Italian Rizzoli to referee World Cup final

Italian Nicola Rizzoli will referee Sunday's World Cup final between Germany and Argentina at the Maracana, Massimo Busacca, Fifa's head of refereeing told Reuters on Friday before the official announcement.

>>Reuters
Published : 11 July 2014, 08:33 PM
Updated : 11 July 2014, 08:33 PM

Rizzoli, 42, took charge of the all-German Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley last year.

Among the other games he has refereed at the finals in Brazil are the extraordinary Group A match between champions Spain and the Netherlands on June 13 which the Dutch won 5-1.

Last season he was involved in an extraordinary incident when he awarded a penalty and then changed his mind after five minutes of angry protests during a Serie A match between AS Roma and Sassuolo.