TOKYO, 22 June — Pele said the level of refereeing in the World Cup has been poor so far and that FIFA should take measures to improve it for future games.
“Referees make mistakes. We all make mistakes. Sometimes as a player we try to trick and create problems for the referees on the field. This is not fair but it’s part of the game,” the three-time winner for Brazil said.
“But...I think the refereeing has been very, very poor. FIFA should pay attention in the future and in the next games.”
Pele was asked about the controversial calls in Tuesday’s second round match between co-hosts South Korea and Italy which sent the three-time World Cup winners packing.
“You can’t say (the referee) is unfair. Maybe it was a mistake. But...the referee is an important part of the game, and he cannot make easy mistakes,” he said.
“FIFA should work hard on that, because it could spoil the game.”
Pele refrained from answering a reporter’s question on whether he thought Italian striker Francesco Totti had taken a dive during the match against South Korea.
Totti was sent off for a second booking after the referee judged he had simulated a foul in the penalty area.
The Italians are furious about the refereeing of Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat, with state broadcaster RAI even saying it was considering taking FIFA to court for lost earnings caused by the decisions of the officials.
Pele, who has an advisory role with FIFA, said world soccer’s governing body was discussing the use of television replays in making decisions on the field, as well as the penalizing players by taking them out of the match for a certain amount of time as in the game of hockey.
FIFA admit Italy-Korea
referee blundered
The Italian-South Korea referee was wrong to send off Italian captain Francesco Totti for diving FIFA admitted yesterday.
Edgardo Codesal, a member of FIFA’s referee committee, said television replays proved that Byron Moreno, who has been branded public enemy number one in Italy for expelling Totti, had blundered.
Moreno had claimed there had been no contact with a Korean defender and that Totti had dived.
“Totti dived. I was 15-20 meters away. I had a very clear view. The right decision,” he insisted.
But Codesal, who refereed the 1990 World Cup final, said television had proved Moreno was wrong.
“If you freeze the screen you see contact between Totti and a Korean player,” said Codesal.
But he refused to criticize the Ecuadorian referee.
“It was a very difficult situation for the referee,” said Codesal. “At the speed of the game today mistakes can happen. It is impossible to see everything.”
Codesal refuted claims from Italy that Moreno had been part of a conspiracy to ensure Italy went out early from the tournament.
“Referees are honest men and try to do their best. The idea is to try to be fair, this is very important but mistakes always happen,” he said.
“The referee’s mistake is part of the game, like the player’s mistake, like the coach’s mistake. We need to be more human with the referee,” he added.
Codesal warned that one mistake should not be allowed to mar the tournament.
He said that out of the 5,000 odd decisions taken by referee and linesmen in the tournament to date only four or five important mistakes had been made.
“About one per thousand. It is low,” said Codesal.
FIFA President Sepp Blatter joined the battle of words over refereeing and called for the system on how referees are selected to be changed.
At present referees come from all six FIFA confederations.
“A World Cup that has the best players and teams in the world should be overseen by the best referees regardless of their nationality,” said Blatter.
“From now on we will call in the best, full stop, even if they come from just a handful of countries.”
Codesal said he was not opposed to such an idea.
“I am always open to ideas that would improve the level but to get the solution is not easy. Referees are human beings not machines,” he said.
