Michel Vautrot

{{Short description|French football referee (born 1945)}}

{{Infobox football official

| name = Michel Vautrot

| image =

| caption =

| full_name = Michel Jean Maurice Vautrot{{cite journal |date=16 April 2006 |title=Décret du 14 avril 2006 portant promotion et nomination |trans-title=Decree of 14 April 2006 on promotion and appointment |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000000607329 |journal=Official Journal of the French Republic |volume=2006 |issue=91 |id=PREX0609207D |access-date=15 March 2025 |language=fr}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|10|23|df=y}}

| birth_place = Saint-Vit, Doubs, France

| otheroccupation =

| years1 = 1973–1991

| league1 = French First Division

| role1 = Referee

| internationalyears1 = 1975–1990

| confederation1 = FIFA-listed

| internationalrole1 = Referee

}}

Michel Jean Maurice Vautrot (born 23 October 1945) is a French former football referee. He is mostly known for officiating five matches in the FIFA World Cup: two in 1982 and three in 1990. He refereed the Club World Cup final in 1983 on National Stadium Tokyo between Hamburg S.V. (West Germany) and Grêmio F.B.P.A. (Brazil). He refereed three matches in the European Championship, one in 1984 and two in 1988, including the final between the Soviet Union and the Netherlands. In addition, he refereed the 1986 European Cup Final between Steaua Bucharest and Barcelona.

In 1986, Roma president Dino Viola was banned by UEFA for bribing referee Vautrot with £50,000 prior to the European Cup semi-final 2nd leg between Roma and Dundee United in 1984. Roma were later to lose the final on penalties to Liverpool.

In the 1990 World Cup semi-final between hosts Italy and reigning champions Argentina, Vautrot mistakenly played 8 extra minutes in the first period of extra time. He later explained that he had forgotten to check his watch.{{cite web |url=http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/10-world-cup-nightmares-1-1107790 |title=10 WORLD CUP NIGHTMARES - Sunderland Echo |website=www.sunderlandecho.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714185059/http://www.sunderlandecho.com/news/10-world-cup-nightmares-1-1107790 |archive-date=2014-07-14}}