Sandro Ricci, the Brazilian referee who officiated the match between Nigeria and Croatia which Croatia went on to win 2-0 has been hospitalized.
The referee is also a degree holder in Economics and is a civil servant in Brazil.
He was reported to have ruptured his ligaments which led him to the hospital where he is now recuperating, however, how he got injured is still a mystery as no one knows how it happened.
It is also currently unknown how long Ricci will be required to stay in the hospital to recuperate and whether it will affect his continued presence at the World Cup.
Ricci had also served as the fourth official of the Russia- Saudi Arabia game which Russia ran out comfortable leaders with a 5-0 win which angered many from the oil-rich state.
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Ricci was also roundly criticised by Nigerians during the Croatia game as they felt there were calls that should have been made against Croatia which weren’t.
That was not his only brush with controversy as he was also the Video Assistant Referee for the game between England and Tunisia, and he was under fire for not awarding a penalty to England after his attention was drawn to an incident by Colombia referee Wilmar Roldan when Harry Kane was brought down by a Tunisian defender inside the 18-yard box.