Four refs cut by FIFA
By Justin Worsley of The Working Title
At least FIFA is recognizing their referees aren't perfect.
The organization announced on Tuesday that they will continue the World Cup tournament without four referees who blew at least one call in a game they refereed. Because of the bad calls, FIFA is looking into using instant replay technology to prevent botched calls in games.
Jorge Larrionda of Uruguay was sent home along with Italy's Roberto Rosetti, Mali's Koman Coulibaly and Stephane Lannoy of France. FIFA did not announce a reason as to why these individuals were released.
Larrionda is the most recent of the four to make a bad call when he ruled a England goal did not cross the line of the net. Rosetti awarded a goal to Argentina's Carlos Tevez despite the fact that he was off-sides. Coulibaly is the most memorable referee for United States fans. He was the referee who inexplicably disallowed the game-winning goal for the U.S. against Slovenia, the U.S. ended the game with a 2-2 draw. Lannoy is the only referee released who did not make a controversial call on a goal, instead he gave Brazil's Kaka his second yellow card even though Ivory Coast's Kader Keita ran into Kaka as he went for the ball. Kaka ended the game with a red card.
This is the first public notion that FIFA is recognizing the referees of the World Cup are not performing to par. The refereeing, which has been criticized the entire tournament, has been shaky from the start. In qualification play, France edged Ireland only after the referees allowed a Thierry Henry goal that clearly should have been disallowed after Henry's hand touched the ball.
The World Cup will continue on Friday when quarterfinal play kicks off.
