There was some speculation about Argentina football team captain Lionel Messi’s possibility of missing out on the vital do-or-die game against Croatia in the FIFA World Cup semifinal on Tuesday.
The speculation was due to Messi’s heated temperament during Argentina’s quarterfinal match against the Netherlands last weekend when Messi was seen clashing with his opponent team’s coach Louis van Gaal as well as criticizing FIFA referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz. In the end, the dramatic match ended in a draw, and Argentina ended up defeating the Dutch in a penalty shootout.
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Disciplinary action was initiated against Messi by FIFA after he criticized the match referee. In the same match, Lahoz awarded a whopping 16 yellow cards to players from both sides.
Messi was cautioned by the referee in the 10th minute of the second half extra time. After that, the Spanish referee was criticized by Messi.
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According to FIFA World Cup rules, if a referee reports such an occurrence in his match report, FIFA may investigate and initiate disciplinary action against the player. Referee Lahoz reported the event in this case, and as a result, FIFA has initiated disciplinary proceedings against him.
Referring to the referee’s performance, Messi stated in an interview: “This match shouldn’t have ended as it did. I don’t want to talk about the referee because they sanction you. But people saw what happened. We were afraid before the match because we knew how he was and I think FIFA has to review this. You can’t put a referee like him for these matches.”
After winning the penalty shootout, Messi has also approached the Dutch coach to tell Van Gaal: “You talk too much.”
“I feel disrespected by Van Gaal after his pre-game comments and some Dutch players spoke too much during the game,” Messi told reporters after the match.
However, despite the reports of a possible ban, there seems to be little chance that Messi will be suspended from playing in the semifinal match as Lahoz has been sent home by FIFA following complaints against him.
