Mateu Lahoz will not be officiating any of the remaining matches at the FIFA World Cup as he ‘heads home from Qatar’, according to COPE.
The referee’s last game was the feisty quarter-final encounter between Argentina and the Netherlands where he dished out 15 yellow cards.
Lahoz’s performance was not well received by either team – with Argentina’s stars particularly vocal about his poor officiating.
Argentina’s skipper and talisman, Lionel Messi, led the criticism of Lahoz after the match. He said: ‘I don’t want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you. But people saw what happened,’
The 35-year-old added: ‘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.’
It would appear that Messi has now been granted his wish by Fifa – not allowing him to officiate in the semi-finals or the final of the World Cup.
Argentina ‘keeper Emi Martinez joined his captain in criticising the official’s display. He said: ‘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.’
Despite their criticism of the referee, unlike Lahoz, Argentina continue thier run in the World Cup.
