FIFA puts pressure on refs at Confederations Cup
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-15 10:32

Referees at the Confederations Cup in Germany will be under scrutiny by FIFA to call the shots correctly.

According to the president of the organization, Sepp Blatter, referees and assistants hoping to officiate at matches during next year's World Cup in Germany will be closely watched when the Confederations Cup gets underway June 15.

Underperforming refs will be sent home as part of a new effort to raise standards in international competitions. Some have already been sent home from the World Youth Championship in the Netherlands and more will follow, says Blatter, who has criticized the refereeing at the 2002 World Cup.

"There will be no repeat of the weak performances at the 2002 World Cup," he said.

Blatter is also an advocate of paying referees salaries as a means of cutting down on the chances of match-fixing scandals such as the one that recently hit Germany, when Robert Hoyzer accepted money to rig a match for Croatian gamblers.

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