2006 FIFA World Cup Final between Italy and France might see Referees make bad calls

Franz Beckenbauer wants change in these FIFA World Cup tournaments.

After leading Germany to World Cup victories both as a player and manager, Franz Beckenbauer turned his energy toward organizing this World Cup. With another mission seemingly destined to end in triumph, he is now talking about officiating.

As a referee, Beckenbauer would have zero tolerance for the dive, that counterfeit tumble by a player, frequently accompanied by a trip off the field on a stretcher and then a swift, complete, miraculous recovery.

''They are all playing for advantage, but when players exploit the situation, a referee's job is to recognize these things, and punish them by showing a yellow card,'' Beckenbauer said. ''These are incidents that none of us want, that we try to discredit.''

Referees may give yellow (warning) cards to players who dive. Brazil's Adriano received one, but he was an exception.

One of the lasting legacies of the tournament will be the unprecedented number of yellow cards that have been handed out. With two of 64 matches remaining, Portugal will play Germany on Saturday for third place, then Italy will face France on Sunday in the final, a record 336 yellow cards have been handed out. Some people have interpreted the high number as evidence that FIFA's campaign for fair play backfired.

''I felt that the yellow card was being shown too often, but often for trivial things, and the next time something trivial happened, the referee had to do it again,'' Beckenbauer said.

Angel Maria Villar Llona, the chairman of FIFA's referee committee, said on June 28, ''The main objective, to protect the players, has been accomplished.'' On that day, even before the quarterfinal round, referees had surpassed the previous record of 272 yellow cards in 2002.

The 2006 FIFA World Cup final game between Italy and France this Sunday will be interesting. Interesting in a sense that the referees could very well decide who will be crowned new 2006 FIFA World Cup champions.

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