The World Cup’s Group H gets underway with Uruguay and Saudi Arabia battling it out.
Facing each other again at the World Cup, two-time champions Uruguay will be hoping to have the beating of Saudi Arabia for the second time in eight years.
But who is the referee taking charge of their clash at Miami Stadium?
Referee confirmed Uruguay v Saudi Arabia
Maurizio Mariani has been chosen as the match official after being a FIFA-listed referee since 2019 and taking charge of 430 games across European and global competitions.
The Italian was also chosen to referee the fiercely contested Serie A derby between AC Milan and Inter Milan in October 2020 which the latter won 2-1 at the San Siro.
Mariani is set also a sailor in Italy’s merchant navy and this is his first major tournament.
Joining Mariani as assistant referees will be his compatriots Daniele Bindoni and Alberto Tegoni.
The fourth official at Miami Stadium will be Canadaian ref Drew Thomas Fishcher, while Italian Marco Di Bello is on VAR duties, where he will be assisted by Ivan Bebek of Croatia.
Interesting, this match will see the officiating team sporting an eye-catching kit, as they will all be wearing ‘flamingo pink’ shirts in a hat-tip to the host city of Miami.
That’s because the southern Florida city is associated with the colour pink, due to the flamingos that were once abundant in the region, with David Beckham’s Inter Miami side sporting a pink home kit.
“Miami is our base camp so we thought it would be nice to show our appreciation to the city where we’ll live for about two months,” said FIFA’s Chief Refereeing Officer and Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina.
“We chose this ‘pink flamingo’ for the referees’ training material. It’s a sort of recognition.
“Also, the first match — which will be played in Miami, June 15 — Uruguay v Saudi Arabia [Group H], the referee will wear the pink flamingo shirt.”
