Topic Originator: wee eck
Date: Tue 14 Jul 16:18
England`s Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor have been ruled out of contention to referee the World Cup final because of Fifa regulations around conflict of interest.
Referees cannot take charge of matches involving their own country, but English and Argentine officials also cannot referee games involving the two nations because of their political rivalry, in part because of the Falklands conflict in 1982. Argentine referee Facundo Tello is out of contention for the same reason, with all three officials also ineligible for the third-place play-off as it is guaranteed to involve one of the teams. The regulations also ruled Taylor out of refereeing the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France.
Fifa has announced American referee Ismail Elfath will take charge of England`s World Cup semi-final against Argentina. The 44-year-old officiated group games between Japan and the Netherlands and Uruguay versus Spain in the tournament, as well as Norway`s last-16 victory over five-time winners Brazil. He has issued six yellow cards and shown Uruguay midfielder Agustin Canobbio a straight red card for a high challenge on Spain defender Pau Cubarsi. Originally from Morocco, Elfath moved to America as an 18-year-old after winning a US government-backed diversity visa lottery.
|
|
