No foul play as Fifa back women refs

VANCOUVER: A run of controversial calls has raised worries that officiating has not kept pace with the quality of play at the Women’s World Cup, putting an unwanted spotlight on referees ahead of tomorrow’s final.

Both the United States and Japan reached the championship match with help from arguable calls in their semi-finals that have put into question the overall calibre of officiating.

All World Cup matches staged at six venues across Canada have been officiated by women and Fifa said they have no plans to bring in more experienced male officials for crucial matches.

“Right now not at all,” Tatjana Haenni, Fifa’s head of women’s competitions, said when asked about the possibility of using both male and female officials.

“Now that women’s football becomes so popular I see it as a risk that we have the discussion as to why we don’t have more male referees.

“On the women’s refereeing side, we now have to decide: do we give more opportunities to women referees to be at the top level of the game or do we not do enough and so women will have huge difficulty to be at the top level.”

The US benefited from two crucial decisions by Romanian referee Teodora Albon in their 2-0 semi-final win over top-ranked Germany on Tuesday in Montreal.

The Americans took the lead when captain Carli Lloyd scored a penalty after Albon ruled that Annike Krahn had obstructed Alex Morgan.

Replays showed the offence took place outside the box.

Minutes earlier US defender Julie Johnston was adjudged to have pulled down Alexandra Popp, but escaped with a yellow card even though she was the last defender and should have been sent off.

In their 2-1 win over England, Japan grabbed the lead through a controversial penalty when Claire Rafferty nudged Saori Ariyoshi in the back and New Zealand referee Anna-Marie Keighley pointed to the penalty spot.

Television replays, however, showed the foul had taken place outside the penalty area but England’s protests were dismissed as Aya Miyami fired home the penalty.

Seven minutes later an- other debatable penalty award brought England level.

Captain Steph Houghton went down easily inside the box, possibly after her heel was clipped by Yuki Ogimi, and Fara Williams coolly converted.

Massimo Busacca, Fifa’s head of refereeing who officiated at two World Cups, acknowledged that overall quality of officiating needed upgrading but had assured that the referees for the semi-finals and final were up to the challenge.

“For me they are doing well,” Busacca told a small group of reporters at a technical briefing on Tuesday.

“Round of 16, quarter-finals we did not have big complaints, the results were correct. The referees who remain now know what they are doing.

“They are the best, I am not afraid to say they will do a great game in the final.” – Reuters