Premier League officials were forced to skip the first scheduled World Cup match last week.
Michael Oliver is set to referee this summer’s World Cup (Image: George Wood/Getty Images)
FIFA has announced that referee Michael Oliver will return this week after missing the first scheduled match due to injury.
The English referee was due to oversee Ecuador’s game against Ivory Coast early on Monday, but he was replaced by French referee François Letexier.
It appears his injury was not too bad and FIFA confirmed that he will be available for selection again “within a few days”. That appears to be the case, with confirmation that he has been selected for Saturday’s Group F match between the Netherlands and Sweden (kick-off 6pm).
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The match will be held at Houston Stadium in Houston, USA.
He will be supported by Premier League executives Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring. South African referees Abongile Tom and Zakhele Siwela will serve as the fourth official assistant referee and reserve assistant referee.
This is not Oliver’s first time as a World Cup referee, having been appointed to referee the 2022 tournament in Qatar. During that tournament, he oversaw the quarterfinal match between Croatia and Brazil.
Oliver has been an international referee since 2012 and has been a member of UEFA’s elite group of officials since 2018.
Michael Oliver will referee the World Cup match on Saturday (Image: Fantasista/Getty Images)
He is one of six English Football Association on-field officials who took part in the World Cup. The other referee is Anthony Taylor.
He will be in charge of the group stage match between Uzbekistan and Colombia, which will be played early Thursday morning. The match will be held at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.
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Gary Beswick and Adam Nunn will serve as assistant referees for the match, while fellow Premier League official Jared Gillett has been appointed as video match official, making it his third match of the tournament.
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