New Delhi: The 2nd semi-final of UEFA Euro 2024 saw England move to the finals after a series of controversial decisions that went against the Netherlands. Now, UEFA have appointed French referee Francois Letexier to take care of the proceedings of the European Championship final between Spain and England.
However, fans have reacted not so politely to the announcement and have taken to social media. Spanish fans have claimed he will make decisions with bias as Spain trumped Letexier’s home side, France, in the semi-finals.
The concern comes after Felix Zwayer ruled a Denzel Dumfries follow-through over Harry Kane for spot-kicking after consulting VAR. Dutch coach Ronald Koeman and captain Virgil van Dijk noted that the decision turned out to be game-changing, as the Netherlands crashed out of the tournament 2-1.
Letexier will be one of the youngest referees, at 35, to officiate a match in a major final. In Euro 2024, he has refereed in three games, including Spain’s 4-1 win against Georgia in the final-16 knockout. He was also the fourth official at the tournament between Germany and Scotland on June 14. Letexier is rarely known to show red cards. From the nine games he handled in the Champions League or Europa League last season, he showed a red card only once from the group stage onward which was to Bayern Munich’s defender Dayot Upamecano.
In the games where he was the field referee, he did not award a penalty kick or send off any player. He has only shown ten yellow cards, including one for Serbia forward Aleksandar Mitrovic. Mitrovic was judged to have dived in the penalty area in Serbia’s 0-0 draw against Denmark. In any game officiated by Letexier’s games, there have been no video review-related controversy.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of anticipation for Sunday’s European Championship final. On one side Spain will arrive in the finals after winning all six games in this tournament. After being one behind against France, Spain doubled the effort before half-time and ended the game 2-1. England have been under a lot of scrutiny after a series of underwhelming performances. Now the side stands just one game away from winning their first Euro trophy ever and their first major trophy in 58 years.
After UEFA announced Sunday’s Euro final’s referee, fans show their displeasure over the choice. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
