August 29 – Only full-time professional referees should be used at the next World Cup, in Brazil in 2014, FIFA President Sepp Blatter claimed today.
Blatter said that improving the quality of elite referees is his top priority for the game in the coming months and beyond, if he is chosen next June to lead FIFA for a fourth four-year term, as looking is increasingly likely.
Blatter told Associated Press: ”We must do something for the top referees.
“You can’t have non-professional referees in professional football.”
Blatter’s call for change followed a series of high-profile errors by World Cup referees in South Africa, where just two of the 30 selected for FIFA duty listed refereeing as their full-time job.
In June, Blatter promised FIFA would review how referees were prepared for future World Cups two days after witnessing England and Mexico eliminated on the same day following game-changing mistakes in their second-round matches.
He apologised to team officials after each match.