FIFA drops referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz after controversy

Zurich: Antonio Mateu Lahoz, the referee who officiated in the fractious Argentina versus Netherlands game, is not on FIFA's trimmed list of 12 match officials for the World Cup's championship-deciding matches.

World football's governing body chose 36 referees for Qatar 2022. But with only four matches — two semi-finals, the 3rd place match and the final — left FIFA has issued a fresh list of a dozen, where Lahoz hasn't been included.

The three female referees who officiated for the first time in the men's World Cup — France's Stephanie Frappart of France, Rwanda's Salima Mukansanga and Yoshimi Yamashita of Japan — were also excluded from FIFA's final list of 12.

But Brazilian Wilton Sampaio, who was criticised by England in their 1-2 defeat to France in the last eight stage, has retained his spot.Lahoz was in charge of the Argentina-Netherlands quarter-final on December 9.

The Spaniard showed 18 yellow cards in the match (eight each to both teams, one being a double yellow), making it the 'dirtiest' match in World Cup history.

He was slammed for his decisions, which facilitated multiple brawls during and after the contest, in which Argentina won 4-3 on penalties after the match was locked 2-2 in 120 minutes.