Anthony Taylor was blocked from refereeing the 2022 World Cup final between Argentina and France because of the Falklands War.
Taylor was one of two English referees chosen to officiate in Qatar alongside Michael Oliver.
Both refereed two group games each with the latter also in the middle for the quarter-final clash between Croatia and Brazil.
Oliver was subsequently sent home but Taylor remained behind, with the 44-year-old touted as a possible contender to referee Sunday’s final.
In the end, Poland’s Szymon Marciniak has instead been chosen to officiate the biggest game in world football having previously reffed France’s group game against Denmark and Argentina’s round of 16 clash with Australia.
While there is nothing wrong at all with Marciniak’s appointment, there is the question of why Taylor wasn’t selected given his vast experience with big games including the 2017 FA Cup final and the 2021 Nations League final.
The Mancunian was also not selected to play any part of the officiating for the two semi-finals and Saturday’s third-place play-off between Croatia and Morocco.
Political neutrality plays a huge part of FIFA’s appointment system, and as such English referees cannot officiate Argentina’s games and vice-versa.
While there is no insinuation that officials would be biased, the governing body wants to avoid any situation where players and managers can accuse them of such.
There were ugly scenes throughout and after Argentina’s quarter-final match with the Netherlands with the likes of Lionel Messi stating their disbelief that a Spanish referee was selected for the match given the rivalry between Argentina and Spain.
The Falklands War is still a very sensitive subject, as perfectly displayed after Argentina’s semi-final win over Croatia earlier this week, when players celebrated with fans by singing a song called Muchachos, which references the conflict and contains insults aimed at England and Brazil.
Moreover, in 2019, the late Diego Maradona claimed that his ‘Hand of God’ goal against England at the 1986 World Cup was ‘symbolic revenge’ for the Falklands.
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