World Cup, Qatar-Ecuador: the Italian Orsato referees

Italy will immediately be a protagonist at the World Cup which is about to begin in Qatar, in the only possible way: with the referees. Daniele Orsato has in fact been designated to direct the inaugural match of the tournament between Qatar (host nation) and Ecuador, which will be played on Sunday at 5pm at the Al Bayt stadium in Al Khawr. The refereeing team will in all likelihood also see the use of the other selected Italians, namely the assistants Carbone and Giallatini and the Vars Irrati and Valeri.

For the first time, the match that marks the start of the World Cup will be refereed by an Italian referee. At the Var, on the other hand, it is nothing new since Irrati was also in the video room in Russia-Saudi Arabia, the opening match of the last edition, as well as the first in which technological support was used. Our referees have historically always been highly regarded for the most sensitive engagements of the tournament.

three finals

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This is confirmed by the designation for three finals: Sergio Gonella for Argentina-Holland in 1978, Pierluigi Collina for Germany-Brazil in 2002 and Nicola Rizzoli for Argentina-Germany in 2014. Orsato, thanks to Italy’s absence in the competition, is one of candidates for the most delicate phases of the World Cup, after the continuity of performance in the international arena in recent years: he is the most employed Italian in the Champions League (46 games) and in 2020 he also directed the final between Bayern Munich and Paris Saint- Germain, being awarded by the IFFHS as the best referee of that season.