FIFA investigate referee 'punch' claims

FIFA are investigating Portugal’s Joao Pinto amid allegations that he punched referee Angel Sanchez in the aftermath of being sent off against South Korea.

The Argentinian official has made the claim to the Portuguese media, but FIFA have not confirmed whether the same accusations are part of a report submitted to the disciplinary committee by the referee’s inspector.

FIFA director of communications Keith Cooper said: ‘‘All we can say at this point is that we are quite surprised that the referee has spoken openly about the incident to the press before it was dealt with by the disciplinary committee.

‘‘I don’t know what is in the referee’s report, I never know what is in the referee’s report.

‘‘I prefer to respect the confidentiality of that process and let the committee decide.’’

Pinto was dismissed for dangerous play following a high tackle on Park Ji-Sung in the 27th minute.

After the red card was shown, the forward needed to be restrained by his team-mates to prevent the situation escalating.

Cooper said: ‘‘This match incident has been included in the report of the referees inspector and as those documents go to the disciplinary committee it is at their discretion to take whatever action if any.

‘‘I do not want to pre-empt the disciplinary committee’s actions. They did not deal with this matter yesterday, but they may do so today.’’

Portugal also had Beto sent off in the second half as the 1-0 defeat on Friday put them out of the tournament.

Captain Fernando Couto was also seen holding Sanchez by the face after Pinto’s dismissal.

‘‘As a general rule, we advise players not to touch referees at all, even in a friendly gesture,’’ said Cooper.