Exclude French referee staff from the remaining games of the world cup is the latest big news from the FIFA committee. Football fans around the world are talking about this decision because it means some of the most famous officials are going home early. This update came right after the football association announced the list of thirteen referees who will handle the final four games of this major tournament. People were surprised to see that Clement Turpin and Francois Letexier were not on the list.
Many fans thought these two men did a good job but they have to leave anyway. This is because FIFA has a strict policy about conflict of interest and they must follow it. Now we will explain why they had to exclude French referee leaders from the semi-finals and the big final match.
Read Also: Argentina vs Switzerland: World Cup Semifinal Spot Secured
Why did FIFA exclude French referee staff from the final games
The main reason for this decision is actually quite simple and has nothing to do with how well they controlled the matches. The French national team is still playing in the tournament and they have a chance to win the trophy. Under the official rules of the organization they always exclude French referee workers when their home country is still in the competition.
This rule exists because they want to avoid any situation where people might think a referee is helping his own country or hurting their rivals. It is all about keeping the game fair and clean so that nobody can complain about cheating. Even if a referee is completely honest people will still talk if he makes a mistake that helps his home nation. This is why the association made the choice to exclude French referee professionals before the semi-finals start.
Read Also: What Caused the Morocco Football Defeat?
The controversial match between Egypt and Argentina
The last game that Francois Letexier controlled was the quarter-final between Egypt and Argentina. This was an incredibly exciting match that ended with Argentina winning by three goals to two. However the game was full of drama and anger from the Egyptian side. The players and the fans from Egypt were very angry because they believed the referee missed a penalty for them. They claimed there was a foul right before Argentina scored their third and winning goal.
Many people on social media were saying that FIFA should exclude French referee Letexier because of this massive mistake. But the truth is that his departure has nothing to do with the protests from Egypt. It is just the standard rule because France is still competing for the title.
Norway complaints and the camera wire drama
Another famous official who is leaving the tournament is Clement Turpin. His last game was the match where England beat Norway with a score of two to one after extra time. This game also had a lot of arguments because the Norwegian players were very upset about a goal.
They argued that the ball hit a camera wire that was hanging from the stadium roof before Jude Bellingham scored the equalizer. The players felt the play should have been stopped immediately. Even though Norway made a big deal out of this the official organization supported the decision of the referee. They agreed that he handled the situation correctly under the rules of the game. So they did not exclude French referee Turpin because of the camera wire incident but simply because of the country rule.
Who are the remaining thirteen officials in the tournament
While these two famous men are going home another official from France named Jerome Brisard is still allowed to work. He is a video assistant referee and the rules for video officials are different so he might still help in the final matches. The list of the thirteen main referees who are still in the competition comes from many different countries. Some of these officials are Ivan Barton from El Salvador, Ismail Elfath from the United States, and Espen Eskas from Norway. We also have Alireza Faghani from Australia, Jalal Jayed from Morocco, and Adham Makhadmeh from Jordan.
The list is completed by Szymon Marciniak from Poland, Maurizio Mariani from Italy, Glenn Nyberg from Sweden, and Joao Pinheiro from Portugal. Finally Wilton Sampaio from Brazil, Jesus Valenzuela from Venezuela, and Slavko Vincic from Slovenia are also staying.
It is clear that football officials have a very hard job because every decision they make is watched by millions of people. When the organization decided to exclude French referee options for the finals they wanted to make sure there is no extra pressure on the officials. This helps the referees focus on the game without worrying about what country they are from. In the end we will see if the remaining thirteen officials can finish the tournament without any more big controversies.
Read Also: France Arab Matches: Can Morocco Get Revenge?
Many fans hope that the final games will be decided by the players on the pitch and not by referee mistakes. This is the ultimate goal of the organizing committee when they choose to exclude French referee staff to maintain peace and fairness in the world cup.
