ROME, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Dutch referee Serdar Gozubuyuk has been assigned to Malta's World Cup qualifier with Italy.

Gozubuyuk, 27, is a Dutch referee of Turkish descent and hit headlines around Europe in December when he took an extraordinary measure to calm Groningen coach Robert Maskaant.

Instead of flashing a red card at the manager, the referee took off his blue 'Respect' armband and waved that at him instead.

Malta will host Italy on Tuesday evening.