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Two of the best Premier League officials will be in action in Qatar
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Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor have been selected to the initial group of referees for the 2022 World Cup
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Premier League referee Howard Webb took charge of the final in 2010
The Premier League is often labelled as the best in world football but the quality of referee performances is questioned almost every weekend.
With so much at stake, the eyes of the world are on every refereeing decision and some officials stick out like a sore thumb for all the wrong reasons.
WC 2022 PL Refs:
However, a few – namely Michael Oliver and Anthony Taylor – manage to keep themselves out of the spotlight.
While Mike Dean is charismatic, Oliver and Taylor are professional and focused on making it at the highest level of the sport… and it doesn’t get much bigger than the World Cup.
The initial group of 2022 World Cup referees has been revealed and it would be a major shock if the two Premier League representatives missed out on the tournament.
Here, we take a closer look at the two Premier League referees in World Cup action later this year. Who knows, one could even take charge of the final if England don’t make it…
Michael Oliver
Having joined the Premier League referee corps in 2010, Michael Oliver has officiated some of the biggest games in English football – including two FA Cup finals.
Oliver became the youngest official in Premier League history in August 2015, taking charge of Birmingham City vs Blackburn Rovers at just 25 years and 182 days old.
While he is yet to appear at the FIFA World Cup, Oliver has been involved in the U17 and U20 editions of the competition, so he is familiar with international competition.
The next logical step is to officiate at the World Cup in Qatar. Oliver has been involved in many high profile Champions League fixtures and could be a huge hit at the 2022 event.
Having officiated in European quarter-finals, domestic finals and the U20 World Cup semi-final in 2019, Oliver has proven himself as an elite referee.
Fair but firm, Oliver will be popular amongst World Cup betting punters. We could see the Premier League referee flashing his cards in Doha, Lusail and Al Rayyan this winter.
Anthony Taylor
Anthony Taylor has been a Premier League referee since 2010, climbing his way to the top of the domestic game on English soil.
One of the most experienced referees selected by FIFA, Taylor officiated at Euro 2020 and was on the pitch at the time of Christian Eriksen’s collapse against Finland.
Taylor received praise from the wider football community for his handling of the incident, quickly stopping play and remaining calm and composed on the field of play.
Unlike Oliver, Taylor has experience refereeing major European finals – he was the man in the middle for the 2020 UEFA Super Cup and the 2021 Nations League final.
That experience puts him in good stead to earn a chance at refereeing the final, unless of course England advance to the final.
Taylor might turn out to be the only Englishman on the planet who doesn’t want the Three Lions to defy World Cup predictions and reach a first World Cup final since 1966!
Premier League Refs 2018 World Cup
For the first time in post-war history, England had no referee representative at the FIFA World Cup in 2018 – much to the surprise of fans around the world.
Mark Clattenburg was due to represent England but his decision to move to Saudi Arabia four months before the tournament meant that no Premier League official was involved.
Initially, Clattenburg was included on the pre-selected group of referees some two years before the tournament and he would’ve undoubtedly played a key role in Russia.
Referee chief Mike Riley was clearly disappointed at FIFA and the referee selection process, with England unable to offer an alternative representative for the competition.
"It is a disappointment, because we pride ourselves on the international games that our referees have had over the years, and if you look back over the last 10 years, no country has been more successful in that than we have," said Riley.
"But if you look at the process, Mark was included in the long list who were selected for preparation for the World Cup, and all those referees have been through a training programme.
"At the time Mark left for Saudi Arabia, there were actually no competitions left to train the referees, so there was no opportunity to replace him with another English referee.
"You can understand it from FIFA's point of view; if they spent their time training and preparing refs for that competition, as part of that programme they want that pool of referees to represent them.
"It's more about the timing, not about the quality of our referees."
You’d have got long sports betting odds on that happening in 2018 but the chances of history repeating itself must be close to none.
Anthony Taylor and Michael Oliver are two of the best in the business, taking charge of major European fixtures and international matches on the biggest stage.
Here’s to hoping the 2022 World Cup is a success and the Premier League referees cover themselves in glory.
After missing out in 2018, England can put itself back on the map as the elite nation for officiating with two solid performances this winter.
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 17th May 2022
