Ashington-born referee Michael Oliver will be in charge of the Premier League clash between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, November 10, 2024.
Arsenal will travel to West London to take rivals Chelsea in a highly-anticipated Premier League clash on Sunday, November 10, 2024. The two teams, battling to break into the Premier League top four and possibly challenge for the title, will relish the clash to build momentum in the race.
Largely regarded as the match of the week, the Premier League has appointed Michael Oliver to take charge of the match in a controversial move.
It will be the second time Oliver will take charge of a match involving Arsenal. He refereed the match between the Gunners and Manchester City at Etihad early in the season.
Oliver stoked reactions and raised eyebrows in the match after he handed Leandro Trossard a red card for kicking the ball away after he blew for a foul.
Arsenal were leading 2-1 and nearly raced to victory before John Stones scored a late equalizer in the last minutes of the game to peg the visitors to a 2-2 draw.
For fans and analysts, Olivier changed the dynamics of the game after he handed the controversial red card to Trossard.
He was used as an assistant referee in Chelsea’s match against Brighton before returning to the field in Southampton’s match against Bournemouth.
Who is Michael Oliver?
Michael Oliver, born on February 20, 1985, is a football referee from England. He is renowned for officiating top matches in English football. He was born in Ashington, England and began his refereeing career at the age of 18 in 2003.
He started in the Northern League – the level seven and eight of the English Football System.
Olivier officiated for two years in the Northern League before climbing up the ladder to the Football Conference in 2005. In the Football Conference, he officiated for two years again before he further rose up the rankings to officiate in the English Football League (EFL) which comprised the EFL Championship, League One, and League Two.
After three years in the English Football League, Oliver rose to the apex of the English Football System – the Premier League – in 2010.
He became the youngest Premier League manager, refereeing a match at the age of 25 when he was appointed to take of the match between Fulham and Portsmouth in January 2010.
Since his big break into the English top flight, Michael Oliver has established himself as one of the most respected referees in the division.
He officiated his first big English football final on August 10, 2014, taking charge of the Community Shield clash between Manchester City and Arsenal at Wembley.
Since then, he has officiated three other finals at Wembley comprising two FA Cup finals and an EFL Cup final.
Away from England, Olivier has also refereed European matches. He officiated his first Champions League match in September 2016 between Sporting CP and Legia Warsaw. He was also among the English referees appointed by FIFA to officiate in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
