Howard Webb retained for final World Cup week

Jul 7, 2014

3 min read

HOWARD Webb and his assistants are one of 15 officiating teams retained for the final week of the 2014 World Cup, Fifa have confirmed.

The English trio of Webb and linesmen Darren Cann and Mike Mullarkey – who were in charge of the 2010 final in South Africa – will be kept on for the final four games having presided over two matches in the tournament so far.

Also staying on are: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan), Yuichi Nishimura (Japan), Noumandiez Doue (Ivory Coast), Djamel Haimoudi (Algeria), Mark Geiger (USA), Marcos Rodriguez Moreno (Mexico), Enrique Osses (Chile), Sandro Ricci (Brazil), Carlos Vera (Ecuador), Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey), Jonas Eriksson (Sweden), Pedro Proenca (Portugal), Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain) and Nicola Rizzoli (Italy).

Nawaf Shukrulla (Bahrain), Milorad Mazic (Serbia), Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands), Felix Brych (Germany), Wilmar Roldan (Colombia), Nestor Pitana (Argentina), Joel Aguilar (El Salvador), Peter O'Leary (New Zealand), Bakary Gassama (Gambia) and Benjamin Williams (Australia) have all been sent home.

Mexican referee Rodriguez Moreno has already been appointed to Tuesday’s first semi-final between host nation Brazil and Germany in Belo Horizonte.

Spain’s Carballo - who came under fire for being too lenient during Brazil’s quarter-final win over Colombia on Friday - is the outside favourite to land Sunday’s showpiece at the Maracana, according to sources close to the Fifa refereeing committee.

Webb and his two esteemed colleagues were praised for their handling of Brazil's fierce last-16 clash with Chile in which a Hulk goal was correctly ruled out for handball while their first game - Colombia's 2-1 group stage win over Ivory Coast - passed without incident.

Although still in contention to officiate the final, Rotherham-based Webb, 42, knows he is unlikely to receive the prestigious appointment again as no referee has ever been awarded two World Cup finals.

Carballo handed out just four yellow cards at the Estadio Castelao in a bruising contest in which a tournament-high 54 fouls were committed and poster boy Neymar was stretchered off with a fractured vertebrae.

The 42-year-old also controversially failed to send off Uruguay defender Diego Godin during their 2-1 victory over England in Sao Paulo earlier in the competition.

Nishimura has been included in the final roster despite having not officiated since the opening match of the tournament on June 12 after awarding Brazil a contentious second-half penalty in their 3-1 victory over Croatia.

Kuipers, who has taken charge of three major finals in the past 12 months and has capably handled three World Cup games so far, has surprisingly been sent packing despite his native Holland's progression to the last four.

Brazil's Sandro Ricci is the only referee remaining whose nation are represented in the semi-final line-up.

The match officials for the second semi between Argentina and Holland, the third place play-off or the final are yet to be announced.

REFEREES REMAINING IN BRAZIL:

Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)

Yuichi Nishimura (Japan) Noumandiez Doue (Ivory Coast) Djamel Haimoudi (Algeria) Mark Geiger (USA) Marcos Rodriguez Moreno (Mexico) Enrique Osses (Chile) Sandro Ricci (Brazil) Carlos Vera (Ecuador) Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey) Jonas Eriksson (Sweden) Pedro Proenca (Portugal) Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain) Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)

REFEREES SENT HOME FROM BRAZIL:

Nawaf Shukrulla (Bahrain) Milorad Mazic (Serbia) Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands) Felix Brych (Germany) Wilmar Roldan (Colombia) Nestor Pitana (Argentina) Joel Aguilar (El Salvador) Peter O'Leary (New Zealand) Bakary Gassama (Gambia) Benjamin Williams (Australia)