English referee Anthony Taylor ‘was BLOCKED from working World Cup final after Argentina qualified’
ENGLISH referee Anthony Taylor has reportedly been blocked from refereeing the World Cup final between Argentina and France.
The showpiece event in Qatar will stage the battle between Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe on Sunday.
And it will be officiated by Pole Szymon Marciniak after Taylor was overlooked.
According to The Times, English refs were unable to be involved in any Argentina match due to ill-feeling around the Falkland Islands.
So it eliminated Taylor’s chances of selection for the final between reigning champions France and Argentina.
It is believed Fifa’s appointment system say that ensuring neutrality is deemed as a top priority and means that English referees would not be put on matches involving Argentina and vice versa.
Despite no suggestion refs would be influenced, the aim is to avoid any situations where the teams involved could complain about bias.
Animosity around the Falklands War was displayed again this week after Argentina’s semi-final win over Croatia.
Players were heard singing a chant popular with their fans called Muchachos – which references the Falklands War and aims insults at England and Brazil.
Nicolas Otamendi filmed shirtless Argentina players singing “Ingleses putos de Malvinas no me olvido”, which has a rough translation of “f***ing English in the Falklands, I don’t forget”.
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The full chant goes: “Brazilian, what happened, the five-time champions screwed up.
“Messi went to Rio and he left with the cup [in reference to their Copa America win on Brazilian soil]. We are the Argentine band and we will always cheer them on, because we have the dream of being the world champion.
“I’m like that, I am Argentinian, f***ing English in the Falklands, I don’t forget. I’m like that, I encourage you, I follow Argentina everywhere.”