2014 World Cup’s ‘worst referee appointed for Madrid-Liverpool final

Referee Milorad Mazic, who was voted the worst referee at the 2014 World Cup, has been appointed the leading official for this season’s Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.

Mazic caused controversy with his disappointing displays in Brazil four years ago when he took charge of both Germany and Portugal’s fixture and the Argentina and Iran match.

The Germany and Portugal match saw him award a highly-debatable penalty to the Germans and also sent off Portuguese defender Pepe for headbutting Thomas Müller.

He also opted against awarding Iran a penalty in their game against Argentina, a match the South American side won 1-0.

Speaking after that match, former Manchester United assistant manager and Iranian boss Carlos Queiroz said to reporters (via football.london): “How can this guy sleep tonight, or for the rest of his life?

“With all respect, I would like to have the opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with him. Why did he do that to us?”

A website called redcardtheref.com conducted a poll after the 2014 World Cup, asking the public to vote for the worst referee of the tournament. Mazic was ultimately named the ‘winner’, collecting 87,362 votes out of 110,000

These figures aside, perhaps the backlash of appointing Mazic to officiate the Champions League final this month is slightly unfair.

Despite a poor 2014 World Cup, his performances dramatically increased at Euro 2016 where he was in contention of officiating the Euro 2016 final, with that honour eventually going to English referee Mark Clattenburg.

Credit: Squawka.com