Paris 2024 Olympics: Referee suffers injury in Spain vs Morocco semifinal; forced to come off field

The referee was inadvertently taken down from behind by a Spanish defender after signalling for a foul on Morocco’s Ilias Akhomach by Juan Miranda.

Reserve referee Andreas Söderkvist and Fourth official Glenn Nyberg helps Referee Ilgiz Tantashev to take his microphone off as he is being substituted due to an injury during the Men’s semifinal match between Morocco and Spain during the Olympic Games Paris 2024. | Photo Credit: Getty Images

Uzbekistan’s Ilgiz Tantashev, the referee in the Paris 2024 Olympics football semifinal between Morocco and Spain, had to be replaced due to an injury at the Marseille Stadium on Monday.

The referee was inadvertently taken down from behind by a Spanish defender after signalling for a foul on Morocco’s Ilias Akhomach by Juan Miranda.

The referee was substituted from the field of play and replaced by fourth official Andreas Soderkvist from Sweden.

The 40-year-old referee had earlier officiated the heated quarterfinal between host France and Argentina which saw a late goal from Michael Olise disallowed for a contentious foul in the build-up.

After the full-time whistle, the two sets of players engaged in a brawl with midfielder Enzo Millet shown a direct red card. The match was played in the backdrop of allegations of racism against the senior Argentinian team during their celebrations after winning a second straight Copa America title.

“I do not agree with what happened at the end,” France coach Thierry Henry told Argentine broadcaster TyC Sports. “One of my players got a red card, and I don’t accept that it shouldn’t happen. I went to shake (Argentine coach Javier) Mascherano’s hand, and when I turned around, it had happened.”