Referees

A few days ago, FIFA released the list of referees who will be in charge throughout the World Cup this summer, with some of the sport’s most famous whistlers all taking part.

Certain choices raised several eyebrows, with one in particular causing a minor uproar from Manchester United fans in particular. Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir grabbed the spotlight for the wrong reasons in March 2013, as the dismissal of Manchester United’s Nani during their pulsating clash against Real Madrid was branded as the reason why the English side lost that match.

Whilst Real Madrid did end up proving to be the better squad, such a decision has branded Cakir as a below average referee, whereas realistically, statistics have in fact shown that his good to bad decision ratio is actually quite impressive.

Howard Webb, another referee linked to Manchester United, albeit for different reasons altogether, will also be present. Should one choose to ignore his preferential treatment case in the Premier League, his statistics do speak volumes as he is one of the best referees in modern football. He was also the first one in football history to officiate the UEFA Champions League Final and the FIFA World Cup in the same year.

Other notable names include Italian Nicola Rizzoli, who officiated last season’s Champions League Final, as well as Serbian referee Milorad Mazic, currently the top ranked referee on WorldReferee.com due to his impeccable decision making. As fans of the sport, we will all be hoping that the world’s best referees will be at their rigid best during the tournament, so as to avoid any controversies which could taint any sporting occasion.