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FOOTBALL-WC-BJORN-REFEREE
Bjorn Kuipers of The Netherlands to referee Russia vs. Spain match
MOSCOW, June 30,2018 (BSS/TASS) – Referee Bjorn Kuipers of The Netherlands will take charge of Russia’s clash with Spain in the Round of 16 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, the FIFA press service has said.
Kuipers will be assisted by his compatriots Sander Van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra. The fourth official will be Clement Turpin of France, reserve assistant referee – Nicolas Danos.
The Spain-Russia game will begin at 17:00 Moscow time on July 1, at Moscow’ Luzhniki stadium.
The winners of the Spain-Russia and Croatia-Denmark games will face each other in the quarterfinal in Sochi on July 7.
The Croatia-Denmark game, due in Nizhny Novgorod on July 1, will be refereed by Nestor Pitana of Argentina, assistant referees are Hernan Maidana and Juan Pablo Belatti. Enrique Caceres and Eduardo Cardozo, both from Paraguay, will be the game’s fourth official and reserve assistant referee, respectively.
Russia is staging its first-ever FIFA World Cup, which kicked off in Moscow with a spectacular opening show at the Luzhniki Stadium on the night of June 14.
The country selected 11 host cities to be the venues for the matches of the 2018 World Cup and they are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Saransk, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Novgorod, Yekaterinburg and Samara.
A total of 32 national football teams entered the 2018 FIFA World Cup and only 16 of them proceeded to the knockout phase after the group stage, which kicked off on June 14 and ended on June 28.
BSS/TASS/SG/SMM/1730 hrs