Peter O’Leary from New Zealand has been picked by world football governing body FIFA to officiate Nigeria’s Group F match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Saturday.
According to a report by FIFA’s Media Office, the match will be O’Leary’s first appearance at the perpetual 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the match is scheduled for the Arena Pantanal in Cuiaba.
The 42-year-old O’Leary worked as a fourth official at the 2010 FIFA World Cup and holds a number of appearance records in FIFA competitions.
O’Leary has accumulated the most participation between 2007 and 2012, when he refereed five matches in the FIFA Club World Cup.
He has withal taken part in four editions of the FIFA U-20 World Cup from 2007 to 2013.
For the other Group F match involving Argentina and Iran, Serbia’s 41-year-old Milorad Mazic will be at the centre.
The match will be Mazic’s second in the tournament, after overseeing Germany’s 4-0 victory over Portugal in a Group G match.
Mazic has anteriorly officiated at high-profile youth tournaments such as the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2013.
During the 2014 World Cup preliminary competition, he was in charge of five matches, including Romania versus Greece in the play-offs.
In another appointment, Sandro Ricci will officiate the Group G match between Germany and Ghana.
Ricci is 39 years old and emanates from Brasília, the capital of the host country, and in 2013 he was a component of four matches at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey.
He additionally officiated two matches at the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco.
During the matches, his path crossed that of a German team as he was the referee for the final between Bayern Munich and Raja Casablanca.
