2006 FIFA World Cup: The last time around

The 2006 FIFA World Cup is remembered by most as the soccer tournament plagued by yellow and red cards. Players received a record-breaking 345 yellow cards and 28 red cards. It seemed as though more attention was given to the referees than to the players.
The 2006 World Cup ranked as the fourth most watched event in television history, garnering an impressive 26.29 billions non-unique viewers over the course of the tournament. Great stories and dramas unfolded as Germany, the host country, defied expectations and gave their critical fans something to cheer about and as Ghana, in their first World Cup, advanced to the second round after defeating top-ranked USA and Czech Republic in the group stages. Yet, what most people remember about the World Cup is not these great stories. Instead they remember the controversies of USA’s red cards handed out by Jorge Larrionda in their game against Italy and the controversial calls made by Markus Merk in the USA versus Ghana game, just to name a few. In the round of 16 match between Portugal and the Netherlands alone, Valentin Ivanov handed out 16 yellow cards and 4 red cards. In the World’s greatest stage for sports, it is a pity that the lime light was stolen by the sports officials.
Who’s to blame?
Complaints were made throughout the tournament that the referees were controlling too much of the game. They exercised too much power and made too much of an impact on the results. Yet, the problem seemed to run even deeper. FIFA officials and FIFA President Sepp Blatter received criticism for making rules too strict and taking discretion away from the referees, (BBC Sports. 26 June, 2006). This, according to Five Live Sport summarizer Chris Waddle, had a huge impact on the run and ruling of the games.
“[Bad tackles and diving are] part and parcel of the game—it’s up to the referees to punish these things. It is what they are there for. If everybody watching the game can see someone cheating or a bad tackle, why can’t the referee see it?”
“Because they are not allowed to. They are under so much pressure they must judge everything according to the letter of the law.”
The Solution
Arguments go back and forth on who the blame belongs to, but after all is said, what is to be done?
Video replay can be the solution. Under such pressure circumstances, referees need help making crucial calls that have the potential to greatly influence the game. In the second round of the tournament in the game between Italy and Australia, Italy was awarded a penalty kick in the final minute of the game which up to that point had been played to a 0-0 tie. The replay clearly showed that no foul was committed in the box, however, good acting convinced the referee. Italy went on to win the World Cup.
In the final of the 2006 World Cup between France and Italy, the Golden Ball winner (the award given to the player voted as the best player of the tournament) Zinedine Zidane of France was sent off with a red card after violently head-butting Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the chest. The incident was replayed throughout the arena, but much discussion was made between the referees before making the correct decision. Yet, after the call was made, much discussion continued as to whether the referees actually saw the incident occur or if they had seen it replayed on the big screen. Why? Because the “letter of the law” states that officials cannot make a call if they do not see it happen with their own eyes.
What about the other calls that were not made because the referees did not see? What about the calls that the referees did make because of what they thought they saw? Video replay resolves these problems.
With the 2010 World Cup fast approaching, what do we look for this time around? We are here to watch the players, not the referees.