Only four nations remain at the World Cup but a Premier League referee will no longer be involved in the tournament
Michael Oliver isn’t allowed to referee the World Cup final(Image: Getty )
Premier League referees Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor are banned from officiating the World Cup final. It follows Sunday morning’s last-16 results, where both England and Argentina progressed to the tournament’s semi-final stage.
The Three Lions booked their place in the last-four after a narrow 2-1 win over Norway in extra time. Lionel Messi’s Argentina also won in extra time, beating Switzerland 3-1.
But the fact that historic rivals England and Argentina are both still in the competition means Oliver and Taylor, as the only two English referees, will no longer play a part at the World Cup.
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FIFA’s rules stipulate that a referee cannot officiate their home country. That means the pair can’t be the man in the middle during England vs Argentina, or if England reach the final.
Referees cannot be assigned to a game which has a direct consequence for their home country in the next round – in this case the final – either, ruling them out of France vs Spain in the other semi-final. But Taylor and Oliver cannot take charge of the final even if Argentina beat England and end up facing the winner of France vs Spain.
That’s because English referees are barred from officiating Argentina matches due to geopolitical factors. FIFA takes note of politically sensitive situations and uses common sense when deciding referees for a particular fixture.
A FIFA spokesperson has already confirmed that the 1982 Falklands War is one such factor when appointing a referee. Therefore, an English official is not permitted to take charge of an Argentina game, nor of a game that has a direct next-game consequence for Argentina, and vice versa.
Mirror Football reported in 2022 that Taylor and Oliver were denied the chance to referee the 2022 World Cup final due to Argentina’s involvement.
The Falklands War is still considered to be a politically sensitive topic, though conflicts as far back as the Second World War are not a factor. The war was also referenced by Argentina players when they sang a song called ‘Muchachos’ in the dressing room after their quarter-final win over Egypt.
As such, neither of the veteran Premier League referees will play any further part in the tournament, even though they were initially considered for their performances.
Oliver has officiated four fixtures across the tournament: Netherlands vs Sweden, Norway vs France, Canada vs Morocco and the quarter-final clash, Spain vs Belgium. During the latter, Oliver suffered an embarrassing moment as he accidentally impeded Dani Olmo during a Spain attack, after which he apologised and stopped the game.
Despite that, Oliver had been one of the favourites to take charge of the final if both Argentina and England were knocked out. Taylor, meanwhile, refereed Uzbekistan vs Colombia, Senegal vs Iraq and Portugal vs Spain in the last-16.
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