>>>What makes any football referee good? What makes one to be elite?
>>
>>Observer ratings. Best 24 referee are elit in Europe.
>
>And I thought that the road to become an elite referee in EUFA is by way of connections, greasing the palm, kissing a$$, etc. My bad.

People think like that. These are important of course. Other needs are:

-speak fluent in english.
-good ratings at their local leauge.
-of course know rules excellent.
-being young (UEFA wants young referees and our referee is youngest at Euro 2012) and athletic (I remembered fat referees when I was a child but today that's impossible).