Just days after Argentine superstar Lionel Messi said that Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz should not have officiated Argentina’s tense shootout victory over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals at Lusail Stadium, reports suggest that Lahoz has been sent home from Qatar and will not officiate in any of the tournament’s remaining four matches in the FIFA World Cup 2022.
According to a lot of sources, after several complaints were lodged against the referee, it was decided that he would not participate in the tournament any longer.
FIFA World Cup 2022: What did Messi say after the game?
Messi said: “I don’t want to talk about the referee, because they immediately reprimand you or sanction you, but I think people saw what happened.
“FIFA has to review that, it can’t give a referee like that a match of this importance when they’re not up to the task.”
He added: “We didn’t have a great game, and then the referee sent it to extra time. He was always against us. In the last play, it was not a foul.”
“We didn’t want extra time or penalties,” said Messi. “Argentina suffered too much because of how everything happened, but it is the quarter-finals of a World Cup.
“We knew how to suffer when it was our turn, but we got through to the semi-finals. It’s beautiful, something impressive.”
Read More: After Portugal’s exit from the FIFA World Cup, Virat Kohli pays tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo
Why did this incident come into focus?
Mateu Lahoz issued 19 yellow cards in total, followed by a series of poor decisions and one red card, with Netherlands winger Denzel Dumfries sent off after the penalty shootout for a second booking.
Lahoz officiated three World Cup 2022 matches and issued 23 yellow cards, including two group-stage matches and one quarterfinal. He was in charge of the clashes between Qatar and Senegal, as well as the United States and Iran. He issued a total of eight yellow cards in two games.
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