FIFA refuse to comment on ref mistakes - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

FIFA refuse to comment on ref mistakes

28/06/2010 09:04:32 PM Comments (0)

FIFA are refusing to comment on mistakes by World Cup match officials that contributed to the second-round elimination of England and Mexico.

But FIFA are cracking down on World Cup match action being shown on stadium giant screens after replays of Argentina's disputed first goal against Mexico fueled arguments on the pitch.

FIFA did not send any officials with responsibility for referees to their daily briefing on Monday despite a growing furore over Sunday's errors.

FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot faced hostile questioning but said it was "obviously not the place" to debate refereeing errors or the merits of video technology.

Television replays showed that England's Frank Lampard was denied a clear first half goal, which would have made it 2-2, before Germany went on to win 4-1.

And Carlos Tevez's first half strike in Argentina's 3-1 win over Mexico was awarded in controversial circumstances as replays showed he was offside when world footballer of the year Lionel Messi gave him the final pass.

Angry Mexico players protested to referee Roberto Rosetti after the screens in Johannesburg's Soccer City showed Tevez was offside.

Maingot said replaying such incidents "should not happen," and would be more tightly controlled at future matches.

Maingot said FIFA had not yet received feedback about a mass confrontation between coaches and players behind the Mexico bench as the teams left the field at halftime.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that under-fire Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda was no stranger to controversy prior to his blunder in the World Cup last 16 match between Germany and England.

Larrionda was suspended in 2002 for six months by his national Football Association over "irregularities".

That ruled the man known by some as "Red Card Larrionda" out of officiating at the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

The 42-year-old has also incurred the wrath of the United States side twice, most notably in the 2006 World Cup when, in a group match with eventual champions Italy, he red-carded three players - two of them American.

Serbian coach Radomir Antic is no fan of him either, having been outraged after Larrionda turned down appeals for a penalty for handball against Tim Cahill in their concluding group match against Australia last Wednesday.

Had it been given, and Serbia scored, they and not Ghana would have progressed to the last 16 and a clash with the US.

"The referee did not want to see it," said Antic afterwards.

"We did not get fair treatment."

Lampard's "goal" is also not the first time that Larrionda has ruled that the ball did not go over the line when it did as was the case in 2004 in a match between Brazil and Colombia in a 2006 World Cup qualifier.

Brazilian striker Adriano's shot hit the bar and came down clearly over the line but the Uruguayan ruled it had not.

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news