World's worst referee to officiate Man United vs Liverpool game

– A very controversial referee will be in charge of the United vs Liverpool game 
– The same man was in charge when Manchester United were knocked out of this season’s Champions League

Serbian referee Milorad Mazic who was voted the worst referee at the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Brazil will take charge of the Europa League match involving Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford on Thursday March 17.

Milorad Mazic

The bad news for Manchester United is that Mazic was in charge of United’s final Champions’ League group match against Wolfsburg in Germany when Louis Van Gaal’s side were knocked out of the competition. The same referee was adjudged the worst referee in Brazil 2014 after being involved in several controversial incidents. Manchester United face a herculean task to upturn Liverpool’s 2 – 0 first leg lead at Old Trafford and it is set to be a frenzied occasion that will test the 42-year-old card happy referee. Mazic left trails of anger in the games he took charge at the 2014 World Cup including that of Germany versus Portugal and Argentina against Iran. The no-nonsense official awarded the eventual winners Germany a controversial penalty, then sent off Portugal’s Pepe. Iranian boss was furious with the referee after he failed to award his team a penalty against Argentina with Carlos Queiroz in rage, saying: “How can this guy sleep tonight, or for the rest of his life?”

Ashkan Dejagah of Iran appeals to referee Milorad Mazic after he was brought down in the box

The action prompted the Iranian Football Federation to drag Mazic to Fifa with an complaint over the referee’s decisions. After a poll by the website redcardtheref.com, Mazic gathered 87,362 votes out of 110,000 to earn him the status of the worst referee of Brazil 2014. Mazic also came under intense criticism after he handled last season’s Madrid derby Champions League quarter-final between Real and Atletico with Atletico midfielder Mario Suarez claiming: “The referee is very bad. They can’t use a Serbian referee for these type of games, with all my respect. I hope that in the return leg they pick a better referee.”