by D. Victor

Created on: June 21, 2010

What's a World Cup without controversy? The 2010 World Cup had its moments; some of them had little to do with the players but the men in the middle. Midway through the group stage, one could easily identify some of the card-happy referees at the tournament. Referees issued a few red cards in the early stages of the World Cup – as early as the second match. Some offences, like Nigeria's Sani Kaita outrageous swipe against Greece, deserved red cards. On other occasions, the referee seemed card-happy.

Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

The forty year-old Al Ghamdi was a FIFA referee for seven years. Apparently, FIFA did not recognize his fondness for yellow and red in this period. Apart from the irritating overuse of the whistle, the Saudi Arabian spoiled one match at the 2010 tournament. Al Ghamdi was the referee for the Mexico v France fixture – where he issued seven yellows cards – and the Chile v Switzerland match, where he altered the course of the game unnecessarily. 

This referee issued 15 yellow cards and 1 red card in two games – nine yellow cards and 1 red card in the Chile versus Switzerland game. He sent off Switzerland's Valon Behrami in the 30th minute, showing the Swiss player a straight red for a foul on Arturo Vidal that was a caution at best. It appeared as though Vidal moved into the arm of Behrami and there was not the jerking of the arm normally associated with striking a player. To be fair to Al Ghamdi, he was consistent with his incorrect decisions. The Saudi Arabian had to issue the red card for that offence, given that he issued three yellow cards earlier in the game for minor infractions. Chile won 1-0, but who knows what the result might have been with a better referee.

Alberto Mallenco (Spain)

The Spanish referee had a disaster when officiating in the Serbia v Germany fixture. He sent off Miroslav Klose in the 36th minute for two bookable offences, one of which did not seem to deserve the caution. Serbia scored two minutes later and went on to win. The first caution for Klose seemed "soft" according to some commentators, but it was justifiable. Klose's second card was a case of the referee wanting to make his mark on the game. In addition to the gratuitous red card, Mallenco issued yellow cards for minor offences that many referees would not have cautioned.

Marco Rodriguez (Mexico)

"Little Dracula," as the Mexican media calls him, showed who is boss when he dismissed Tim Cahill for a foul that looked like a caution (yellow card) at best. The red card was for serious foul play, but replays showed that it deserved nothing more than a yellow card. Germany was already leading 2-0, but added two more goals for good measure.

Stephane Lannoy (France)

The French official had a decent match (Brazil versus Ivory Coast), but the game got out of control in the latter stages. Brazilian ace Kaka received his first booking in the 84th minute. Three minutes later, Lannoy dismissed Kaka for his second bookable offence. Kader Keita's hyperbolic simulation seemed to convince the Frenchman. It seemed as though Lannoy needed his decisions ratified, after he was seen asking Luis Fabiano about his handled ball on Brazil's second goal; Fabiano denied handling the ball, although replays showed that he did. He did not attempt to deceive Lannoy in handling the ball, but the referee should have disallowed the goal.

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