There is no doubt that beautiful game of football will not be enjoyable without controversies. And, referees are their to make sure we get enough of such controversies. Recently, English referee Michael Oliver gave the footballing world a maximum dose of controversy in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final clash between Real Madrid and Juventus.
In the 92nd minute, he awarded a penalty to Real Madrid and had the legendary Italian shot stopper sent off. That decision caused a lot of arguments all over the footballing world. However, won’t it be good to find out some facts about this referee. Here are 5 things you don’t know about referee Michael Oliver.
1. Michael Oliver was born in 1985 (33 years). He began refereeing at the age of 14, when his father introduced him to the profession.
2. In 2007, Michael Oliver was promoted to the National List of Referees. He even went on to referee the 2007 Conference National play-off final, thereby becoming the youngest football referee to officiate at Wembley Stadium.
3. Michael Oliver holds the records of being the youngest Football League assistant referee, youngest Football League referee, and is also the youngest fourth official and central referee in the Premier League. In 2013, Oliver also became the youngest referee to take charge of an FA Cup semi-final.
4. Michael Oliver received his official FIFA refereeing badge in 2012. Oliver was appointed to referee the final of the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Chile.
5. In the Manchester derby in 2014, which Michael Oliver officiated, Joe Hart was angry over a decision. He clashed heads with the referee. However, Hart was not sent off by Oliver. Oliver was later criticised by a number of football pundits. Soccer fans have theorized that, the earlier incident might have influenced his decision to send Buffon off.
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