Referees' chief defends officials

A World Cup referees’ chief has denied the credibility of officials had been undermined by the mistakes which led FIFA president Sepp Blatter to describe refereeing at the tournament as ‘‘inadequate’’.

While Blatter insisted Italy had not been ousted from the tournament as part of a wider plot, he admitted that they had been on the wrong end of some poor decisions.

Italy striker Francesco Totti was dismissed in extra time of the defeat to South Korea after he was booked for diving, his second yellow card of the match.

The Azzurri had three goals controversially disallowed during the group stage, just some of a number of dubious decisions that have seen referees and their assistants come under fire.

But 1990 World Cup final referee Edgardo Codesal, a member of FIFA’s Referees Committee, defended the officials.

‘‘I think the referee always has credibility and support to be in the middle. They are honest men and they do their best,’’ he said.

‘‘All referees want to be the one in the World Cup final and they are preparing for 15 years to be here.

‘‘I am sure everyone tries to do their best and to be in the final is the most beautiful dream for them.

‘‘I do not think they lose their credibility if they make a mistake.

‘‘If corruptive things happen they lose their credibility, otherwise they are just mistakes.’’

But Codesal, who dismissed two Argentina players during the Italia 90 final, admitted Totti should not have been sent off.

‘‘As an instructor, simulation is when two players are running and one player dives without any contact,’’ he said. ‘‘This is the definition of simulation.

‘‘Unfortunately for the eyes of the referee he saw that (it was simulation), but if you freeze the television screen you can see a little contact.

‘‘If you analyse it during the game you could agree with the referee, if you analyse through the television you could not agree with the referee.

‘‘It is very hard for them to make such a decision. It was a very difficult situation for the referee.’’

Codesal was quick to point out the huge task faced by referees to get every decision right.

‘‘There have been 56 games so far and there will be maybe 70 decisions made in each game - that is around 4,000 in total,’’ he continued.

‘‘Only a few of them have been wrong. People always emphasise the mistakes, never the right decisions. Referees are always under pressure because it is so difficult because of the speed of the game and TV.

‘‘Sometimes it is difficult to see everything, but if you analyse all the games from every country you will see mistakes just as you will see mistakes from the coach or players.’’

FIFA, meanwhile, were unaware of any move by Italian state broadcasters RAI to start legal action against them for money lost as a result of Italy’s early exit from the tournament.