The FIFA He made the second cut of World Cup referees this Sunday. Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz he had survived the first, held after the round of 16, but in this he has been left out, as this newspaper has learned. Before the tournament, he was one of the main candidates to referee the final (if, as has happened, Spain did not reach the semifinals), but the FIFA Referees Committee, chaired by Pierluigi Collina, has decided that the Spanish referee will not continue in the tournament for the four games that remain to be played, as this newspaper has been able to learn.
Yes, the three Spanish referees who have come to Qatar to carry out video arbitration functions in the VOR room of the matches. They are Alexander Hernandez Hernandez, Juan Martinez Munuera and Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea. All of them have options to be part, in VAR functions, of the arbitration team that directs the final next Sunday.
18 yellow
Precisely the no, Mateu has taken its toll on the arbitration he carried out in the Netherlands-Argentina quarterfinals last Friday. He then showed 18 yellow cards and one red. (to the Dutch Dumfries, with the game already over) and was the subject of harsh criticism from the Argentines, upset at receiving the equalizing goal with 10 minutes of injury time in regulation time already exceeded.
“FIFA has to consider it. You can’t put a referee like that in this instance, for a game of such equality and so important. It is not up to scratch. People saw what it was, we were afraid before the game because we know what it was”, said a Leo Messi who knows Mateu well after the game and still hot, after so many years sharing games in LaLiga.
Further still was the goalkeeper of Argentina, Emiliano Martínez. “That referee is crazy, arrogant. You say something to him and he speaks badly to you. Since Spain was left out, he wanted us to stay out too”, accused ‘Dibu’. Statements like these have caused FIFA opens disciplinary file against Argentina (also against the Netherlands)whose resolution should be known before their semifinal this Tuesday (8:00 p.m.) against Croatia.
Oliver, favorite for the final
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Among the controversial plays in a game charged with high tension, the most notable is perhaps the non-expulsion of Leandro Paredes, after committing a yellow card foul and giving, immediately afterwards, a totally intentional shot towards the Dutch bench. From Mateu’s environment they defend that he acted well, given FIFA’s instructions to only expel players in a World Cup when it is essential. And they understand that this time he was not.
Now it remains to know who will whistle the final. The usual alternation of FIFA should prioritize a European (the one in Russia was directed by the Argentine Néstor Pitana). The Italian Daniele Orsato has been designated for the Croatia-Argentina, so the favoritism falls on the Englishman Michael Oliver, who directed without complications the Croatia-Brazil of rooms. And there are many options for one of the Spaniards to help him from the VAR.