Lionel Messi’s demand to drop the referee Mateu Lahoz, who officiated in a bad-tempered game between Argentia and the Netherlands, has been fulfilled by FIFA. Lahoz, who brandished as many as 16 yellow cards during the game, will no longer be
officiating in the remainder of the World Cup 2022, as he has been sent home.
Lahoz was highly inconsistent with his decisions, and many accused him of being biased toward the Dutch camp. Moreover, his decision to award a ten-minute injury time in the second half didn’t sit well with the Argentinian fans. Wout Weghorst ended
up scoring for the Netherlands in the last minutes, thus forcing the game to extra time.
The Dutch team too had a fair share of complaints from the referee, especially when he gave a free pass to Leandro Paredes for making a rash tackle, and then kicking the ball at the Dutch bench. Paredes’ action aroused a melee on the pitch, as the entirety of the Dutch bench and players on the field stormed at him, with Virgil van Dijk pushing him to the ground.
“I don’t want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you. But people saw what happened,” Messi 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.”
One fan wrote, “A referee should be invisible during a World Cup game. In fact, no one should even know his name. Because that’s when you know he did fantastically. Everyone knows Mateu Lahoz because he always wants to create his own show. Absolute disgrace of a referee.”
Emiliano Martinez, the hero of Argentina’s triumph, too echoed similar sentiments when he was asked about the referee. “The ref was just giving everything for them,” said Martínez. “He gave 10 minutes [stoppage time]. For no reason, 10 minutes. He was
giving free kicks outside the box for them, like two, or three times. He just wanted them to score, that’s basically it. So hopefully we don’t have that ref anymore, he’s useless.”
Lead Image: Lionel Messi/Twitter
