Referees biased towards star players says Uruguayan González

KIMBERLEY - Ignacio González, the Uruguayan midfielder, has accused World Cup referees of favouring the tournament’s big name players.

Uruguay had Nicolas Lodeiro sent off against France and Gonzalez said: “Here it is important to know that the match officials are also trying to make a name for themselves. Perhaps Lodeiro would not have been sent off if his name was Patrice Evra.”

The Valencia midfielder claimed that Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura had favoured France’s big name players throughout the two sides’ goalless draw.

He added: “It happened at other times during the game. I was penalised for fouls that were then committed afterwards by other more famous players who were not punished.

“Let’s see what the referee is like in the next game. With the Mexico match (against South Africa) there did not seem to be any favouritism so let’s hope in our game it is the same.”