The on-field referee during the second quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands, Antonio Mateu Lahoz has been reportedly sent home for the remainder of the FIFA World Cup 2022. After the Argentine advanced to the semifinals, Lionel Messi had some harsh words for Lahoz and his officiating after the match. This game saw a record number of 17 yellow cards given by Lahoz along with one red card to Denzel Dumfries.
The news was reported by COPE, a Spanish media house which stat that Lahoz was sent home to Spain after the quarterfinal. They further reported that the officials, who handled the Video Assistant Referee Hdez Hdez, Martínez Munuera and De Burgos are still in Qatar.
The report said, “Mateu Lahoz’s participation in the World Cup ends after the Netherlands – Argentina. Return back to Spain. The VAR referees (Hdez Hdez, Martínez Munuera and De Burgos) with options to act in another match.”
Going back to the game, Argentina’s captain Lionel Messi called out Lahoz after the game. Messi stated that FIFA mustn’t allow such referees to officiate games as he failed his task during the game. He said, “I don’t want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you. But people saw what happened,” he said. “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.”
Similarly, Argentina keeper Emiliano Martinez also shared some words while criticizing Lahoz. The Aston Villa gloveman expressed that the referee wanted the Netherlands to equalize and take the game to the penalties. 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.”
(With inputs from agencies)
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