Referee forced off injured during Spain vs Morocco at Olympics 

The first substitution in the ongoing semi-final match between Morocco and Spain at the Paris Olympic Games was a rather unusual one. The match referee, Ilgiz Tantashev, was forced off due to injury and had to be 'substituted' in the first half.

15 minutes into the all-important semi-final, referee Ilgiz Tantashev suffered an injury after a collision with Spanish defender Marc Pubill. The referee had just blown for a foul on Morocco's Ilias Akhomach by Juan Miranda when the unfortunate incident occurred.

Swedish official Glenn Nyberg, who was the fourth official for the encounter, replaced Tantashev as the referee after his injury.

Ilgiz Tantashev in the news once again at the Olympics

The 40-year-old referee was replaced by the fourth official after the first 15 minutes in the first half. This is not the first time the Uzbek referee has been in the news at the Olympic Games. He was the official in the encounter between France and Argentina in the quarter-final stage.

A late goal by Bayern Munich forward Michael Olise was disallowed for a controversial foul and although France emerged 1-0 winners over the South American side, it led to a heated exchange after the full-time whistle. The two sets of players engaged in a brawl at the end of 90 minutes, which led to French midfielder Enzo Millot bing shown a red card.

The ongoing semi-final between Morocco and Spain is not the first case of a referee being substituted off in a match. Earlier this year, we saw a match between Real Madrid and Sevilla paused midway after the referee picked up a calf injury and had to be replaced. Two matches in the Serie A - Bologna vs Verona and Lecce vs Inter Milan - saw the referees being subbed off due to injury.