The standard of refereeing is a contentious topic in football at any time, but never more so than during the sport's largest spectacle, the World Cup. Referees are generally seen to clamp down heavily on foul play during the tournament - memorable red cards from recent World Cups include Zinedine Zidane's dismissal in the 2006 final, where Italy defeated France on penalties.
There were a number of controversial decisions even in the early rounds of the 2010 World Cup as referees got off to a mixed start; in some matches the officials were barely noticeable, while in others they dominated proceedings. The following are three notable examples from the group stages.
Cahill Red Card for Australia vs Germany
Germany were the first team to really perform at the World Cup, thrashing a lacklustre Australia side 4-0, but the Socceroos were not helped by a straight red card for Everton midfielder Tim Cahill. Cahill felled Bastian Scheweinsteiger from behind, but appeared to make every effort to pull out of the challenge, which was certainly not malicious. Referee Marco Rodriguez did not agree, however, producing a straight red - even to the surprise of Schweinsteiger.
Cahill revealed after the match that the Bayern Munich midfielder had told him he should not have been sent off, and broke down in tears while describing it as "the worst moment of my career". He was suspended for Australia's key match against Ghana, but returned to score against Serbia in the Socceroo's last game of the tournament.
Klose Red Card in Germany vsSerbia
The dismissal of Germany's Miroslav Klose by Alberto Mallenco during his side's 1-0 defeat to Serbia was another controversial decision: the veteran Bayern Munich forward was dismissed less than half an hour into the match after making just two tackles, neither of which seemed overly reckless. Mallenco was very much a hard-line referee even in his native Spain - he had handed out eleven red cards in just seventeen matches officiated in La Liga the previous season.
Germany were incensed with Mallenco's performance in general, with the card-happy Spanish official handing out nine cautions during the match. Manager Joachim Loew refused to openly criticise the referee, however, and Klose himself simply noted that "The referee should have given me a ticking off instead of showing me the yellow." Klose returned to the team to open the scoring in the 4-1 defeat of England in the knock-out stages.
Brazil-Ivory Coast: Kaka Red Card
Brazil's 3-1 triumph over the Ivory Coast saw another case where two harsh yellow cards added up to a red, with French official Stephane Lannoy at the centre of controversy. Real Madrid and Brazil playmaker Kaka was first booked for the gentlest of pushes on Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure, before minutes later being dismissed after an innocuous-looking collision with Kader Keita - the Galatasaray midfielder going down theatrically clutching his face after Kaka's elbow connected with his chest.
Brazil manager Dunga described the sending-off as "unjustified", while Kaka himself called for FIFA to investigate - the Brazilian FA ultimately decided not to appeal, however, preferring to have Kaka serve his one-match ban during the team's inconsequential final group match against Portugal rather than in the knock-out stages of the competition.
Discipline Not Major Problem
Something that becomes clear in all of these cases is that although the teams in question are undoubtedly adversely affected in the short term (in particular Klose's red card arguably led to Germany's defeat), there is no lasting damage to their campaigns; Klose and Cahill made scoring returns to their teams, and Brazil and Germany progressed in the tournament.
Furthermore, there were thirteen red cards in the group stages of the 2010 tournament (six straight reds and seven second yellows), compared to eighteen in 2006; the Germany tournament also saw the 'Battle of Nuremburg', when Russian referee Valentin Ivanov broke World Cup records by issuing 16 yellow cards and four reds. Discipline has not been as large a problem in South Africa as it was in Germany, and although there have been questionable red cards issued it has not been to the overall detriment of the tournament.
Philip Sim - Philip Sim is a trainee journalist based in Aberdeen, Scotland. He graduated from the University of Dundee in 2009 with an honours degree ...
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