Who is Ivan Barton, the Salvadoran set to referee France v Spain semi-final? | OneFootball

Salvadoran referee Ivan Barton, 35, will take charge of France v Spain in the World Cup semi-final on Tuesday at 21:00 in France.

David Moran, his compatriot, and Nicaraguan assistant Antonio Pupiro will run the lines. The trio have already handled three matches at this World Cup. Elsavador.com describes Barton as the standard-bearer for Central American refereeing at the tournament.

In his first assignment he sent off Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron for covering his mouth while addressing a Turkish opponent, applying Article 4 of Law 12, known as the Vinicius law. He then oversaw Japan v Sweden in the group stage, which finished 1-1, before Switzerland v Colombia in the last 16 ended 0-0, 4-3 on penalties.

This is Barton’s second World Cup after Qatar in 2022, where he refereed three games. He has now become the Central American referee with the most matches as a World Cup centre, six.

An international FIFA official since 2018, he has taken charge of almost 200 Salvadoran top-flight fixtures and worked in Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

He previously refereed France and Spain at the 2019 Under-17 World Cup, crossing paths with Arnaud Kalimuendo, Nathanaël Mbuku and Adil Aouchiche, and with Spain’s Pedri in a 5-1 win over Tajikistan. At the Tokyo 2021 Olympics he oversaw France’s 4-0 defeat by Japan, sending off Randal Kolo Muani on 74 minutes for a stamp on Koji Miyoshi.

Source: L'Équipe