FIFA 2010 World Cup: Tabarez states that referees and officials were part of no scheme to cheat
Jorge Larrionda was the man in charge, he was the Uruguayan referee who was responsible for the Germany vs. England match in which Lampard's shot clearly crossed the line but no goal was allowed. What resulted in the process was a massive controversial mayhem.
It included the FIFA President Sepp Blatter apologising to the English fans and media and even to the British Prime Minister David Cameroon. This was certainly a shocking move by the Prime Minister as it certainly has been made clear that there should be no direct contact of non-linked government officials in the countries football. The Prime Minister demanded the inclusion of camera replays in football.
Ironically the FIFA President has endorsed his thoughts and claims for consideration who also turned a blind eye towards the French President, Nikolas Sarkozy involvement in the team’s scandal. The FIFA President has however claimed that he would punish the Nigerian President who has banned his national team for participating in international games for two years. The head of FIFA has stated that if the decision was not taken back; Nigeria would be excluded from FIFA.
The crackdown on FIFA referees is also proceeding and now FIFA has announced that Olegario Benquerenca will administer the Ghana vs. Uruguay quarter final and confirmed that there was no question that Webb, who has not been given any of the last eight matches, had been marked for the match, even though this was heavily rumoured.
Oscar Tabarez the Uruguay coach commented on the topic by saying that every time there is even a hardly noticeable coincidence then everyone over dramatizes the situation.
He added that refereeing is not their concern and they are like players who could do it badly or do it well and as far as we are concerned we should not be suspicious.
He continued by saying that the four officials would be great candidates for the finals and that his players won’t even know the name of the referee of that match.
Milovan Rajevac, the Ghana Coach, added to this by saying that he pays no attention to who the referees in his team match would be, this is the highest level of the tournament and the referees would be of the highest level as well. He continued by saying that even after a match he never comments on the referees and he does not even think about it.
Uruguay have been one of the astonishments of this year’s competition, qualifying through a play off and are headed under the 63 year old immensely experienced coach Tabarez who is referred by all as the 'Maestro'.
Uruguay are the winners of the first ever World Cup which was in 1930 and won it again twenty years late in 1950 and since then this would be a great achievement. Though the coach has warned his players to not to look back at the past glories and focus on the game at hand.
He commented on the topic that later on they can talk about the historical significance Uruguay has related to the World Cup. However, right now anything that even involves thinking about anything other than the makes them loose concentration so he does not want to look back and talk about Uruguay’s history with the World Cup.
He went on to say that first they have to play the quarter finals against the black stars and they are very fast, strong and immensely skilled players. The players from Ghana are close to the elitist competition and are still improving.
Uruguay have one of the best defence record in the World Cup with only conceding one goal in their win over South Korea in the last 16 where they won the match by a score of 2-1.
Ghana’s Asamoah Gyan described Uruguay’s two strikers as two of the most extraordinary strikers in the World Cup Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez. Still Maestro told that there is no extra pressure on his strikers.
He added to this by saying that the whole team and not just the strikers need to play well in order to make their dream come true. He said that they have prepared well and there is no specific responsibility on any one player he said that he wanted them to play as part of a team and for everyone to give their best.
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