MICHAEL OLIVER is set to take charge of the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea.
The Premier League referee has made himself known on the world stage this season after incurring the wrath of legendary Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
Michael Oliver awarded a stoppage time penalty to Real Madrid after Juve had drawn level from 3-0 down, and then sent off the 40-year-old for his protests.
Here is all you need to know about one of English football’s top referees.
Who is Michael Oliver and how old is he?
Michael Oliver was born in Ashington, Northumberland, and introduced to refereeing by his father at the age of 14.
In 2007, he became the youngest referee ever to officiate at Wembley Stadium when he took charge of the Conference National play-off final.
In 2009, his father Clive took charge of the League Two final before he refereed the League One play-off final a day later.
He has spent two years refereeing in European competition with his first match coming in 2016 between Sporting Lisbon and Legia Warsaw.
Oliver is currently 33 years old.
What happened when Michael Oliver refereed Real Madrid vs Juventus?
Juventus travelled to the Bernabeu trailing 3-0 from the first leg in Turin, but Blaise Matuidi drew the scores level on aggregate after a first half double from Mario Mandzukic.
In stoppage time, Oliver adjudged Juve’s Medhi Benatia to have brought down Lucas Vazquez in the area and awarded a penalty to Real Madrid.
Led by Buffon, Juventus players swarmed around the English official, who would ultimately show the goalkeeper a red card.
Cristiano Ronaldo then converted the penalty against substitute goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to send Real into the semi-finals.
What exactly did Buffon say about Michael Oliver?
Following the match, Buffon said of Oliver: “It was a tenth of a penalty. I know the referee saw, it was certainly a dubious incident.
“And a dubious incident at the 93rd minute when we had a clear penalty denied [for a challenge on Juan Cuadrado] in the first leg, you cannot award that at this point.
“The team gave their all, but a human being cannot destroy dreams like that at the end of an extraordinary comeback on a dubious situation.
“The referee has a trashcan where his heart should be.
“On top of that, if you don’t have the character to walk on a pitch like this in a stadium like this, you can sit in the stands with your wife, your kids, drinking your Sprite and eating crisps.
“You cannot ruin the dreams of a team.”
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Speaking on Spanish radio, the legendary Italian added: “You have to be a murderer to make the last two decisions the referee made.
“Real Madrid deserved to go through over the two legs.
“I wish them the best and it has always been an honour for me to face this club, but objectively we at least deserved to go to extra time.
“We started out knowing full well we had 0.0000005 per cent chance of doing it.
“But I am so truly proud to be part of a team that would play like this, work so hard and give everything. I am proud to be with this group of men. Naturally, there is regret and, well, anger.”
Buffon was charged by Uefa for his comments.
Has Gianluigi Buffon apologised to Michael Oliver?
Buffon has, this week, apologised to Michael Oliver for his reaction to the incident which occurred in March.
He said: “If I saw the referee again, I would give him a hug and say that he should have taken more time with that decision.
“With the feelings, emotions and disappointment of the situation, I behaved in a way that was not usual for me.
“After that match, I went beyond the limits with the things I said about the referee and I apologise for that.”
This came as Michael Oliver’s wife revealed some of the vile abuse the referee had received from social media trolls following that Champions League quarter-final.
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