Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz who was in charge of the World Cup match between Netherlands and Argentina will not be assigned any more game at the 2022 World Cup.

Lahos was heavily criticized by players from the Argentina National team after their penalty shootout victory over Netherland in the quarterfinal game of the World Cup, most notably by Messi.

The Spanish referee awarded 17 yellow cards and one red card as Argentina conceded two late goals to give up their 2-0 lead and had to survive the horrors of penalty shootout to qualify for the semi-final.

Messi said: “I don’t want to speak about referees because after they will sanction you. But people saw what happened.

“I think FIFA must take care of this, it cannot put a referee like that for a match of such magnitude, of such importance. The referee cannot fail to be up to the task.”

Martinez added: “The referee was just giving everything for them. He gave 10 minutes [stoppage time] for no reason. He was giving free-kicks outside the box for them, like two, three times. He just wanted them to score, that’s basically it. So, hopefully we don’t have that ref anymore. He’s useless.”

According to Spanish outlet COPE, Lahoz has been informed by FIFA that he will not be officiating any further game in any capacity.

However, Spain’s three other officials at the World Cup will remain in Qatar as they may still be relied upon as video assistant referees.

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