matches was the 2015 World Championship Final.

He also remembers the 2009 European Open Final between Tony Drago and Roy Stolk. Tony had won his return ticket to the Main Tour 2009-2010.

Likewise, one of his most embarrassing moments is arriving in Aberdeen for the 2007 Grand Prix when his luggage arrived three days later only.

According to Wikipeda, Olivier Marteel was born on 10th May 1969 in Nieuwpoort, Flanders, Belgium and he is presently 53 years old. As of now, he lives in Gijverinkhove.

Olivier was first qualified as a referee in 1994. He began refereeing on the main professional tour in 2006. Later, he took charge of his first World Snooker Championship final in 2015 and became the first Belgian to referee a world final.

Further, Marteel is also the second referee from continental Europe to do so, after Jan Verhaas. Olivier will referee his second world final in 2022.

The primary sources of his income are believed to be his career as a snooker referee and radiology nurse. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Olivier worked as a frontline healthcare worker by serving as a nurse in Belgium.

Besides World Championships, The snooker referee has also officiated the Masters final twice, in 2016 and 2018. Furthermore, he also officiated the UK Championship final twice, in 2016 and 2020.

In addition, Marteel plays snooker and has achieved the highest breaks of 133 in practice and 78 in competition.