Long Whistle Milan Dutta

Passion, pressure and promise ? the world has seen them all in the past fortnight. The World Cup, true to its imposing effect and captivating charm, has cast its spell on the humanity at large. The group stage is now over and with it the ambitions and ebullience of 16 nations.

As many as 116 goals have been scored so far in 48 group league matches. Fans have been treated to some superb goals from Deco against Iran, Robin van Persie against Ivory Coast, Joe Cole’s 30-yard pile-driver against Sweden and Cambiasso’s famous one that followed 24 passes against Serbia and Montenegro.

Amid all this, match officials have played their roles in creating and maintaining the free-flowing nature of the competition. The legendary Pele has remarked that refereeing so far has been excellent. However, according to Franz Beckenbauer, head of the World Cup organising committee and himself a World Cup winner both as player and coach, it’s not so satisfying.

Considering both schools of thought, I strongly feel that the referees have been strictly following Fifa guidelines and the Fifa Referees’ Committee is happy with their performance.

The tournament has so far seen 18 red cards and it looks like breaking the record of 22 from 64 matches in the 1998 finals in France.

According to some experts, the officials are booking players too frequently, thereby unnecessarily slowing down the pace of the game. I beg to differ with these critics.

In this World Cup, Fifa is committed to come down on foul play and the referees are merely, but strictly, following the instructions. They are physically fitter, and therefore, can reach the desired position faster than before. This is why I believe they have been largely successful in cutting down on the number of fouls, pulling the shirts, simulation and time-wasting. Fifa wants football to be played in the middle, not fought out there. I’m pleased to note that the referees have been able to sound the Fifa’s objectives loud and clear.

Just as an attacker or defender commits a foul, a referee cannot but make mistakes. It has to be seen whether such a mistake proves too costly for a team or changes the outcome of a match. It nearly happened in the Australia-Japan match. Japan took the lead in the 26th minute via a controversial goal by Nakamura, when the Australian custodian was clearly obstructed by the rivals, but the Egyptian referee Essam Abdel Fatah turned a blind eye to the incident. Luckily, Australia won the match 3-1, but the Egyptian official wasn’t given any further assignment.

On the other hand, the Japanese referee Toru Kamikawa’s decision to allow Peter Crouch’s header into the box when the lanky English striker appeared to have grabbed a Trinidad and Tobago player’s hair, has also raised eyebrows. The second goal by Swiss striker Alexender Frei against Korea was from an offside position.

However, the experienced Graham Poll’s blunder in the Croatia versus Australia match is really baffling. The English official booked Croatia defender Josip Simunic three times, after 62 and 90 minutes, and finally in the 93rd minute, when he sent him off. It’s really difficult to understand why all the five officials (from this World Cup, Fifa has appointed a stand-by referee, too) couldn’t detect the blunder when all of them were equipped with ear phones.

But these are mere aberrations, which, in no way, have overshadowed the otherwise hugely professional and proficient work of the panel of referees.