English referee Michael Oliver could be blocked from refereeing the World Cup final if Argentina reach it because of a 44-year-old reason.
Oliver, 41, is one of seven Premier League officials in North America for the tournament and is seen as one of the favourites to take charge of the final.
Referees are prohibited from taking charge of a match involving their own nation, as many fans know, so he would obviously be ruled out for the gig if England get there.
But he would also be barred from taking part if Argentina reach the final due to sensitivities concerning the Falklands War of 1982, according to the BBC.
Fellow English referee Anthony Taylor – who is also at this World Cup – missed his chance in 2022 because of the same reason.
In the same regard, Argentinian referees would not be handed an England match. Neutrality is seen as a priority by FIFA.
Michael Oliver could miss out on refereeing in the World Cup final if Argentina get there
The referee – who got rather hands-on during Morocco’s clash with Canada – would be blocked due to sensitivities surrounding the Falkslands War
Argentina players celebrated their win over Egypt by singing a popular fan chant which references the Falkland Islands
Daily Mail Sport has contacted FIFA.
Oliver will take charge of his seventh World Cup match when Spain take on Belgium in the quarter-finals, a total higher than any other Englishman to date.
After beating Egypt via a brilliant comeback on Tuesday night, Argentina’s players partied in the dressing room and sang a chant which referenced the Falkland Islands.
The song references The Malvinas, Argentina’s term for the Falkland Islands, where 649 of their military personnel died in 1982 after attempting to reclaim the territory from the United Kingdom.
Oliver is not the only English official at the World Cup but is seen as the most likely to take charge of the final.
Taylor is also out there as a referee.
As for assistant referees, England are represented by Stuart Burt, James Mainwaring, Gary Beswick, and Adam Nunn.
Jarred Gillett, an Australian who officiates in the Premier League, is also present as a video assistant referee.
Anthony Taylor suffered the same consequence in 2022. Also, obviously, English referees would not be able to take charge of England matches
This World Cup has already had enough controversy surrounding its refereeing decisions, which many have seen as inconsistently applied.
Egypt manager Hossam Hassan made the bombshell claim that his team were treated unfairly against Argentina due to commercial reasons.
They were left furious after they had a goal ruled out when the score was 1-0 after VAR adjudged Marwan Attia to have fouled Lisandro Martinez at the start of the move.
The African side were also insistent that Mo Salah was fouled in Argentina’s penalty box in the build-up to the winning goal.
‘We were better against Argentina, but football isn’t fair, and what happened was unfair, despite FIFA upholding the motto of “fair play”,’ Hassan said.
‘The referee disallowed one of our goals and we don’t know why. The result could have been 3-1, but Argentina then managed to equalise.’
Hassan later added: ‘I don’t like losing at all, but this was an unfair defeat. In football, there are other off-field factors that have nothing to do with technical aspects.
‘It’s possible that marketing issues are the cause; they don’t want Messi to be eliminated, they want the world champion to continue in the competition.
Another chant from Argentina fans claimed England are ‘scared’ of their national team and that they would make them run before knocking them out in the World Cup semi-finals
Argentina came from 2-0 down against Egypt to secure a stunning late victory in Atlanta, with captain Lionel Messi scoring the equaliser after Cristian Romero’s goal
‘The world champion received support at every level. There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome.’
One of the biggest scandals of the World Cup was FIFA’s decision to allow Folarin Balogun to play in the United States’ 4-1 last-16 drubbing by Belgium.
The forward had been given a straight red card in the USA’s previous game against Bosnia and Herzegovina, but his ban was delayed after Donald Trump rang FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
England have also been dragged into controversy, with Thomas Tuchel questioning why three VAR officials from South America were employed for the 3-2 last-16 win over Mexico.
‘It’s just not good enough. The referees are just not good enough, fourth officials are just not good enough. That’s the bottom line.
‘Three people in the VAR from South America in a match like this. VAR overturns [but] is this a clear and obvious error for the penalty? For sure not. They overturned a situation where [the referee] doesn’t even give a foul. Referees just not good enough, fourth officials just not good enough.’
Meanwhile, FIFA’s decision to appoint an all-Argentinian referee line-up for France’s quarter-final against Morocco has been viewed as odd.
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