Webb selected to referee World Cup final
Thursday, July 8, 2010
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English match official Howard Webb will referee the FIFA World Cup final after being handed the whistle for Sunday's Netherlands-Spain game by the FIFA Referees Committee.
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English referee Howard Webb has been appointed by the FIFA Referees Committee to take charge of Sunday's FIFA World Cup final between the Netherlands and Spain at the Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg.
Webb, 38, also refereed last season's UEFA Champions League final between FC Bayern München and FC Internazionale Milano at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. He will be accompanied by his countrymen Michael Mullarkey and Darren Cann, who also ran the line in May's Madrid final. The fourth official will be Yuichi Nishimura from Japan.
A former police officer who was encouraged by his father to take up refereeing as a teenager, the Rotherham-based Webb has considerable international experience. At the World Cup in South Africa, he has taken charge of three matches – the Spain-Switzerland and Italy-Slovakia group games and the round of 16 encounter between Brazil and Chile.
He also officiated at two UEFA EURO 2008 final round matches and three 2010 World Cup qualifiers. In the UEFA Champions League, Webb has overseen a total of 20 games. The previous Englishman to referee a World Cup final was Jack Taylor, who was assigned the 1974 showdown between the Netherlands and West Germany in Munich.