Russia 2018: could final referee be the Senegalese Malang Diedhiou?

Senegal continues their presence in the world cup, thanks to referee Malang Diedhiou on his work despite the elimination of Senegal according to what FIFA says, through a statement released on Monday.

“The Referees Committee of FIFA has selected 17 referees, 37 assistants and 10 video assistants for the final square of the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018,” said the governing body of world football.

Speaking of the last four, FIFA refers to the semi-finals of the World Cup, the third place ranking match and the final.

“Given the small number of games remaining and the still qualified teams, the number of referees still present in Russia 2018 has been reduced.”

However, for the semi-finals of Tuesday and Wednesday, which will pit France against Belgium and England against Croatia, the Senegalese referees will not be on the green carpet.

A faultless Malang Diédhiou
The referees who have been retained for the final four are Alireza Faghani of Iran (Asia), Malang Diédhiou of Senegal (Africa), Mark Geiger of the USA and Cesar Arturo Ramos Palazuelos of Mexico who represent the CONCACAF zone (Central America), Andres Cunha (Uruguay) Nestor Pitana and Sandro Ricci (Brazil) for South America and Europe.

In addition, the central referees who are still in the competition are Cuneyt Cazkir from Turkey, Dutchman Bjorn Kuipers, Milorad Mazic from Serbia and Gianluca Rocchi from Italy.

For his part, Senegalese referee Malang Diedhiou has already proved his worth in three matches during this World Cup. The last being the eighth-final between Belgium and Japan (3-2) where he was impartial despite Japan eliminated Senegal from the competition. Now, we hope he will referee the final of this world competition.

The Senegalese referee could be the second African referee to lead a World Cup final after Morocco’s Said Belqola, according to the Media Record