European, South American refs for WCup last eight

MOSCOW (AP):

FIFA has picked European and South American referees to handle the World Cup quarterfinals that feature only teams from their regions.

The Uruguay versus France game will be refereed by Nestor Pitana of Argentina tomorrow in Nizhny Novgorod. It will be his fourth assignment, including the opening game.

Also tomorrow, the Brazil versus Belgium game in Kazan will be handled by Milorad Mazic of Serbia. He handled the Champions League final in May.

FIFA says that Brazilian referee Sandro Ricci will work Russia versus Croatia on Saturday in Sochi. He handled Croatia's first group-stage game against Nigeria.

The Sweden versus England quarterfinal in Samara on Saturday will be the fourth game refereed by Bjorn Kuipers of the Netherlands.