\\\'Referee who likes Messi\\\' chosen for final
Sunday, 13 July 2014
The Italian official accused last week of favouring Argentina and Lionel Messi has been chosen to referee their World Cup final against Germany.
Nicola Rizzoli, a 42-year-old who refereed the 2013 Champions League final at Wembley, will take charge of the match in the Maracana on Sunday but his appointment may be controversial.
Rizzoli was the target of criticism from Belgium's Marc Wilmots after the 1-0 quarter-final defeat by Argentina last Saturday.
It will be the third time this World Cup that Rizzoli has refereed a match involving Argentina - he was also in charge of the South Americans' 3-2 win over Nigeria in Group F.
His first match of the tournament was Holland's 5-1 triumph over Spain in the group stage.
Ravshan Irmatov, from Uzbekistan, had been viewed as one of the favourites for the final as he is from neither Europe nor South America, but he does not have a team of assistants who work all the time with him.-Internet