The referee for the Paris 2024 men’s soccer semi-final between Morocco and Spain had to be replaced early on after a heavy clash with Spain defender Marco Pubila.
Referee Ilgiz Tantashev was bumped into by Pubil, after the Spanish defender collided with a Moroccan player.
Although Tantashev was first after the collision, he had to receive physiotherapy treatment as the game was temporarily stopped.
Concerns about the Uzbek official grew rapidly.
“I just wonder how the official is doing because he limped away from that challenge,” Clive Allen said on Eurosport’s commentary.
“It’s not often you can tell if an official is going to be OK or is he going to have to limp with this?” fellow commentator Oliver Wilson said.
Despite trying to shake off the blow, the referee had to leave the pitch due to injury, and Sweden’s fourth official Glenn Nyberg replaced Tantashev and took control of the match.
The incident happened with just 11 minutes on the clock and the referee was completely blindsided by Pubila crashing into him.
“He’s really struggling,” Wilson said. “If there is any doubt that you have to make a change, the official on the field has to keep up with the tempo of the game.”
Allen said: “It was a complete accident but Pubil came in from the side and the referee was completely unaware. He seems to have rolled that right ankle.”
The substitute referee got into the act fairly quickly, awarding a penalty to Morocco in the 33rd minute, and after a VAR review, Soufiane Rahimi scored from the spot to give the African side the lead.
Fermin Lopez equalized for Spain in the second half with a great finish, but then received a yellow card for kicking the corner flag during the goal celebration.
Juanlu Sanchez scored the winner for Spain, firing into the bottom corner, as they advanced to the men’s soccer final. Spain are now guaranteed a medal, with the final on Friday.
Tantashev was probably hoping for an easier match than his last one, in which he oversaw an incident-filled contest between France and Argentina.
After the final whistle, a mass brawl broke out between the two sides, with officials doing their best to break up both players and staff. Nine cards were awarded throughout the game and Enzo Millot was sent off after the match.
Tantashev also took charge of France’s game against Guinea and Paraguay’s clash with Mali earlier in the tournament.