Fifa denies referees were told to avoid yellow cards

Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov shows the yellow card to Netherlands' forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar during their quarter-final match against Costa Rica on July 5, 2014. [PHOTO:AFP]

Fifa has refuted a German newspaper’s allegation that World Cup referees have been instructed to hold off from showing yellow cards to players.

Tabloid newspaper Bild reported on Monday that there was a “secret arrangement” to limit the number of cards and referees who did not adhere to the accord would not be selected for further games at the tournament.

The newspaper wondered if the alleged policy was partly responsible for the injury to Neymar in Brazil’s quarter-final against Colombia, which produced 54 fouls and only four yellow cards.

Neymar suffered a fractured vertebra following a tackle by Colombia’s Juan Camilo Zuniga in the second half and has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament.

“You can question and criticise the refereeing, but that is not my point. To say that behind this lies a plan, to make the game more dynamic and more spectacular... that is something we cannot accept,” Fifa spokesman Walter de Gregorio told reporters. “It’s totally unacceptable.”

“This is important because it goes to the core of our business,” he added.

“Protecting the main actors (players) is the most important thing we have to do. It’s only a German tabloid but it has already been reported by a few newspapers in Brazil.”

“The players are the main actors. If Neymar is not playing in the semi-finals and the final, it’s not good for Fifa.”