Rocchi became a referee in 1990 and officiated in 38 matches in three
Serie C seasons starting from 2000. He was later promoted to the higher series, making his debut in
U.S. Lecce-
Reggina Calcio (16 May 2004). In 2010, when the National Referee Committee for Serie A and Serie B split, he was assigned to Serie A's Committee. He made his international debut on 26 May 2008, in a friendly match between
Netherlands and
Greece national under-19 football team. He was later called-up for European club cup matches (first for the
UEFA Cup during the 2008–09 season, then for the
Champions League during the 2010–11 season). He refereed three international matches during the
UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, and later was called-up as referee for the
Men's football tournament at 2012 Summer Olympics in London. On 18 August 2013, Rocchi refereed the
Supercoppa Italiana Final between
Juventus and
Lazio. On 6 October 2014, he was suspended for one month after a
Serie A encounter between
Juventus and
Roma for poor officiating. The match would later become known as the "Rocchi Horror Picture Show". On 21 May 2016, Rocchi refereed the
2016 Coppa Italia Final between
Milan and Juventus. In April 2017,
FIFA announced that Rocchi had been chosen as one of the referees for the
2017 FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia. In July 2017,
UEFA announced that Rocchi had been chosen to referee the
UEFA Super Cup Final between
Real Madrid and
Manchester United. On 29 March 2018, FIFA announced that Rocchi would officiate some matches at the
2018 FIFA World Cup along with Elenito Di Liberatore and Mauro Tonolini as assistant referees. On 13 May 2019, UEFA announced that Rocchi had been chosen to referee the
2019 UEFA Europa League Final between
Chelsea and
Arsenal. On 5 November 2019, Rocchi refereed the
2019–20 UEFA Champions League group stage match between
Ajax and Chelsea. In 2021, he was inducted into the
Italian Football Hall of Fame. ==Honours==