The World Cup’s worst referees were sent packing on Tuesday as soccer’s governing body tried to cut down on the glaring errors that have plagued the tournament.

Koman Coulibaly, the referee who gained notoriety for controversially denying the United States a potential game-winning goal against Slovenia in the group stage, was sent back to Mali without having refereed another match since his glaring mistake 11 days ago.

The 10 referees deemed to be the worst in the tournament were excluded from the final list of elite officials who will be in contention to take charge of the all-important quarterfinal rounds onward.

All 10 packed up their things from the secret refereeing base near Pretoria – where the officials have lived in isolation since the start of the World Cup – and were due to catch flights home either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.

Yahoo! Sports exclusively revealed hours after the USA 2-2 draw with Slovenia that Coulibaly would not be allowed to referee another match, and so it transpired.

Also on the list of those axed was Uruguay’s Jorge Larrionda, who committed the most high-profile mistake of the event by denying England’s Frank Lampard a goal against Germany, even though his strike landed more than two feet over the goal line.

Another referee to be sent home was Stephane Lannoy of France, a leading European official who was originally expected to take charge of key matches late in the tournament. But Lannoy’s fate was sealed when he sent off Brazil’s Kaka against the Ivory Coast for an innocuous challenge. So too was that of Italian Roberto Rosetti, who allowed Argentina’s hotly disputed first goal against Mexico in the round of 16.

The cuts are part of FIFA’s bid to drastically improve refereeing standards after a series of incidents that infuriated fans, players and coaches alike.

“Naturally we deplore it when we see the evidence of referees’ mistakes,” FIFA president Sepp Blatter said. “Our goal is to improve the overall quality.”

By Martin Rogers, Yahoo! Sports
29 juin 2010