Football / World Cup USA '94: Fifa threat to referees

FIFA, world football's governing body, threatened yesterday to send home World Cup referees who failed to take tough action against players guilty of violent conduct.

Sepp Blatter, the Fifa general secretary, is unhappy that some referees had failed to follow a directive to crack down on the tackle from behind. Fifa's refereeing committee will discuss the problem and invite some match officials to study videos of their performances.

Blatter said referees who continued to ignore Fifa instructions would not remain in the tournament after the group matches are completed. 'The general standard of refereeing at the finals has been good to very good,' he added. 'But there have been exceptions.'