English referee facing World Cup ban after what happened 44 years ago | Football | Sport
Premier League referee Michael Oliver would be banned from refereeing the World Cup final if either England or Argentina get there. England have progressed to the quarter-finals of the competition for the third World Cup in a row, with Norway their opponents in the last-eight.
A victory against Norway would see England into their second World Cup semi-final in three editions of the tournament, having reached the last-four back in 2018. And if they were to defeat Erling Haaland and co. in Miami, then it would likely mean a semi-final meeting against Argentina in Atlanta.
Argentina just about scraped past Egypt in the round-of-16, having trailed 2-0 heading into the dying embers of the contest. Lionel Messi was front and centre of the comeback, which means their quest to become the first team to retain the World Cup since Brazil in 1962 is still alive.
But either of these teams reaching the final would be bad news for Oliver, who is said to be in the running to referee the showpiece event in New Jersey later this month. England reaching the final is self-explanatory, given it would be a conflict of interest for Oliver, who is from Northumberland.
However, the Argentina connection is a little more nuanced. That’s because FIFA have banned referees from taking charge of teams that include political sensitivities, which would be the case for Argentina.
As per the BBC, due to the tensions relating to the Falklands War, Oliver wouldn’t be allowed to referee Argentina fixtures. England and Argentina were embroiled in a conflict over the sovereignty of the Falklands in 1982, and the territory is still disputed to this day.
FIFA take the neutrality of referees very seriously, and Oliver’s colleague, Anthony Taylor, suffered a similar fate during the 2022 competition. Taylor was banned from refereeing the final between Argentina and France because of this connection.
It comes after controversies surrounding the officiating of Argentina’s last-16 meeting with Egypt reached a boiling point, with the Egyptian manager having accused FIFA of rigging the tournament in Messi’s favour. Speaking after the clash, Hossam Hassan, remarked: “It’s all about money.
“They want Messi to stay in the tournament. In football, many things happen off the pitch because of interests. What happened was unfair. Egypt deserved to qualify. We were the better team.”
He added: “Why isn’t there any fairness in sport? I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording. We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice. It is my own way of speaking up and standing up. I am not going to watch another match in this tournament.”
