Obiter’s desperate attempts to shoehorn the World Cup into these pages had proved fruitless, until a late beacon of light in the form of Ali Omar.
The Egyptian referee has been named as the main official for the second match of the tournament, South Korea v Czech Republic, which kicks off at the unappealing UK time of 3am on Friday.
Omar is listed in various media outlets as a lawyer, although we could find no record online of his legal career.
Perhaps a long run in the tournament might raise his profile and help to fill in the blanks. Such a run of games would be a surprise given this is his first senior World Cup, but the Korean media is upbeat on his prospects, one outlet describing that ‘his willingness to maintain the flow of the game rather than blowing the whistle on every contact will be a true asset’. We can judge for ourselves on Friday – if anyone can still be up in those small hours.
