Referee Oliver assigned for Turkiye vs. Italy Nations League crunch match

English referee Michael Oliver has been assigned to Italy’s crunch Nations League match against Turkiye on Monday, the man Gigi Buffon famously said had ‘a dustbin for a heart’.

The game kicks off at the Ataturk Spor Kompleski Matli Stadyumu in Bursa on Monday at 19.45 UK time (20.45 CEST).

This is a real head-to-head at the foot of Group A, as both teams lost their opening fixtures.

Italy are rock bottom on goal difference following the 2-0 home defeat to Belgium, while Vincenzo Montella’s Turkiye lost 1-0 to France.

Oliver to officiate Turkiye vs. Italy

UEFA have assigned English referee Oliver to this game, assisted by Stuart Burt and James Mainwaring, with Darren England as the Fourth Official.

In the VAR booth are more English officials, Stuart Attwell and Matthew Donahue.

Oliver is a 41-year-old referee who recently officiated Inter’s 2-1 Champions League defeat to Real Madrid.

His record with the Italy squad is poor, overseeing a 2-2 draw with Armenia in October 2013 and the 0-0 friendly against the Republic of Ireland in May 2014.

Including club teams and youth international fixtures, Oliver oversaw 11 Italian wins, seven draws and nine defeats.

Most notoriously, he was accused by Gianluigi Buffon of having ‘a dustbin for a heart’ when awarding a penalty and sending him off in the Champions League quarter-final with Real Madrid in April 2018.

When it comes to Turkiye, this referee officiated three wins and a 6-0 defeat to Spain, including the 2026 World Cup qualifying play-off with Kosovo.