Rizzoli appointed World Cup final referee

Italy’s Nicola Rizzoli will referee Sunday’s FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and Germany.

The 42-year-old has already presided over two of Argentina’s games at the tournament in Brazil – the 3-2 win over Nigeria in the group stage and their 1-0 quarter-final success over Belgium.

Rizzoli also oversaw Netherlands’ 5-1 demolition of Spain in Group B’s opening game, and has handed out nine cautions in those three matches, with no red cards.

The Italian will be familiar with many of the Germany starting XI after refereeing the UEFA Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund at Wembley last year.

Massimo Busacca, head of refereeing for FIFA, confirmed that Rizzoli will be in charge of the showpiece while FIFA vice-president and chair of the refereeing committee Jim Boyce declared that Rizzoli was the right man for the job.

“We choose the best referees for the best matches, and the Italian will referee the final,” he said.