FIFA grants Messi’s wish, sends referee Mateu Lahoz home
Fifa has sent home referee Mateu Lahoz, a decision that seems to fulfill the wish of Argentina star Lionel Messi.
Messi had complained about Lahoz officiating of the quarter-final match between Argentina and Holland, in which he dished out 15 yellow cards.
Messi had said: ‘I don’t want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you. But people saw what happened,’
The 35-year-old continued: ‘I think Fifa must take care of this, it cannot put a referee like that for a match of such magnitude, of such importance. The referee cannot fail to be up to the task.’
Messi’s teammate Emi Martinez said of Lahoz: “The referee was just giving everything for them. He gave 10 minutes [added time] for no reason. He was giving free-kicks outside the box for them, like two, three times. He just wanted them to score, that’s basically it. So, hopefully we don’t have that ref anymore. He’s useless.”
According to COPE, Lahoz will not be officiating any of the remaining games at the World Cup as he “heads home from Qatar.”
Credit: Mail Sports
