Football's governing body FIFA today tried to calm the growing furore over World Cup refereeing but admitted match officials had made mistakes.
Spanish players claimed that Egyptian referee Gamal Ghandour had robbed them of victory over South Korea in Saturday's quarter-final after disallowing two 'goals' for Spain, one in regular time and one in extra time.
South Korea went on to reach the semi-final by winning in a penalty shootout after the match had ended goalless.
The Spaniards' protests echoed similar complaints from Portugal and Italy after they were beaten by Korea earlier in the tournament.
"What happened here was robbery," said Spanish player Ivan Helguera. "The goals were completely valid."
Senes Erzik, the Turkish head of FIFA's referees' committee, admitted errors had been made in the tournament but defended the overall performance of the match officials.
"There have been one or two mistakes which is a cause of concern but overall the referees have been very well prepared for this World Cup ... and every match is reviewed," Erzik said in a statement read to a press conference.
"But referees are only human and mistakes can be made."
FIFA spokesman Keith Cooper said Erzik "did not differentiate between referees and their assistants. They work together as a team." Referee's assistant is another term for linesman.
Cooper said video replays to help referees decide on contentious incidents were "not on the agenda at the moment".
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said that he wanted a review of the entire refereeing process.
"The whole system of selecting and designating referees needs to be looked at," he said.
"We must return to a trio of officials of the same nationality because lack of communication has been the cause of several mistakes."
Up until now, Blatter had backed the need for the best referees, regardless of nationality.
The two decisions which infuriated the Spaniards in Gwangju were when Ruben Baraja nodded into the net via a deflection off Kim Tae-Young five minutes after the interval but referee Ghandour had already blown for shirt tugging.
Fernando Morientes then also headed home two minutes into extra-time from a Joaquin cross - yet assistant referee Michael Ragoonath of Trinidad and Tobago had flagged for a goalkick.
The FIFA spokesman said the reason for that decision was confidential as it was contained in the referee's report.
Cooper said Spain had not lodged an official complaint about the refereeing in the quarter-final match. The referees' committee was due to meet later on Sunday to designate the officials for the semi-finals between South Korea and Germany and Brazil against Turkey.
South Korean coach Guus Hiddink, riding a wave of national celebration, brushed away the Spaniards' protests as the whingeing of losers.
"Errors are made, by players, by coaches and by referees and linesmen," said Hiddink.
"The losing team should look in the mirror, not look to external circumstances."
AFP