Italian referee Daniele Orsato had been tipped to end his career by officiating the EURO 2024 Final, but surprisingly has been dropped for both the semi-finals and the decisive clash.
The official had been hoping to hang up his whistle at the age of 48 with the most prestigious match of his career, the game that assigns the trophy of European Champions.
Instead, Orsato is not even in the running for that match, having also been dropped for the semi-finals in favour of Slavko Vincic of Slovenia and Germany’s Felix Zwayer.
Marciniak favourite over Orsato for Final
The favourite for the Final is now Szymon Marciniak of Poland, who at 43 is also coming towards the end of his career.
It is a curious choice, seeing as Marciniak has had some controversial matches this season, including the Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.
Other candidates are Michael Oliver of England and Francois Letexier of France, but that depends on if their nations are in the Final or not.
The UEFA refereeing designator is also Italian, Roberto Rosetti.
Too bad that he may not get this. He deserves the respect to go out on his terms, but unfortunately, it may not be.
As long as we never see Anthony Taylor again, it can be anyone else.
No surprise. Awful referee. Serie A was worse off with this clown.