Italian referee Maurizio Mariani and his assistants will be attired in ‘flamingo pink’ in Monday’s Group H World Cup game between Uruguay and Saudi Arabia in tribute to the city of Miami
Mariani is one of 170 match officials at the World Cup, which is being hosted in the US, Canada, and Mexico.
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“Miami is our base camp so we thought it would be nice to show our appreciation to the city where we’ll live for about two months,” FIFA’s Chief Refereeing Officer and Chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee Pierluigi Collina said as quoted by ESPN.
The city in Southern Florida is linked to the colour pink due to its unique pink Art Deco buildings, famous pink sunsets, and the flamingos that were once common in the region.
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“We chose this ‘pink flamingo’ for the referees’ training material,” Collina said.
“It’s a sort of recognition. Also, the first match — which will be played in Miami, June 15 — Uruguay v Saudi Arabia [Group H], the referee will wear the pink flamingo shirt.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who recently met with the match officials at their training camp in Miami, added: “Pink is the colour of Miami, and we are all wearing this very nice pink dresses to give a little bit of a shout-out, to give a little bit of a smile to the city which is hosting us.”
