Anthony Taylor’s hopes of refereeing the World Cup final were effectively dashed after Argentina qualified as English officials would not be appointed to their matches due to ill-feeling around the Falkland Islands. Taylor was kept on in Qatar when others, including his fellow Premier League referee Michael Oliver, were sent home last weekend, but he was not given another match to referee or to be the fourth official. 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. Political neutrality plays a huge part of FIFA’s appointment system, and as such English referees cannot officiate Argentina’s games and vice-versa.
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.