FIFA remain silent on refereeing controversy

JOHANNESBURG - The ruling football body FIFA Monday remained silent on the latest two blatant refereeing mistakes at the World Cup.

FIFA spokesman Nicolas Maingot said he was not in a position to comment about refereeing decisions, although almost every question in the FIFA media briefing dealt with the issue.

In Sunday’s match between England and Germany Frank Lampard’s first half shot clearly crossed the line for what would have been a 2-2 equaliser, but was not given by the referee.

A few hour later, Carlos Tevez was blatantly offside when he scored Argentina’s opening goal against Mexico.

Germany won 4-1, while Argentina went on to win 3-1.

Maingot said that the body which dealt with refereeing matters was the International Football Association Board (IFAB). “This is a very important body.”

Lampard’s shot that crossed the line was replayed on the giant screen in Bloemfontein. Maingot said that that should not have been. “The replays in the stadium are handled by the local organising committee and their brief is not to show any potentially controversial decisions.

“This has worked well until now, but obviously it did not work in this case and was clearly a mistake.”

He said that the reason why controversial situations should not be shown was because of security concerns in the stadium.

Maingot said that he was not aware that there were any moves afoot to allow the use of technology to settle disputes. “This has been dealt with at the IFAB level and they have said that they will continue their experimentation with two extra refereeing assistants.”

These two assistants, who are to be used in the Champions League in the forthcoming season, are to be stationed on the goalline.

The president of FIFA, Joseph Blatter, said earlier that errors should be a part of the game and Maingot said that position has not changed.

He promised that if any decisions concerning the refereeing issue would be made, it would be communicated to the expectant media.